Di'Anno - Nomad No More? Page 4
by Martin Popoff

But fame is an ass-kicker. In fact, that's what caused Paul to gently implode when a pop combo by the name of Iron Maiden was finding themselves in the clutch of a rapid rise to the apex of metal. "Let's put it this way," reflects Paul. "I didn't handle fame very well. Anyone who does know me or has met me, the one thing I like is that they say I'm one of the most normal people they've ever met, if you can define normal (laughs). It goes right over my head, all this stuff. I'm not really interested in it. I want to make music and play it, and that's it. I still do everything else that every other person does. But, at that point, it really got to me a bit. I was like, 'oh, hang on a minute (laughs).' I've suddenly got all this money in me pocket and people all of a sudden know who I am walking around the streets and stuff, and I'm like, 'oh shit.' And it really did change my life in the wrong way. I started drinking too much and doing too many drugs, messing around, and you sort of lose sight. It was never really real in the first place, and then it seems less real then."

But is setting up permanent shop in Brazil sticking the head in the proverbial lion's jaws? You be the judge. "I can't get me head around that," continues Paul. "I mean you want to see this out in Brazil. I go to sign records and it's unbelievable, the shopping malls, they get extra security in and stuff like that. I just can't get the grips of that. I'm like, 'what the hell is going on!?' I'm supposed to be signing records for an hour and you're there for something like four. Four hours, and you're going 'Jesus man, this is unbelievable.' In a way I love it, but I'm scared of it as well because no one should have that much power!"