Producer KEITH OLSEN - BRUCE DICKINSON Is A "Consummate Gentleman"
August 14, 2004, 19 years ago
The BRUCE DICKINSON And Then Some pages spoke to legendary producer Keith Olsen (WHITESNAKE, SCORPIONS, NIGHT RANGER, SAGA, SAMMY HAGAR) who worked with the IRON MAIDEN frontman for around six weeks in 1994, the year his Balls To Picasso album was released. Here are a few excerpts from the chat:
How did getting to work with Bruce come about?
"I was in London when he first called me. I met Bruce through his management because of my work with the band Skin. I've done over 225 albums and I try to remember these things and a lot of them seem to mesh together. A lot of things are set up by your own management and you just go and show up."What was the first meeting like?
"I heard a couple his songs and I said, why don't we do something with the sequencer and we'll play with the computer some. Anything computer is pretty far away from Iron Maiden."What did Bruce want to accomplish?
"When he came to me he wanted to do something totally different than the band (Iron Maiden). So, when we did that everybody thought we were crazy. Some of it worked better than others but it was one of those things that was, by design, to do something as far away from what he's known for as possible.It's been said that Bruce was going for a PETER GABRIEL feel."
Did you follow Bruce's career in Iron Maiden?
"Other than hearing Iron Maiden, I never saw them live. I knew about them and other English rock acts. When Iron Maiden was going strong, I was in the studio so much that the last thing I wanted to listen to was yet another record. I had heard enough Iron Maiden to know what they were about. As far as following Bruce's career closely, I had not done that."What was it like working with Bruce?
"He's the consummate gentleman. He's very easy to work with and has the right ideas at the right time."To read the entire interview head here.
(Thanks Maidenfans.com)
