What stands out from Nicko McBrain’s story?
- Autobiography details: Hello Boys and Girls! recounts Nicko McBrain’s life and career in his own lively voice.
- Lemmy’s advice: Lemmy Kilmister encouraged McBrain to hold his tongue after he repeatedly spoke up about money and lost gigs.
- Maiden years: McBrain joined Iron Maiden after a decade in professional music and brought a different style from Clive Burr.
- Songwriting credit: McBrain wrote the initial melody for “The New Frontier,” his sole Iron Maiden writing credit.
Nicko McBrain’s autobiography, Hello Boys and Girls!, traces the Iron Maiden drummer’s career, from his early friendship with Lemmy Kilmister and a reported UFO sighting to joining Maiden and nearly quitting the band. This interview explores the stories behind the book and McBrain’s experiences as a musician.
Before joining Iron Maiden, McBrain worked as a session musician and played with acts including The Streetwalkers, Pat Travers, Gordon Giltrap and Trust. His dream of a music career began after seeing “Dark Sunglass Guy,” drummer Joe Morello of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, on television as a child; finding a stable place in a band proved harder.
One of the most rewarding parts of Hello Boys and Girls! is its account of McBrain’s early life and career, told in his own voice with his characteristic energy and comedic timing.
The book also looks back on more than four decades of Iron Maiden. McBrain discusses difficult moments for himself and the band candidly, while keeping the stories personal rather than malicious.
McBrain also acknowledges drumming influences, friends and newer-generation players, including the late Joey Jordison of Slipknot. He says he has come to appreciate double-bass drumming, a technique he once questioned.
The interview below covers those stories and more with McBrain.
How did Nicko McBrain’s friendship with Lemmy begin?
One of my favorite anecdotes early in the book is that you kept running into Lemmy. And every time he ran into you, he would ask you, “Who’s fired you now?”
Nicko McBrain says he met Lemmy during the Hawkwind years and continued running into him before joining Iron Maiden. Lemmy would ask who had fired McBrain and offer him advice about speaking up.
McBrain’s account describes Lemmy as direct but not condescending; he says Lemmy’s advice was often right.
McBrain says he was fired from bands after asking what had happened to the money, and that speaking up cost him gigs. His professional career began in 1973, when he was 21, and he says his first firing was from Streetwalkers in 1976.
McBrain says he loved Lemmy, whom he remembers as a kind person. After McBrain joined Maiden, Motorhead and Iron Maiden played many shows together over the following four decades.
What did Nicko McBrain see during his reported UFO encounter?
One other early part of the book is when you were with one of your childhood bands and saw four mysterious lights outside. I think anyone reading what you described in the book would understand that you saw a UFO.
McBrain’s reported UFO sighting took place when he was 14 or 15 and rehearsing with a childhood band at The Breaks, a youth club in Hatfield, north of London.
McBrain says he and bass player Nick Robinson went outside and saw four white-yellowish lights in a diamond formation against a dark sky. Two lights moved away in opposite directions, while the remaining two went upward.[lights]
McBrain says they went back to the band and told the others they thought they had seen UFOs.
McBrain says he cannot explain what the lights were.
Do you think aliens are walking among us? Are they in the water?
McBrain says unexplained phenomena exist, but he describes his idea that they may be inter-dimensional as a personal theory, referring to the Fermi paradox.
He says the possibility of a parallel universe could offer an alternative explanation for how something might enter our universe.
McBrain says he does not think there is intelligence in our universe, but believes an inter-dimensional explanation could account for sightings such as the four lights he recalls.
He also mentions unexplained activity in the quantum realm but says he is unsure about claims that aliens walk among humans.
McBrain jokes that he has met people so strange that he is convinced they are aliens.
How did Nicko McBrain join Iron Maiden and replace Clive Burr?
After bouncing around between a few bands, you found a band that you managed not to get fired from, and that band is Iron Maiden.
Nicko McBrain says it took him 10 years of professional work to find Iron Maiden. He says he has considered leaving at times but has never been happier in the band.
McBrain’s account describes Iron Maiden as a group of like-minded musicians focused on making music and playing live.
You’ve since retired from touring and Simon has taken your place. Fans are adjusting to a new style, but fans who were around in the ’80s had to adjust to a new style when you joined the band as well. How did your playing differ from Clive Burr’s, and how did you treat his drum parts?
McBrain says his session musician background made him accustomed to playing different styles of music.
He says his musical preferences include funk, blues and soul, and names Level 42 as a favorite. He describes The Streetwalkers as combining blues, progressive music and funk, and calls Pat Travers a rocker and blues player. His key drumming influences included Keith Moon and John Bonham, along with Ringo Starr and Charlie Watts.
McBrain says he brought a different flair and a larger drum set than Clive Burr, whose playing he describes as more solid. He also says his funk- and jazz-influenced groove suited Steve Harris.
McBrain characterizes his playing as more erratic than Burr’s. He says Simon Dawson’s style has more in common with Burr’s than with his own.
McBrain recalls fans wondering who the new drummer was when Burr left. He says “Where Eagles Dare” gave him an opportunity to introduce his playing, particularly through its drum fill.
McBrain says Steve Harris insisted that the band open the set with “Where Eagles Dare,” a choice that initially surprised him.
Why did Nicko McBrain almost quit Iron Maiden over a suit?
Nicko is pictured above in a suit, long after the disagreement he recalls below.
One time you wore a three-piece suit to an event. David Coverdale apparently thought it was very nice. Rod was not a fan of it, though, and there was a meeting about what you could wear in public as a member of Iron Maiden.
You seriously thought about quitting the band. Was the suit the final straw over something else brewing, or are you that much a man of principle?
McBrain’s suit disagreement happened around 1985 or 1986 at an EMI convention in New York. He says it was still early in his time with the band.[record label] [of me in the band]/
McBrain recalls that manager Rod Smallwood challenged his choice of clothing after he returned to the hotel. Steve Harris also told him that Iron Maiden was not a suit-and-tie band and expected a look based on leather and jeans.
McBrain says he reacted by accusing the band of acting like a dictatorship and saying he would leave.
He says he later understood the band’s point, although he did not understand it at the time. McBrain packed a suitcase and sat in the lobby.[and someone talked me out of quitting the band]
McBrain recalls having to ask the reception desk whether he could get his room back after checking out.
What was Nicko McBrain’s Iron Maiden songwriting credit?
Let’s fast-forward to the 2000s and your one writing credit, “The New Frontier,” from Dance of Death. In the book, you describe writing the melody on bass. Tell us more about Nicko McBrain, the bass player.
Nicko McBrain says he played bass with two fingers, like Steve Harris, and enjoyed the instrument. For “The New Frontier,” he says he sang or whistled the melody over the root groove, describing that as similar to Harris’s songwriting process.
McBrain says he played Harris’s acoustic bass and received a compliment when Harris told him he played like him.
Adrian Smith helped arrange the song, and Bruce Dickinson rewrote some of the lyrics. McBrain says Dickinson changed the words while retaining the song’s core idea.[Smith] [Dickinson]
McBrain says he considered the writing experience proof that he could do it and did not pursue more songwriting. He says he was content to write drum parts instead.
What is Iron Maiden’s “The New Frontier”?
Which drummers does Nicko McBrain admire?
We know a lot about your influences, but something else in the book is all your run-ins and shout-outs to other drummers, including Slipknot’s Joey Jordison, Carmine and Vinny Appice, Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy, Shadows Fall’s Jason Bittner and Nightwish’s Kai Hahto. I imagine you watch a lot of drummers on YouTube.
McBrain praises Drumeo and Brandon Toews, and says he enjoyed a session with Chad Smith.[of the Red Hot Chili Peppers] He also describes Smith as funny and unconventional.
McBrain says he enjoys watching Thomas Lang and Dirk Verbeuren of Megadeth, praising Verbeuren’s double-bass patterns.
That’s a big compliment because you’re not a double-bass player!
McBrain says he once viewed double-bass drumming as un-drummer-like and thought using two bass drums made playing harder. He later came to see that two pedals can make some patterns, such as sixteenth-note groupings, easier to play.
McBrain calls Joey Jordison extremely fast and a wonderful player, and says Jordison’s death at a young age was a loss.
McBrain also praises Jojo Mayer and Derek Roddy, whom he identifies with Imperishable and formerly Hate Eternal and Nile. He says Roddy filled in for Anthrax at one of the Maiden shows and that they sometimes meet because Roddy lives nearby.[Jordison] [in Mexico on Oct. 2]
McBrain says contemporary drummers continue to impress him with changes in timing and playing techniques.
What message did Nicko McBrain have for Ian Hill?
Ian Hill, whom you mentioned hanging out with in your book, has retired from Judas Priest because of arthritis in his shoulders, his hand and both of his knees.
As a recently retired musician in a very influential heavy metal band, do you have a message for Ian?
McBrain encouraged Ian Hill to enjoy time with his family and keep playing bass, suggesting he rest the instrument on his knee rather than strap it around his neck.
McBrain also said he wished Dean Castronovo of Journey well and that Castronovo was in his prayers.
Hello Boys and Girls! is published by HarperCollins.
The gallery below shows how many songs each Iron Maiden member has a writing credit on, including McBrain’s one credit.
How many songs has each Iron Maiden member written?
This gallery breaks down Iron Maiden songwriting credits.
Gallery credit: Joe DiVita
What does Nicko McBrain’s autobiography cover?
Hello Boys and Girls! recounts McBrain’s life and music career, including his time before joining Iron Maiden and stories from his years in the band. The book also covers his friendships, musical influences and experiences as a drummer.
Nicko McBrain’s autobiography combines personal stories with reflections on his work in music.
What was Nicko McBrain’s only Iron Maiden songwriting credit?
McBrain’s sole Iron Maiden songwriting credit is “The New Frontier,” from Dance of Death. He says he developed the melody on bass, with Adrian Smith helping with the arrangement and Bruce Dickinson rewriting some lyrics.
“The New Frontier” is McBrain’s only Iron Maiden writing credit mentioned in the interview.
Why did Nicko McBrain consider leaving Iron Maiden?
McBrain says he considered quitting after a disagreement about wearing a three-piece suit to an EMI convention in New York around 1985 or 1986. He says he later understood the band’s view of its public image.
McBrain’s suit disagreement led him to pack his bags and check out of his hotel, but he returned to ask for his room back.
Did Nicko McBrain believe his UFO sighting proved aliens exist?
No. McBrain says he saw four lights moving across the sky but cannot explain what they were, and he presents inter-dimensional explanations as his personal theory.
McBrain’s reported UFO sighting remains unexplained in his account.
