Dave Murray

DAVE MURRAY as known by Adrian Smith
Dave and I grew up in the same area of London and I think we probably met at the local youth club, through a mutual friend called Dave McLaughlin. I knew that Dave McLaughlin was already playing guitar and I told him that I was a singer. I wasn�t, but I thought I�d get in with these guys! Then I think Dave Mac introduced me to Dave Murray and we started playing together; they played guitar and I sang.

When I first met him, he was a complete Hendrix nut and he loved Robin Trower and Santana, but I think he likes more blues based stuff these days. Back then, he had two guitars - he was very professional! His spare guitar from Woolworths wasn�t working, so I bought it off him for five quid and my dad fixed it, and that was my first guitar. It was a really nice guitar, as you can imagine!

Dave Mac drifted out of the band into other things, and Dave Murray and I carried on playing together for a few years until he decided to broaden his horizons and eventually he joined Iron Maiden. I carried on with the band we�d had, which became Urchin; he actually came back into the band for a while after he fell out with Iron Maiden�s singer, but then he went back to them. Before they did the first album, Iron Maiden asked me to join them, but my band was doing quite well, so I turned it down. Then they asked me again in 1980. I think Dave rang up and said, 'Look, I think you really should do it' and I did.

Dave is so easy-going and he�s a quiet guy. He has his moments, but generally, he goes with the flow. If you had six guys like Bruce or six guys like Steve in the band well, you need a combination of personalities. That�s what the chemistry of the band�s all about. In fact, I guess Dave and I are fairly similar. We�re both pretty laid-back and we�ve always got on very well.

Another good thing about Dave is that he�s always got a smile on his face. He has good energy, which is always a good quality to have in a band.

He�s a very consistent player, so it�s hard to pick his best moment on �Dance Of Death�, but the song �Rainmaker� is one of my favourites and he wrote that with Steve, so I suppose I�d have to say that really.

Dave�s a very good guitarist, but he�s not the kind of guy who tries to outdo everybody. There�s enough scope in Iron Maiden�s music for all three guitarists to express themselves. The phrase 'Let the music do the talking' springs to mind when you talk about Dave. He�s always been able to express himself very well through the guitar.

He�s got his own style and sound, and that�s a rare thing. Everyone who plays guitar wants to have that and he always has, even when he�d just started playing. We could plug into the same amp and he�d still sound like him. If you hear Dave playing, you know it�s Iron Maiden straight away.