Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood talks to The Metal Hammer Show

As Iron Maiden release their sixteenth studio album, The Book Of Souls, The Metal Hammer Magazine Show revisits a chat it had with Rod Smallwood from 2013 at Download Festival where his band were headlining the Saturday night.

Fresh, in a manner of speaking, from cycling from London to the festival site over the space of three days with the Heavy Metal Truants, he spoke to presenter and magazine editor, Alexander Milas, about why he’ll never go to Glastonbury, Maiden’s genesis and the mainstream media’s misconception of metal fans.

“There’s an honesty in being a metal fan, “said Smallwood, “A love of music in its pure form. Along with fans of classical music fans, studies have shown that metal fans have the highest IQs, though we knew that all along anyway. We just have to live with the condescension of the media, lazy and stupid, they won’t be bothered to investigate it properly.“

Can’t get enough Maiden? Then click the link below to see our hand-picked list of Dave Murray’s greatest solos and song writing credits.

The 10 Best Iron Maiden Songs Co-Written By Dave Murray

Philip Wilding is a novelist, journalist, scriptwriter, biographer and radio producer. As a young journalist he criss-crossed most of the United States with bands like Motley Crue, Kiss and Poison (think the Almost Famous movie but with more hairspray). More latterly, he’s sat down to chat with bands like the slightly more erudite Manic Street Preachers, Afghan Whigs, Rush and Marillion.