In a new intervie with the “Maiden A–Z” podcast, British heavy metal vocalist Blaze Bayley, who fronted IRON MAIDEN more than 20 years ago, was asked if he has any plans to write an autobiography. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “No. My old drummer [Lawrence Paterson], he has written an autobiography, which is about a certain era of my life, with a lot of the history. It’s called ‘At The End Of The Day’.
“For me personally, I don’t wanna write about the past,” he explained. ‘I don’t wanna remember the past too much. I’m looking forward, and I’m living right now, and I’m living in the moment, and I’m trying to make myself live and be here right now.
“Plan for the worst. Hope for the best. Don’t live in the future, and don’t live in the past. Be here — be here now, where every small decision that you make now contributes to the direction that you will go in and the future that you will have. That’s how I live.
“So I don’t really wanna write an autobiography,” Blaze reiterated. “There’s nothing in it for me. It’s nothing there for me. I’m trying to live now. And I’m thinking of my fans and singing for them and singing my new songs for them.
“Maybe some people want to write about themselves. They like themselves so much. I’m just not interested in that.
“I’m listening to Ronnie James Dio sing ‘Children Of The Sea’, I’m transported into another world, another dimension,” Bayley added. “I’m listening to ‘Holy Diver’, and I’m in another place. I’m listening to AC/DC ‘Heatseeker’, and I’m in another world where a man can be a missile. That’s the world I want to be in. I don’t want to be permanently in this world. I need to be distracted. I need to go to places. And I think in metal and rock music, we allow ourselves these brief fantasies and be able to go to different places and all of that. And the level of musicianship, generally, from most of the bands who were there is so good, they’re able to take us on these journeys and out of ourselves.
“I’m not a big fan of reality.”
The 57-year-old Bayley, who was born in Birmingham, was the original frontman in WOLFSBANE, but left to join MAIDEN, with whom he recorded two studio albums — 1995’s “The X Factor” 1998’s and “Virtual XI” — before Bruce Dickinson returned to the group. The MAIDEN albums he appeared on sold considerably less than the band’s prior releases and were their lowest-charting titles in the group’s home country since 1981’s “Killers”.
Since leaving IRON MAIDEN in 1999, Bayley has released a number of albums, including several under the moniker BLAZE and more than a handful under his own name. He also appeared on 2012’s “Wolfsbane Saves The World”, the first album of new material by WOLFSBANE since the group’s self-titled 1994 effort.
Blaze released a new studio album, “War Within Me”, on April 9. All songs were written and produced by Blaze and guitarist Christopher Appleton.
