Dave Ingraham

September 2002

Played on:
Balls to Picasso album
Accident of Birth album and tour
The chemical Wedding album and tour

Name and instrument:
David Ingraham, Drums
What had you been doing before you started working with Bruce?
Before I started playing with Bruce, I had been playing with a variety of different bands around L.A., Tribe of Gypsies being one of them.
How did you come to work with Bruce?
If my memory serves me correctly,Bruce was in town working on some ideas for his next solo record with a producer who just happened to be the same producer that Tribe of Gypsies was working with at the time. He played Bruce some of the material, and Bruce loved it! Long story short, next thing I knew, I was on a plane to London to Record "BALLS TO PICASSO". Obviously,there are more details and complications to the story than that, but that's the condensed version.
Do you remember your first meeting with him?
To be honest with you, I don't remember the first time I met Bruce. However, I do remember flying to London with Roy and Eddie and seeing Bruce's last show with Maiden that same night.I think we started working on the record the following day. Keep in mind that my memory's accuracy of these events was inevitably effected in some way or another by the combination of jet-lag and perennially brain-shrinking hangovers that I was dealing with at the time. (Let's just say that we were doing a little "sampling" of the vast plethora of beers that England has to offer!)
What was the reason for you parting company with him?
At the time, T.O.G. was on the verge of landing our own record deal. (which we did... ...for about a week!) That was our priority at the time, so we weren't able to tour that record.
What was the reason for you to start working together with him again?
A few years later, when things didn't work out for T.O.G. quite as planned, Bruce approached us again and asked if we'd like to do another record with him. We said "why the hell not!",and "ACCIDENT OF BIRTH" was the end result. It's only fair that I stress the fact that Roy Z was the main impetus behind all of this. He wrote almost all of the material with Bruce and produced both "ACCIDENT OF BIRTH" and "THE CHEMICAL WEDDING" (my personal favorite Bruce record). It was Roy's prolific song writing ability and "vision" so to speak, that was the foundation for the success of both of those records. Of course, the fact that we were a "band", and not just a bunch of hired guns,added a certain amount of chemistry to the music, or so I'd like to think!
What have you been up to since?
I played my last show with Bruce in São paulo, Brazil, while recording "SCREAM FOR ME BRAZIL". Bruce and Adrian played that show,and then almost immediately rushed off to the airport to fly to... ...England? to start working on the new Maiden record. The rest of us flew back to L.A., thinking "What now?" For that following year, I worked with a bunch of different bands and artists, but the bills weren't getting paid. I ended up getting the gig with the celtic rock band "Young Dubliners" (www.youngdubs.com) about three years ago, and I've been working non-stop ever since.
Do you have any fun Bruce anecdotes to share with us?
Hmmmmmm... let me think. There was the time, during a show, that Bruce hit some idiot over the head with his microphone, and put a dent in the mike (maybe in the guys head too!); or the time Bruce jumped off the stage in Barcelona and got in a fight with some guys in the audience; Or how about the time Eddie and I flew with Bruce after a gig in... San Fransisco?..., and flew into a lightning storm and had to make an emergency landing; Or there was the time we played in Tokyo, Japan in the middle of the summer. Bruce would always insist on playing with the air-conditioning turned off. So, by the time T.O.G. was off the stage (we opened for Bruce), and half of us ran back stage, changed clothes, and went back on with Bruce, it was about 800 degrees in the #~ *$#~ place! By the end of the show, Roy passed out on stage from heat exaustion. Afterwards, we were all sloshing around back stage in puddles of our own sweat! I could go on, but I wont.
What do you think of the time you were in Bruce's band?
I had a great time working with Bruce; I got to record four albums and travel all over the world. Bruce was always very respectful and easy to work with. Adrian was also a really cool guy. Although I've had alot of fun with the Young Dubs over the last few years, I'll always remember the Bruce gig as one of the most exciting times in my life.
What do you think of his other works?
Well, to put things euphemistically, I didn't really care for "TATTOOED MILLIONARE"; Wasn't exaxctly my cup of tea. However, I do remember really liking some the stuff that I heard off of "SKUNKWORKS"; I thought the opening track was really cool.

Dave's own question to himself:
Why are Bruce Dickinson fans so... ...strange?
(just kiddin'.) Peace.