IRON MAIDEN founding bassist Steve Harris spoke with John Doran from The Quietus recently about a number of topics including his new solo album British Lion and the early days of the band in the UK. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

The Quietus: What was your first gig at the Cart and Horses in Stratford in 1976 like?

SH: "Actually it was really good. We just pulled in as many people as we could, family and friends and there were a few regulars in anyway. I don’t like leaving things to chance so I put a few posters up and it ended up being pretty rammed out. There was a bit of a comfort zone for us to operate in, with it being packed out – it always makes it a lot easier. If you’re playing to a near empty place that makes it next to impossible. I can’t understand the mentality of people who don’t promote their gigs. I always say to people, ‘Have you advertised, put it in the local paper, put posters up, handed out fliers? How do you expect people to come if you don’t?’ In those days with there being no internet, you had to. It doesn’t take that much time and effort. It’s amazing the amount of people who don’t bother."

The Quietus: What’s the worst stage fright you’ve ever had playing a gig?

SH: "Again, this would be during the early times… The worst times I can remember would be going back to the pub gigs in East London really. Some of our fans used to follow us about all over the place but then once in a while we’d play somewhere off the beaten track and we’d be fretting, ‘God I hope they turn up soon.’ You’d be more worried from that side of things really than the actual physical side of playing. Those were the times that I remember being most physically afraid. You know, we did have gigs years ago where no one turned up. I’m thinking specifically of places like the Double Six in Basildon or Lafayette in Walthamstow. At that one there were women punching each other out at the bar and we could see them clearly because there was hardly anyone else there. Just two women having a fight! I guess there’s an element of that fear with British Lion but that’s also what’s exciting about it."

The Quietus: You’ve always said that you had nothing to do with punk but you did share that real do it yourself sensibility with them didn’t you?

SH: "I didn’t share it with them. I wouldn’t share anything with them because I hated them! They were taking gigs away from us. They came along – the upstarts that they were – and most of them couldn’t play their instruments, which was annoying. And most of them were getting gigs and publicity and not letting us get a look in. So we were lucky that we had a few places where we could play like the Cart and Horses, The Ruskin Arms in Stratford and The Bridgehouse in Canning Town. It was really, really tough. So no, we hated them and we hated what they were about. We had nothing in common with them. Most of them seemed to be kids from good backgrounds who were just bullshitting about being young and hungry anyway. They weren’t for real most of them."

The Quietus: When did you notice that heavy metal was becoming popular again?

SH: "When we were playing gigs in pubs like the Cart And Horses in about ’76, basically we were pulling crowds that were getting bigger. We were playing our own stuff and if we did a cover we did something really obscure, so people probably thought those songs were our own anyway. You could go and see covers bands then anywhere and they’d all be playing the same songs. We wanted to do something really different. So right from the start we got a hardcore following going. Before we ever made up our own shirts, our fans were making their own with the names of our songs on them… It was pretty amazing what was happening. We’d go and play somewhere like The Harrow in Ripple Road, Barking – which is not the easiest place to get to or from – and there were fans that would follow us all the way over there. And these were people who didn’t really have much money, they couldn’t just jump in a cab. They’d have trouble getting home. In fact sometimes we’d give them a lift home. We’d stick them in the back of the truck with the gear! So our fans were really hardcore from day one. I think it’s because we had strong original material and other people weren’t doing that."

Read more at The Quietus.