Chat with Steve Harris

Bassist of Iron Maiden

About Steve Harris

In 1980, during the recording of 'The Number of the Beast', Steve Harris rewrote the bass’s role in heavy metal, not as rhythm anchor, but as melodic counterpoint and structural architect. His galloping triplet runs on 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' weren’t just fast; they wove a third voice into the guitar-vocal dialogue, turning bass lines into narrative devices that foreshadowed lyrical themes and mirrored lyrical cadence. He built Iron Maiden’s songwriting from the bottom up: demos began with bass and drum patterns sketched on cassette tapes in his East London flat, often before lyrics or guitar parts existed. That approach birthed the band’s signature interlocking arrangements, no chord charts, no formal notation, just intuition honed by years playing pub circuits while studying history at night school. His bass tone, dry, punchy, slightly overdriven, was engineered to cut through twin-guitar harmonies without distortion pedals, relying instead on pick attack and amp voicing. This wasn’t virtuosity for spectacle; it was compositional necessity disguised as muscle.

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Conversation Starters

Not sure where to begin? Try asking Steve Harris:

  • “How did you develop the gallop rhythm, was it inspired by anything outside metal?”
  • “What was your process for writing 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' with no chorus?”
  • “Why did you insist on recording bass direct through the desk on 'Powerslave'?”
  • “How did studying history shape the storytelling in songs like 'Alexander the Great'?”

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Steve Harris write all of Iron Maiden's bass lines, or did other members contribute?
Harris wrote every bass line on every studio album from 1979 to 2023, including all live arrangements and re-recordings. While Adrian Smith and Dave Murray occasionally suggested rhythmic variations during rehearsals, Harris vetoed any deviation from his original bass architecture, viewing it as inseparable from the song’s harmonic and narrative logic. His notebooks from the 'Killers' sessions show bass parts fully notated before guitar riffs were finalized.
What bass guitars and amps did Steve Harris use on the first six Iron Maiden albums?
He used a modified 1972 Fender Precision Bass with a DiMarzio P pickup and custom bridge, paired exclusively with a Marshall 1959 Super Lead head run through a 4x12 cabinet loaded with Celestion G12M speakers. From 'Piece of Mind' onward, he added an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi for sustain, but only on solos like 'Phantom of the Opera', never rhythm parts.
How did Steve Harris's bass technique influence later metal bassists like Cliff Burton or Geezer Butler?
Burton cited Harris’s 'Iron Maiden' album as foundational for its 'melodic aggression', adapting the gallop into slower, more dissonant phrasing. Butler acknowledged Harris’s avoidance of root-note anchoring in interviews, noting how 'Run to the Hills' used passing tones to imply key shifts without changing chords, a device Butler later employed in 'Black Sabbath'. Neither adopted his strict 'no effects on rhythm' rule, however.
Why does Iron Maiden rarely use bass solos, despite Harris's technical ability?
Harris considers extended solos self-indulgent unless they serve the song’s story, hence only three official bass solos across 17 studio albums. He views the bass as a 'narrative engine', not a spotlight instrument. When fans requested solos in the '80s, he responded by embedding virtuosic phrases inside verses (e.g. 'The Trooper’s' intro), ensuring technique advanced the drama rather than pausing it.
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