Music Radar recently caught up with Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain to discuss a variety of subjects including recording the band's new album, The Book Of Souls, his drum kit, and his disdain for the use of triggers and other enhancements. An excerpt from the interview is available below.

Q: Iron Maiden continue to flourish today while tonnes of metal bands have come and gone – why is that?

Nicko: “It’s the quality of the musicians. They’re all amazing and I am so honoured to be along for this ride, that I am the chosen one for the drum stool. They are all virtuosos. The songwriting on this new album especially is off the charts. The guys step it up every album. We have that passion for playing and being together as a band, that’s where we live and breathe and what we have in our hearts. The drive and ambition has never changed. That is the winning formula. We have worked very hard and the morals and principles haven’t changed from day one.

We also have Kevin (Shirley) who is the seventh member of the band, and then we have Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor. Without them I don’t think we would be where we are. It’s a team effort. We care about what we do, we do it for us, it’s very selfish. We do it for ourselves and think the fans will like it and if they don’t, too frigging bad! It sounds callous and we do think of the fans, but we do it for us.”

Q: How does it feel to be looked on as an innovator in your instrument?

Nicko: “It’s passing the torch. It’s like when I think back to my heroes. Like I knew Keith Moon and had the opportunity to tell him that he was a hero of mine – he told me to shut up! We became chums. The best accolade in this game is when a kid comes up to you. I met a four-year-old boy a couple of months ago and he came up to me and said I was his favourite drummer. That meant so much to me. It can be a four-year-old, a 14-year-old, a 44-year-old, it all means so much. When you hear your peers in the business say things, that is great.

I was with Thomas Lang a few years ago and he said he was a big fan of mine. He said he used to listen to me all the time when he first started playing. There was Thomas Lang, this phenomenon telling me he was a fan of mine. I thought, ‘What the f**k, you can do with one hand what I’ve been trying to do with two for years!’ It’s wonderful to know that you have influenced people.”

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Iron Maiden’s The Book Of Souls tour landed in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Friday night (February 26th). Good quality fan-filmed footage from the BOK Centre can be seen below.

Iron Maidens’ setlist on the night was as follows:

“If Eternity Should Fail”
“Speed Of Light”
“Children Of The Damned”
“Tears Of A Clown”
“The Red And The Black”
“The Trooper”
“Powerslave”
“Death Or Glory”
“The Book Of Souls”
“Hallowed Be Thy Name”
“Fear Of The Dark”
“Iron Maiden”

Encore:
“The Number Of The Beast”
“Blood Brothers”
“Wasted Years”

Dates for The Book Of Souls World Tour can be found here (with ticket links).

Check out video from the Merchandise Booth below: