The next time you’re hanging out in a graveyard, take a look at the man next to you. It may be Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson.
The metal legend was a guest on the German YouTube channel EMP where he discussed his views on creativity.
“I think if you’re creative, then you just have to be aware of when creativity may strike and be prepared to abandon all those ordinary things that everybody else thinks are important for that special moment,” the singer explained, “which can be very frustrating for the rest of humanity when they want you to go to dinner, but you actually want to write the last page of something because you just happen to be in the mood.”
Dickinson went on to reveal that inspiration often strikes at unusual times.
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“It happens to me when I’m driving around, which is very inconvenient, because you want to pull over and write something immediately, and often you can’t,” the rocker noted. “Or sitting on trains, strangely enough. But then somebody starts making a noise and distracting you, and you just get very inconvenient.”
Dickinson admitted he prefers to be alone when he’s coming up with ideas. One place in particular offers the solitude he craves.
“Sometimes I go off and just take a wander around the graveyard,” the singer confessed. “I find that cheers me up.”
The Mandrake Project, Dickinson’s first solo album since 2005’s Tyranny of Souls, comes out March 1. It includes the appropriately-titled second single, “Rain on the Graves”.
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Gallery Credit: Joe DiVita