Gearing up for Iron Maiden's April 29th show in Christchurch, New Zealand, Stuff.co.nz caught up with frontman Bruce Dickinson for an in-depth interview. An excerpt from the discussion is available below.

Since his return in the late '90s, the six-piece lineup has put out seven studio albums, including its latest one, The Book of Souls. To make the album, Iron Maiden flew into Paris in 2014 from their homes scattered all over the world – England, Florida, Hawaii and Los Angeles – spending 2.5 months in a recording studio overseen by their longstanding producer, Kevin Shirley. It's like a family reunion when the band reunites, laughs Dickinson, who says that with The Book of Souls they did things a bit differently, writing, rehearsing and recording until it was done. So no sending music back and forth via the net then?

"No, we're quite old school. We have an acoustic guitar and a taperecorder. We all rock up and hang out. We're like family."

With his trademark singing style, a voice that once earned him the nickname "The Air Raid Siren", he's also renowned for giving energetic performances and connecting with the crowd. In a performance in Florida last month, he leaped and moved his limber, lean frame in front of cauldrons of fire in a stage set that is the band's most impressive yet. While the band's guitarists flicked long hair over their guitars and black Iron Maiden t-shirts, Dickinson stood out with his short, cropped hair, tanned trousers and black turtleneck jumper. When he spoke, his words struck a chord at a sold-out concert in New York. 

"The world's a fucked up place where everyone's trying to fuckin kill each other and everyone's trying to blow each other up. We sing songs about the devil and we go away happy," he crooned to a roaring crowd.

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For their New Zealand gigs, Iron Maiden have released an All Blacks-themed t-shirt as a tribute to their Rugby World Cup victory last year.

Iron Maiden's manager Rod Smallwood: “We did a tribute to the legend that is Colin Meads on our 2011 NZ tour T-Shirt which went down so well with the rugby fraternity there (i.e. most everyone!) that AB assistant coach Wayne Smith, a mate for many years and big Maiden fan along with some other current ABs, asked to use this art on some special tees he was going to use as prizes for the players for outstanding defensive performances in each game of last year’s World Cup. He had done similarly in the 2011 Cup with our Fear Of The Dark design tees. This new tour shirt commemorates the victory last year at Twickenham and is a tribute to the ABs. Looking forward to seeing some of you for a few Troopers in Christchurch and Auckland.”

Dates:

April
29 - Horncastle Arena - Christchurch, New Zealand

May
1 - Vector Arena - Auckland Central, New Zealand