Photos + Video – Loudwire ‘In Conversation’ With Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson, Celebrating ‘The Mandrake Project’

In celebration of the release of the first issue of Bruce Dickinson's 12-part comic series that serves as a thrilling companion to his upcoming solo album, The Mandrake Project, Loudwire's Joe DiVita sat down with the Iron Maiden singer for a live "In Conversation" event in front of an intimate crowd of headbangers gathered at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn, New York and with plenty of Trooper Beer on hand.

Dickinson is one of metal's most creative minds and, even at the age of 65, he's still hot in pursuit of big and bold new ideas, taking his gripping storytelling beyond the recording studio and into the pages of a quarterly comic that will, in the end, for a graphic novel trilogy, released through Z2 Comics.

About the Comic

The Mandrake Project is a dark story that actually seeps a bit into Dickinson's previous solo works, namely the Accident of Birth title track.

Dickinson explains,

The story for the comic was based on a song called 'Accident of Birth.' In 'Accident of Birth,' there's a brother separated from his twin at birth. One is in Hell, the other one is alive [with] survivor's guilt... 'Why him and not me? Why am I not in Hell and survived?'

But imagine if there was a way of bringing back his dead brother from the underworld? Imagine there was technology that could do that and that technology is owned by two guys — Professor Lazarus and Dr. Necropolis. One's a good guy and one's a bad guy. One wants to use it for the good of humanity and one wants to make a load of money."

An intriguing story, right? Wait until you hear Bruce talk about it in more detail!

Bruce Dickinson, The Mandrake Project (Chapter 1)

READ MORE: How Many Songs Each Member of Iron Maiden Has Written

Other Parts of the Interview

As the chat progresses, Dickinson opens up on the difference between writing with Iron Maiden and his longtime solo collaborator Roy Z, finding his live bassist Tanya O'Callaghan, some early solo album reissues in the works, a scary co-pilot incident, space travel and more.

He even reveals that he recorded his very first guitar solo on the new album!

Watch the full interview directly below and view photos from the night further down the page.

Get your copy of The Mandrake Project comic (out now) here and album (out March 1) at this location.

Bruce Dickinson, In Conversation With Loudwire at Saint Vitus Bar