Characters like Nicko McBrain don’t come along very often. The larger-than-life tub-thumper with British metal icons Iron Maiden may have recently retired from live duties, but a conversation with the man (ours took place via Zoom) is still a life-affirming experience. This writer has interviewed McBrain a few times but, even when spending time in his company for the first time, he makes you feel like you’re an old pal. Warm and lovely, and blessed with a big, hearty laugh, he’s simply the kind of human that the world needs more of.
He’s also written a book about his clearly epic existence. We reviewed it favorably last month, noting that he’s been using his downtime since semi-retirement wisely. The idea popped into McBrain’s head about 15 years ago, when he was offered a book deal and made a start but ran into the brick wall that we like to call “writer’s block,” and ended up paying back the hefty advance. Fast-forward to now and McBrain, without a grueling touring schedule tying him down, revisited the book with more success.
“Harper Collins went, ‘Yep, fantastic’,” McBrain says. “I got together with a guy called Ben Dirs in London last year, and he would ask me questions. I would tell him stories. Then he would transpose those stories for me. So, he co-wrote the book. Really, he helped me finish it off. So, we got to the stage where the first chapter he wrote for me, it wasn’t me speaking. It wasn’t like me telling that story. And then we had another meeting in London together, and he went ‘right, I’ve got you now.’”
They did do a great job! McBrain has a distinctive voice, and one can imagine the words in the book being read aloud by him. In fact, you don’t need to imagine it because McBrain has voiced the audiobook.
“You know, the thing that I wanted to pull across is that it’s my story, and it’s like me telling the story,” he says. “As I said, I had 21 chapters, but obviously, when you give the book to the publishers, they go, ‘Hang on a minute, we’ve got to get rid of that, that, that. And you go, ‘Well, no, that’s important. You can’t get rid of that one. Well, all right, that’s going to go then. This this one’s going to go.’”
With that in mind, McBrain told us a story that didn’t make the book, about an overnight session with veteran musicians Mike Leslie and Billy Day at the end of 1972 at the Whitfield Street CBS Studios, London, and a young Iggy Pop helping them load their gear afterwards. A little bit of sleuthing reveals that Iggy was there at the time to record the Stooges’ Raw Power masterpiece.
The book covers McBrain’s time in Pat Travers’ band and Trust before, obviously, joining the metal behemoth that is Maiden. The drummer is honest throughout it all, reflective, and always decent.
“I wanted to have class,” he says. “I didn’t want to be in the gutter with it. There are certain little stories in there that are a little bit risqué, with a bit of dodgy language and stuff. People think about me as, ‘he’s a drummer in this fantastically fantastic, famous band.’ Yes, I lived that rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, but I didn’t want it to portray that. I wanted it to be more the personal side. How I was feeling in my life, and relating those stories was very important. Getting those memories and knowing the fullest story for some of them was hard. It was like going back into an emotion that I suppressed for a while, but I wanted it to portray me. My life hasn’t always been Iron Maiden. Obviously, you know 10 years of professional playing with all kinds of different and wonderful people, and not so wonderful people. That’s what I wanted to do, and I think we achieved that.”
He absolutely did. A man of faith nowadays, McBrain has let go of his grudges. We find out in the book that he was angry with Pat Travers for years over the way that he had been ousted from that band. Now, the two old comrades are close again.
“I took that skeleton out, and that was the last one that was rattling about,” he says. So, I don’t really have any others. Well, I would apologize to Tony Herbert, the guy I kicked in the bollocks when I was at school. That’s the only skeleton I’ve got.”
With the book out, McBrain has been engaging in “An evening with Nicko” readings and conversations. He has a restaurant called Rock ‘n’ Roll Ribs. Plus, he has a Maiden tribute band of his own, amusingly called Titanium Tart, which keeps him playing the music he loves without having to spend months on the road away from his family.
“We have one rehearsal a week, and so that keeps my hand in,” McBrain says. “It keeps me from deteriorating, from not remembering songs. I need to keep those songs going, and I’m doing pretty good on that. I’m happy with the band. They’re great players, all young guys, except for Mitch [Tanne, also co-owner of the restaurant]. He’s an old fart like me.”
Performing in small venues with Titanium Tart may not be the same as playing the world’s biggest venues with Maiden, but McBrian appreciates the intimacy. This is, after all, a choice he made.
“I love that vibe, that intimacy,” he says in conclusion. “In the smaller venue, you’re playing to everyone. I love it. And you know, we do about seven songs, and then I get up and talk to the audience for sometimes 20 minutes. I haven’t got a problem chatting to people as you can tell.”
We wouldn’t have it any other way.
Photo by John McMurtrie
