Steve Harris - 'Straddling The Dance of Death with Iron Maiden & British Lion
It's not easy being founding member of one of the biggest heavy metal bands known to man. Multi-award-winning staples Iron Maiden are kicking off their Australian The Future Past Maiden Tour and bassist Steve Harris is stoked to be heading back to our shores after the inevitable COVID 2020 tour cancellation. Whilst it's an obvious pleasure for the metal legend to play to Aussie fans for the first time since The Book of Souls tour in 2016, Harris has coincided the run with a cheeky British Lion tour.So who are British Lion? Well, they're the other band that Harris' founded in 2012. With just two records out in the universe, the 68-year old is joined by rockers Richard Taylor on vocals, David Hawkins and Grahame Leslie on guitar (with Hawkins also on keyboards) and Simon Dawson closing the quartet on drums. By the time you get to the point of your career where you endlessly sell out stadiums (tough life), many top talents out there crave the need to get back down to earth. Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson is also enjoying experimentation with The Mandrake Project. Harris formed British Lion as a creative outlet to push the boundaries beyond the guardrails of Iron Maiden and to dabble in other areas of interest like classic rock, and to be able to play smaller venues and engage with the fans in a more relaxing atmosphere. We scored a chat with the bassist himself to hear about the upcoming tour. Having arrived in Perth for the opening leg of both bands' tours, Harris picks up the phone - "Weather's pretty rubbish here but it's just like being in England in the summer," he jests. Whilst the Maiden Aussie tour cancellation was bad news for all parties, the new dates were what opened up the opportunity for British Lion to grace our shores."That wasn't the plan back then," he says referring to the original 2020 tour. "But now because there's enough time before off, I was able to put on these shows," which excites him mostly for his bandmates who have never been down here before.
For Aussie Maiden fans who haven't yet familiarised with British Lion, Harris describes them as "More rock rather than metal. I think we've got some really, really strong songs, but good melodies. We're really good as a live band. I think people should come along and just check it out," With two albums under their belts -debut self-titled effort from 2012 and more recently The Burning from 2020, the side-project are ready to premiere some new tunes across the country. "We've got two new songs that we've got [to play live],I wanted to record them recently but we just didn't get time to do them - so, we'll probably be free around Christmas time and try to do it then."Playing small and intimate shows is what it's all about for the Maiden bassist. "It is about that for me without a doubt... Playing small clubs is really appealing to me, it reminds me of the early and great times with Maiden." He mentions places he's been to many times before with Maiden but never having seen some of the smaller clubs. Many may assume that this is Harris' opportunity to experiment with new sounds with the outfit, however he reckons it's quite the opposite. "It's almost the other way around, really. I've had plenty of time and opportunity to experiment with Maiden and over the years with different stuff but I think British Lion is a lot more straight stuff, really. Shorter songs, maybe sort of a bit more in your face to a certain degree."
Like Metallica's Robert Trujillo, Harris never holds a pick, it's all about slappin' the bass and even a new band didn't entice him to try a different strumming method to what's been doing his entire musical career. "I've never used to pick anyway and I've really never been interested in it, really," - the man knows what he likes, and as the old saying goes - if it ain't broke, don't fix it.In terms of what the bassist is most looking forward to on this tour with British Lion as compared to Maiden is not knowing what you're going to get, including how big a crowd you're going to get on the night. "First time we went to Canada, we didn't know what to expect - a couple of gigs sold out that we didn't think would sell out and the one that we did pick to sell out didn't, so you never know what you're gonna get."Having enjoyed headlining festivals like Soundwave in 2011, Harris still gets to appreciate playing the old festival in Europe - except less likely closing the day with his alter ego. Recently they played a festival in Faro, Portugal and are making the most of European summer.Whilst he picks up the momentum with British Lion, it's Iron Maiden who are set to be in the limelight in 2025 as the band celebrates 50 years of existence, which seems to amuse the founder. "People keep telling us, we try not to think about it too much," he laughs. "I don't really think about it too much, other people tend to get more excited than we do but I suppose it's a pretty good achievement."On whether the band are planning anything special next year to acknowledge it, the rocker isn't too sure just yet - but he is looking forward to the upcoming Aussie Maiden shows. "I enjoy playing them all, you know we've got so much choice, so I enjoy it all."Keeping it simple, here's what Harris promises the fans - "From both bands you'll get really good performances, both bands give their all so we just go out and enjoy ourselves."
Interview by Ricky Aarons (@rickysaul90)
British Lion - Australian Tour
31 August - Magnet House, Perth
3 September - Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide
5 September - Croxton Band Room, Melbourne
9 September - The Triffid, Brisbane
11 September - Manning Bar, Sydney
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