Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )

Jimmy Kay From Canada’s The Metal Voice spoke to IRON MAIDEN Bassist Steve Harris who will be commencing his Canadian tour with his side project BRITISH LION along with special guests Coney Hatch. Steve Harris Spoke about the upcoming tour, Playing tennis with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson from Rush, The upcoming new British Lion album and his early influences

Watch the interview here:

When asked if they will play cover songs on their set list on the upcoming Canadian tour since the band only has only one album
“There has been only one UFO cover tune that we have been doing and I am not sure if we will be doing that on this tour. The rest of the songs will be songs from our first album and songs from our upcoming album.”

When asked about the new upcoming studio album from British Lion
“We finished recording but we have not mastered it yet and we have not done the artwork yet and have not decided when it would go out because I am governed by obviously with what happens with Maiden first. I need to know what Maiden is doing first and only then we can decide if we can release the album next year.”

When asked if he has any plans to tour the USA with British Lion
“We would love to tour the USA, but it is such a vast country and for that you have to block a certain period of time and be free. When we finally do the USA we will come over and do the West coast of Canada as well but we don’t have time right now and I have to see what I am doing with Maiden cause Iron Maiden always comes first. ”

When asked about the musical direction of the first British Lion Album
“We have been playing for the past 5 years live and we have become a tighter band, we are naturally evolving and if anything the band is getting heavier in sound yet still very melodic. The songs still have a UFO feel with a guitar influence. In general the band is sounding a little more harder edge more powerful live than on the debut record. With the second record we have tried to capture that essence of what we sound like live.”

When asked if Geddy Lee of Rush was an influence on him growing up
“Not very much really because I was more influenced by more British players like John Entwistle of the Who, Andy Fraser of Free, Martin Turner of Wishbone Ash, Rinus Gerritsen from Golden Earring and Pete Way from UFO, those people influenced me more than Geddy but Geddy is a fantastic player. You know me and Andy Curran bassist of Coney Hatch actually played tennis with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson and it was really good. it was quite funny because me and Andy were suppose to play tennis against Geddy and Alex but Geddy wanted to play with me against Andy and Alex know one was really there to watch it but I thought it was quite funny if people saw us play tennis together.”

Harris formed British Lion in 2012 and released a debut album with touring concentrated mainly in Europe. With a second album in the works, British Lion has announced dates in Brazil and Japan and are excited to add the five Canadian shows to their schedule.

Toronto Venue Change. British Lion/ Coney Hatch tour dates are now as follows:

November
1 – The Great Hall – Toronto, Ontario
2 – Maxwell’s – Waterloo, Ontario
3 – Brass Monkey – Ottawa, Ontario
4 – L’Imperial – Quebec City, Quebec
5 – Corona Theatre – Montreal, Quebec