As previously reported, IRON MAIDEN vocalist Bruce Dickínson will release his first solo DVD, entitled Anthology, through Sanctuary Visual Entertainment oon June 19th in Europe and June 20th in North America. An in depth interview with Dickinson about the DVD footage is now available online at his official website. The following is a brief excerpt:

Q: Let’s begin by talking about ‘Dive Dive Live’, which was filmed at the Town And Country Club in California during your first solo tour. Was it a humbling experience to be back in the clubs when you’d become so accustomed to arenas, or a refreshing change?

Dickinson: "The entire tour was really refreshing. We had a great time. It’s a shame in a way that we didn’t film ‘Dive Dive Live’ in Europe, because some of those shows were cool. It was an odd video to make, frankly. I thought we’d have lots of hand-held cameras, but what turned up were all these great big cranes and flying jibs. Half the audience was excluded to make room for the camera tracks. It was really unsatisfactory. The budget was obscene and if I’d controlled it I could’ve made about three videos for the same price."

Q: I believe the audience that night wasn’t even allowed to drink?

Dickinson: "That’s right! They weren’t allowed to do anything. They were corralled in pens like cattle. It didn’t belong anywhere near a rock ‘n’ roll show."

Q: Was it a typical arms-crossed, hard-to-impress LA audience?

Dickinson: "Yeah. But the crowd was made miserable by being dry as a bone and bossed about by all these self-important video idiots, or vidiots as I like to call them."

Q: Despite all these reservations, would you say ‘Dive Dive Live’ is a decent representation of your first solo tour?

Dickinson: "No. It’s crap, but it’s the only documentation of the tour. At the end of the show, I went into the truck, got the 24-track master audiotapes and threw them in the river. The bloke who was with me, Merck Mercuriadis, was actually on his hands and knees recovering the tapes. I was like, ‘Let them drown you fucker’. These video wankers had come in and ruined what should have been a great night."

Q: While in California, did you experience much of the brain-dead rock star egomania that had inspired the song ‘Tattooed Millionaire’?

Dickinson: "[Laughs]. I don’t think you can avoid it. But fortunately MTV and VH1 televise it on a regular basis now. That Cribs show, I think, sums it all up."

Q: The Spanish footage was shot for a Japanese video EP, but what we get here is pretty much a full concert from the era. How did it make you feel to see it again?

Dickinson: "I thought it was pretty darned good, actually. The Skunkworks video was what ‘Dive Dive Live’ should have been. It also reminded me that there was a crisis at the second show when somebody stole my trousers."

Q: Er… stole your trousers?!

Dickinson: "Yeah. And being on a bit of a budget I only had one pair. They were black fake leather snakeskin. Where in Pamplona am I supposed to find a pair of those on a Sunday morning? We finally found some women’s disco diva shop that had a pair of stretchy PVC ones that I could just about get into. I noticed during the show that everyone down in the pit was staring anxiously up at me with a look of awe on their faces. I thought, ‘Well, we’re going down well tonight’. Then I realised that my pair of hairy bollocks had released themselves and were swinging around. The trousers had split! So I walked manfully off the stage. We were only about three songs in, so we used black Gaffer tape to cover me up. You’ve heard of the Brazilian wax, afterwards I had the Pamplona version. I suffer for my art!"

To read the entire interview go to this location

The Anthology DVD set, which features over six hours of material, will include the following contents:

Disc 1 - Live: Dive Dive Live – Originally released on PMI in 1991. 70 Minute feature of Bruce live in Los Angeles. Skunkworks Live – Originally released by Castle/JVC in 1997. 60 Minute Live feature of Bruce performing in Gerona, Spain.

Disc 2 - Live Bootleg!: Scream For Me Brazil – Previously Unreleased 104 minute feature of Bruce performing in Sao Paulo, Brazil on his 2000 Tour.

Disc 3 - Studio Extras: Promo Videos: 'Tattooed Millionaire', 'All The Young Dudes', 'Dive Dive Dive' (Single), 'Born In '58', 'Tears Of The Dragon', 'Shoot All The Clowns', 'Back From The Edge', 'Inertia', 'Accident Of Birth...', 'Killing Floor', 'The Tower', 'Chemical Wedding', 'The Road To Hell', 'Abduction'.

Extras: 1. Tyranny Of Souls EPK – Filmed interview with Bruce about the creative processes of making an album together with him talking about each individual song (60 minutes). 2. Interview about each promo video and the thoughts and ideas behind them (60 minutes). 3. Biceps of Steel – Short feature of Bruce in SAMSON, released in 1981.

The artwork for the DVD package can be seen here.