Finger Eleven singer Scott Anderson’s taste in music once earned a stern reprimand from one of his school teachers, who scolded him for loving two iconic bands.“At an early age, I understood only a handful of things about myself,” the Canadian rocker explained during a recent conversation with SNSMix.com (which you can watch below). “And one of them was that music was the most important thing. It was hitting me and it was all mine.”During his formative years, Anderson honed in on two different yet impressive acts: Genesis and Iron Maiden. On paper, the two seemingly had little in common – Genesis were pioneers of atmospheric prog rock, while Maiden were a pulverizing metal force. Still, Anderson heard a connection.“When you listen to early Genesis and all the progressive elements to it, Iron Maiden definitely has that [sound],” he insisted. “Like longform, interesting, crazy riffs.”READ MORE: Every Iron Maiden Song Ranked From Worst to BestAnderson’s perspective was not shared by one of his middle school teachers, who scolded the future rock star for having such contrasting interests.“I was in grade six or seven, I was writing Genesis on my binder, then I wrote Iron Maiden,” the singer remembered. “And my teacher at the time said, ‘You can’t put those bands together. That’s disgusting.’”“I remember not knowing what to say,” Anderson continued, recalling how puzzled he was by the teacher’s rebuke. “I still don’t know what to say.”READ MORE: Finger Eleven’s Scott Anderson Discusses Happiness + Hard RockWhile the incident stuck with Anderson for a long time, he got some measure of validation years later.“I bought a vinyl picture disc, it was an interview with (Iron Maiden bassist) Steve Harris,” the singer explained. “The interviewer was asking about what was Iron Maiden’s early influences. And he talked about how he would listen to early Genesis records. And I was like, ‘You see? I was right! I was right, teacher!”Finger Eleven Promises ‘A Lot of Rockers’ on First Album in 10 YearsElsewhere in the interview, Anderson shed some light on Finger Eleven’s upcoming album. “There’s a lot of rockers on the new record,” he noted. “And there’s a few songs in between and then there’s a mellow tune, but they’re all of a really crazy quality, which I’m so excited to let everybody finally hear. And they will be able to hear it very soon — sometime this year.”The release is poised to be Finger Eleven’s first new album in a decade, but Anderson was quick to point out that the band has remained busy even while they weren’t making new music.”We haven’t necessarily taken a break as a band through those 10 years. It’s just that every single one of us has a family now, and there’s all kinds of stuff that has taken priority,” he explained. “But we’ve been making music, believe it or not, all the way through this. So when it came time to say, ‘Okay, it’s time to put a record out’ — it’s a very democratic process — we all sat down and said, ‘Okay. Let’s look at this list of songs and what are our favorites and should we work on. And let’s just go one by one.’ And we’re finally almost done.”Finger Eleven’s Scott Anderson, SNS Mix Interview13 Bands Other People Make You Feel Bad About LovingNo matter what you listen to, there will always be someone out there who will shame you for listening to certain bands. There’s no explanation for it, but it’s happened time and time again throughout the decades.Don’t be ashamed and let others dictate your life — that’s not what rock and metal is about. Smash all those who oppose these 13 Bands Other People Make You Feel Bad About Loving, as listed below.Gallery Credit: Chelsea Smile