Paul Mario Day – The First Man of Iron Maiden

The name Paul Mario Day may not mean a lot to many metal fans, but it certainly does to any Iron Maiden follower. Paul was the original lead vocalist for Iron Maiden, playing with them for the first few months of their career. If you look back through Iron Maiden’s biographies, such as "Running Free" [1984] by Gary Bushell, "Infinite Dreams" [1996] by Dave Bowler and Bryan Dray and Mick Wall’s "Run to the Hills" [1998], you will find that he is mentioned favourably.  

I first stumbled across Paul in 2001 in Newcastle, Australia, and by this time, Paul had been residing on our shores for some time. I had a motorbike back then and when I pulled in to one of my local service centers one of the mechanics asked me - as I was wearing an Iron Maiden Fear of the Dark tour jacket – if I had ever heard of Paul Day. When I said of course, he replied, "Well, he actually lives in Kotara and works for a service centre over there." At this point I got straight on to the Iron Maiden Fan Club, as I was writing for them at the time, and hooked up an interview that the fan club published that year in Magazine Number 64. 

Paul was a very warm and a rather quiet bloke, who really didn’t understand what all of the fuss was about, and initially he wasn’t too keen on even doing an interview. After I got to know him, he settled in, and I understood that he is a very sincere person who has neither grace nor airs about him.

Paul is an amazing vocalist, who has a real natural and sincere voice, and looking across his recorded career the versatility of his voice becomes apparent. A lot of people search for Paul as an integral "piece to the Iron Maiden puzzle," however, he is much more than this and he has contributed significantly to metal as a musician, not just as "the original lead vocalist of Iron Maiden".

 

PHASE I - IRON MAIDEN

Paul, when did you first listen to heavy music and when did you realise you had a voice?

Paul Day: I first started listen to heavier music between eleven and thirteen. I started singing at school and kids used to try and test me out with songs, to see if I could sing it. 

I wanted to be a musician of some sort but not really a singer. I thought that it would be good to do something that wasn’t really a job. I never really thought that I would be a professional singer, I came from real working-class ground roots background and I just thought that it was someone else that would do that. 

I started singing along with a guitarist and didn’t play with a drummer until later on. It wasn’t until Iron Maiden that I actually felt that I wanted to be a singer, my first actual hint that the possibility to have a career was possible. 

As far as listening to music, it was The Beatles and then toward the end of school was Moody Blues and Led Zeppelin. I listened to Black Sabbath when I was singing with the guitarist. At this point I was drawn to darker music, in a good way and I enjoyed it more than anything else. Listening back to Black Sabbath now, to me, they don’t sound heavy any more, just melodic rock songs.

Who were the first bands you sang with? Did you sing with anyone at this stage that made a career out of music?

Paul Day: My first real band was actually Iron Maiden. I did do a live performance, at my dad’s Railway Social Club, of covers, but Maiden was my first band - nothing really before Iron Maiden.

How did you make your way into Iron Maiden?

Paul Day: I saw Steve Harris and Dave Smith in Gypsy’s Kiss at The Bridgehouse Pub and I really liked it. Nothing outrageous, I didn’t realise that Steve had only been playing for a few years at this point. 

I worked in at a bike service centre in Leytonstone, near Steve’s house, and he walked past one day and I asked if he needed a singer, at this point he said no. But about a few weeks later Steve turned up and asked if I wanted to audition and I did.

What are your initial memories of rehearsing with Maiden and Steve Harris?

Paul Day: Early songs we played were a Montrose song ‘I’ve Got the Fire’. I felt straight away that this had promise and I really enjoyed it. Steve introduced me to Judas Priest and that was it. We were expanding musically around the time of Sabotage and early Priest. I used to go over to Steve’s and he would show me the songs and the melodies and from there I just worked them out. 

Things were really natural and every time we got together, it progressed and was getting better and better. Everything seemed right actually.

What was difference between Iron Maiden and other pub bands doing the London East End circuit at this time?

Paul Day: I felt that the band needed to put a few more covers in to the set as punters were not responding too favourably and I approached Steve about this and his response was “I’m sticking to my guns, I believe that this is going to work.” I had my doubts but Steve knew what he wanted to do and, to be honest he was right, it worked. I actually admire his strength and focus with this regard. 

The only covers we did were ‘I’ve Got The Fire’, ‘Jailbreak’, ‘Simple Man’ and possibly a UFO song and the rest were originals.

What are your fondest memories of this time?

Paul Day: For me, I guess believing for the first time in my life that I could be a real singer. Before this point I didn’t believe, it gave me the strength to move on. Actually, also the fact that we all got on, I don’t remember a bad word between us. 

Two other things, Steve took me to see Stray at Woolwich University and also Judas Priest doing “Sad Wings of Destiny” amazing stuff and I’ll never forget it.

At what point were you no longer in Iron Maiden and how did this affect you at the time?

Paul Day: I got told after a gig actually. However, Steve warned me about getting my stage show together over a period of time. He asked me to get my look and my in-between banter organised. 

I actually felt like losing a girlfriend, I felt that I had lost the love of my life. But it actually shocked me into action for my later gigs. It was bad at the time but a good result came out of it as I took my performance to the level it needed to be, it got me going. I was rehearsing with bands and doing cover stuff really.

 

PHASE II – MORE

More was a brilliant NWOBHM [New Wave of British Heavy Metal] outfit and their debut album Warhead [1981] holds some fantastic tracks. More had a major deal with Atlantic Records and were seen, during this time, as one of the forerunners of the genre. Looking back and thinking of some of the other bands besides Maiden who had recorded albums, Warhead stands up compared to the likes of Jaguar, Samson and Angel Witch without a doubt. 

At this point, the ironic thing in Paul’s career is that he rubbed shoulders once again with Mr. Harris and Maiden, some seven years down the track.

How did the More line-up come about?

Paul Day: The drummer from More contacted me and asked me to come down for a rehearsal. I didn’t really know them, they found me, but they were all local guys anyway. I rehearsed through about twelve songs and then re-wrote all of the vocal melodies and it went from there. 

The music was heavy but fairly laid back, it wasn’t exactly what I liked, it is hard to explain, but ultimately I don’t think that it was for me. I guess a little bit Grateful Dead, Americanised music, where I was more rooted in the British stuff – Judas Priest and more complex stuff. 

I actually thought about leaving, but they convinced me to stay and the music evolved in to a more heavy direction - actually, the bass player left at this point as the music was changing so much. The guitarist had prior experience and he brought a lot of knowledge to the band about PA’s and record deals and all of that stuff.

At this time, what venues were you playing and what other bands were you playing alongside?

Paul Day: We played with Angel Witch and Samson. We played at Krackers or Checkers - I can’t really remember, The Ruskin Arms, The Bridgehouse. We didn’t gig all that much.

How did the deal with Atlantic come about, as this was a pretty major deal compared to a lot of the other deals bands got in the movement at this time?

Paul Day: To start with, a demo and a company in Germany [who] got a hold of it. So we actually went over there to record, in a studio that Accept recorded in. We now had a two track demo and no one wanted a bar of it. Sitting in Bronze Records, they listened to the demo and they said that it was awful, especially the singer. 

At this point we didn’t know where to go as we got quite despondent. [Then] it was sent to Tommy Vance at The Friday Rock Show and so we got to record four songs at the radio station. I actually [had] drunk a small bottle of whisky, before recording, to relax me and to give it a live feel, and for me to forget that it is a recording. I then sang over each track once more and then we mixed it. 

Before they played it I punched out a letter on a typewriter and it sent it to all of the record companies who knocked us back and told them to listen to the radio station when it was to be played and left my number. I wasn’t too polite; I wanted to just make a point. The DJ gave us a good rave, and as a result, on the Monday after the Friday night airing of the demo I had phone calls from Polydor, Atlantic and Bronze. I panicked and from here the guitarist found a manager who owned a recording studio in London that Gillan and AC/DC played at. This was good as I didn’t have the head for the business side. 

When I knew that we had Atlantic I couldn’t believe it as so many of my favourite bands were on this label. From this point we just concentrated a lot more on us being an entity and establish our music and not worry about the business side. This was just after the punk movement and we established our own identity, we weren’t a pretty band so we had to play this up.

How was the album received? Do you have any idea of the sales figures?

Paul Day: The only thing I remember is that there was about forty to forty-five-thousand in Germany alone. But to be honest, I didn’t care about this stuff, I just wanted to play. I was young and just wanted to play and live this lifestyle. 

The single ‘We Are The Band’ got to number forty-seven in the charts and I was happy with this. For the sort of band we were in 1981, with no real promotion, I felt that this was a good result. We supported Krokus at this point and we held our own and did well. The venues were full for the supports - a very satisfying experience and good feedback from the public and the press.

How did the tour with Iron Maiden come about? How did you get on with the other members of Maiden?

Paul Day: A few months after the Krokus tour we were in Europe with Maiden. We didn’t know how well known we were but the venues were always full when we played. We felt that things were moving in the right direction and all was good. We did our job as good as humanly possible and Iron Maiden’s crew was excellent! 

I met up again with Loopy and Paul Dianno and we all got on great, the band and the crew was perfect - only one gig in Switzerland [that] we couldn’t get through customs. 

It was about three months long and very successful for both bands. I actually doubled my money on the tour as I got a spotlight job for Maiden and so I was earning 10 pound a night, brilliant, I loved it. This was for the last two thirds of the tour, perfect times. There were a lot of More banners and from this point I have always loved playing in Europe. We did a few press things on the tour and they went well. We were also a clean living band so were always ready to play and had no issues.

So what happened between Warhead and More’s second release?

Paul Day: We carried on gigging and there was starting to be friction between the main guitarist and everyone else. We actually had Paul Todd for a while who was in Maiden as well but he wasn’t there long. It was getting harder to work but we supported Def Leppard, Saxon, Foreigner and we surged on. 

We ended up supporting Black Sabbath, and the guitarist mouthed off at Sabbath’s crew and they then gave us no help. Supporting Sabbath was hard because their audience was so loyal, but we were kicked off after only three gigs and I am not sure if it was due to the argument or not. 

Look, the second album was coming on really well and we road tested some of the songs on tour. I actually accused the guitarist and the manager of screwing the rest of the band and from this point I was ousted. They said the record company didn’t like my songs and out of pride I quit. I did regret this but things were tapering off, however, I would have liked to have recorded that second album to see how it would have gone.

 

PHASE III – WILDFIRE

Wildfire released two very strong albums, Brute Force and Ignorance in 1983 and the 1984 Summer Lightning release through Mausoleum Records. Both albums are very strong as straight ahead 80’s metal albums; however, for me personally, Summer Lightning is amazing. The songs on this album started to become more complex and quite progressive, with tracks such as ‘Summer Lightning’ and the ballad ‘Give Me Back Your Heart Again’ standing strong even today.

How did the Wildfire project first come about?

Paul Day: I started jamming again with a guitarist, Martin Bushell, and he was a great guitarist. I actually phoned him the day I left More and we started writing songs straight away and rehearsed in a bedroom. We actually threw a cheap demo together and shipped it off to Belgium and this is how we got Mausoleum.

How was the song writing different to working in More?

Paul Day: More was always jamming and thrashing out ideas. With Wildfire we used our heads; Martin would come up with riffs and me melodies. At this time I was a dispatch driver and I was writing lyrics and melodies at work. Brute Force and Ignorance was pretty well written by us at this time. 

We were inspired by our favourite bands, for Martin Schenker, Rhodes, Moore [Garry] and for me Rush and all of my heroes. We just wanted to progress upon other people’s writing, it reminded us of bands we liked. We didn’t want to rip any one off but just to extend upon what we loved.

The deal with Mausoleum, to me, seems to be a bit strange, more of an independent label rather than someone as big as Atlantic, how did this deal come about?

Paul Day: My impatience to keep singing I guess. I took the first offer waved under my nose because I figured no matter [whom] we were with we were going to be big. I didn’t think that the record company size mattered as long as we had content. I guess this was possibly a mistake, but I had the addiction to just keep singing live and I was frightened of stopping. So I guess in hindsight it was a mistake.

Talk me through recording of Brute Force and Ignorance? How was this different to Warhead?

Paul Day: We had as much time as we needed which was attractive. But when we went into the studio we had never done a gig. The band was only two to three months old and we were still in the honey moon period. We had a lot of fun doing the recording and it was just like going on holiday. We had no producer, and I was the tape op. and we were just experimenting. The only thing against us was that we never played together and this would have helped I think. We tracked everything as normal, all was good, and with mixing and everything we did together. 

I love the album and the songs still; the record company actually stayed away and gave us free rein. We worked hard, had a few beers at night and it all came together very easily. I actually had bronchitis when I was singing and I struggled with this but I am still very proud of it, it really compromised 'Violator' actually. I actually put the Wildfire logo together and the company put the fire on it. The title came from when I was a motor mechanic. A good thing was that we were always together whilst everyone else recorded.

Summer Lightning for my understanding is a much more mature and complex piece of art, would you agree? Was the writing of this album set up differently to the first?

Paul Day: Yes I would agree. With this album we wrote as a band. Members brought stuff to rehearsals and it was a real group effort. By this time we had actually played together and knew each other as musicians and people and we could test things on stage before recording. 

We recorded it with the Rolling Stones Mobile and the band played in a green house-type conservatory, in Shepparton Studios to give us a heavier drum sound. A big hard surfaced room, good theory but it didn’t really work the way we wanted. The rest was recorded in either the truck mobile or in other rooms. 

It was good as I always had this paranoia singing behind glass, seeing people talking but not hearing, my imagination runs away with [me] negatively. There was a couple of songs were I wanted to get that sexy [David] Coverdale type of sound and I tried to get the atmosphere. 

Again a great experience, but we then got a producer to mix the album and this didn’t feel right as he hadn’t actually heard the songs before this point. To be fair, he did a good job and I need to be fair. I still felt that a lot of other albums sounded better at the time, we did our best and we were learning. The songs were a progression and we started to get our own sound. We were aiming to be a little more commercial and some members were fans of Duran Duran.

What major tours did you do with Wildfire and how did the band go album sales wise?

Paul Day: We supported Hawkwind and this went well, considering that it was a strange mix. People were coming to see us as well. At this point I started to feel that Mausoleum was a big mistake as the record couldn’t be found in any stores, and before the internet this was the only way of getting known. Sales wise we have no idea, we never got feedback from the record company. When we actually asked we never really got a response.

What harkened the end of Wildfire? How did you feel at this point because this band seemed to have a formula that worked?

Paul Day: We were really trying and getting down because we had no real management support or agencies and the album was nowhere to be found. My girlfriend actually, at this point, replied to an ad in the Melody Maker about a band looking for a singer. I actually got a phone call from the Sweet. I wasn’t really a big fan but this impressed me because this is a band that worked. 

I went to an audition and sang a few songs and they said they would call me on a certain day but they didn’t. A couple of days went by and I didn’t hear, so I thought that was that. Then they called and said I had the job and when I told Wildfire they were planning to get Garry Bardon to sing for them and he was a bigger singer anyway. I actually got this gig amongst a pile of three hundred people who applied which made me really happy.

 

PHASE IV – SWEET

Paul and Sweet is an interesting twist to his career. Listening to the above albums it is difficult to think that this opportunity would have come about. However, if you get a chance to listen to Sweet’s 1990 release Live at the Marquee [Maze Records], you would see that he is all over the material! There are actually three original songs on this release, all of which are co-written with Paul: ‘Shot Down in Flames’, ‘Over My Head’, and ‘Jump The Fence’, and maybe this was a hint of what was to come for Sweet at this time.

You toured quite extensively with this band, where did you actually get to and how were you received live by the Sweet audience?

Paul Day: I went down totally better than I could have expected, as I am not anything like [Brian] Connolly. I think I might have actually influenced how the band was sounding. 

When we started gigging we kept on getting booked and when we went to Australia we were told that this was one of the most successful tours the promoter had done. It went great, I was a heavier singer but it worked. We actually played thirteen days straight in Australia, always a full house. I actually only had three weeks to learn the songs and with not being a fan I had to really work hard to get ready for the tour.

Did you feel that this was your actual gig, or just as a hired gun?

Paul Day: I felt a part of the band and not a hired gun. I felt I made the band my own in my own respect, but the songs weren’t mine. I felt that I was in a cover band and the success wasn’t mine it was the Sweet’s. For the first time I was well paid and looked after on the road, it felt good. But the longer I was with them that feeling grew, however, I did live with it. 

As musicians and singers I really admired the band as a group the longer I was with them. I have never been with backing vocalists this good ever. All in all, it was a positive experience and it made me fall in love with Australia and that is why I am still living here.

The songs you wrote and recorded with Sweet are really strong, what was the song writing process like in this band?

Paul Day: I worked with Phil Lanzon. Great person to work with and writing with a keyboard player was great. I had never worked with a keyboard player until now and the songs came together very quick. ‘Shot Me Down With Flames’ was something I started with Wildfire and then worked with Phil to complete it. We had to get the other names on the credits as part of the deal of recording.

What happened to the band, as looking back at the video recorded at the Marquee and listening to the studio songs accompanying the live recording, things looked very promising within the band?

Paul Day: It was good but I so much wanted to do my own thing and feel a part of something. No one was interested in us in England, we had an agent and nothing was happening. So during the second tour, it wasn’t as full and a lot smaller. 

It was going a bit down hill and at this point, I felt Australia was fresh and new and I decided to try and start a future here. I met a girl on the tour who ended up being the tour manager and I left. It wasn’t working well in England. I was living in Australia for two years and I went back for one tour but it was expensive to have me fly back so they replaced me for convenience and I understand. 

So for me, I wanted to try something else. The album and video weren’t actually released until I was living here for over a year actually. But good memories and I always went to see them when they were in town. A good part of my life but it wasn’t my music.

 

PHASE V – CRIMZON LAKE  

Now to Crimzon Lake - Paul has got together with a line-up of extremely experienced musicians from Newcastle and started the next chapter of his career. I recently saw them live at Wickham Park Hotel in Newcastle and they were brilliant. An outfit that was very tight and very comfortable with what they were doing, no rubbish, and no fuss - this is Crimzon Lake and these are our songs. 

Listening to their debut, self-titled EP following the gig, I was blown away by the complexity of the tracks – great musicianship coupled with seasoned song writing. Listening to Crimzon Lake, the best way that I can describe, or compare, would be to that of an Australian Uriah Heep. A very complex pub band with British overtones, rooted within virtuoso song writing from the late 70’s and early 80’s.

Paul, how did Crimzon Lake come about?

Paul Day: They came looking for me. They were looking for a singer for six months and a keyboard player told them about me and they checked me out at Warners Bay Tavern singing in a covers band. 

I auditioned and felt that this is the band I have been looking for, for twenty three years. The music for me was perfect, easy for me to sing and I could contribute. ‘Hell Freezes Over’ came from a jam in the audition. It was nice to know that after all these years I still had it in me to write

Having a career as long as yours and looking back, are you enjoying playing now more than when you first started out? How is it different?

Paul Day: It is so different now. I enjoy it the same way but for different reasons. When I was younger I was thinking about the good times associated with it, but now I am enjoying the moment. 

With a covers band it is just like going to the office, you do it ‘cause you have to, but with originals because you want to. So I always want to do my best and the reward is so much more with originals - and the audience feedback is what makes it. Getting that feedback is a great feeling. It is a real challenge with originals as you are turning the audience on. With covers it is for the money and with originals I would do it for free.

You have recently released a self-titled EP, when is the album going to be completed?

Paul Day: The album has been started but we ran out of money. So the EP was released to make money and finish the recording. We are self financed so we have to be realistic and can’t afford to do it properly at the moment.

Where is Crimzon Lake going or where do you want it to go?

Paul Day: From here it is to get a publishing and recording deal. We need to have better facilities to do the songs justice. The EP is introducing the band to the public and we are using the internet to get interest in other parts of the world, I am hoping Europe. I have no interest in playing locally unless it is supporting major acts and not just pubs in front of smaller numbers. We need management, someone to represent us - as I do want to still avoid the business and concentrate on what I do.

 

For more information on Crimson Lake, visit their official website, www.crimzonlake.com