In a new interview with Rock Of Ages radio, British heavy metal vocalist Blaze Bayley, who fronted IRON MAIDEN more than 25 years ago, was asked what advice he would give to younger musicians who are trying to make it in the scene today. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, it’s a different shape now, the industry, from when I started. When I started, you had to get a record deal. You had to be with a company to do everything. Now, you can afford your own recording equipment. It doesn’t take that much. And studios are a lot cheaper.”I would say don’t stop at learning your instrument,” he continued. “That’s the key. You’ve gotta be great on your instrument. The next thing is you have to have songs that really mean something, even if it’s just for you, a song that makes sense. And then after that you must learn to record yourself well. You must learn that. So as much as you learn to be a virtuoso on guitar or play drums or whatever instrument you’ve chosen, you must learn to record yourself. That is possible now with practice and experience to make an album that as good as an album that someone has spent a million euros recording. That’s possible. You can learn to do that. It’s absolutely possible. So I would say to new bands, do that and take advantage of the social media. But the key thing is, and this is a horrible question that I believe you must ask yourself is, why would anybody want to listen to me instead of watch Netflix or go on the PlayStation? That’s a tough question to answer, man. And I have to ask myself that all of the time. And if you can’t think of a reason, you’d better come up with something. The reason should be that your songs are so great live and you mean it so much when you bring these great songs to life in front of five people, 50 people or 500, it has to really grab everybody. That’s my opinion.”What I do at every Blaze Bayley concert, at every WOLFSBANE concert, what I’m trying to do is reach into the heart of my wonderful fans and go, ‘Right, come on, you’re gonna feel better. Just come with me, sing along. You’re gonna feel better. Get involved.’ So that’s what I would say to new bands.”I think people do forget why they get into the artists that they like,” Bayley added. “And it’s almost always because of the songs, something about the songs that really appeals to you. So I think that’s important. But it’s tough, and you’ve really gotta consider if it’s for you. Because in the end, if it’s not life and death, it’s really, really tough, man. If you’re not prepared to sacrifice and work hard and work smart, it’s tough.”Blaze will embark on a European tour this spring celebrating the 25th anniversary of his first post-MAIDEN release, “Silicon Messiah”. On this tour, Blaze will play songs from “Silicon Messiah”, previously unperformed songs from his most recent album “Circle Of Stone” and classic IRON MAIDEN songs from his era with the band. Blaze will give a free meet-and-greet at the merchandise stand before the show begins for all ticket holders. Support on the tour will come from WHITE RAVEN DOWN (U.K. dates) and PRYMA (continental European dates).The 61-year-old Bayley fronted IRON MAIDEN from 1994 until 1999. The two MAIDEN albums he appeared on, “The X Factor” and “Virtual XI”, sold considerably less than the band’s prior releases and were their lowest-charting titles in the group’s home country since 1981’s “Killers”.Since leaving IRON MAIDEN in 1999, Bayley has released a number of albums, including several under the moniker BLAZE and more than a handful under his own name. He also appeared on 2012’s “Wolfsbane Saves The World”, the first album of new material by WOLFSBANE since the group’s self-titled 1994 effort, and a follow-up LP, 2022’s “Genius”.Nearly two years ago, Blaze underwent a quadruple bypass surgery following a heart attack.Bayley’s latest solo album, the aforementioned “Circle Of Stone”, came out in February 2022.[embedded content][embedded content]