"Our family is just too normal and boring. We're not that crazy like the Osbournes."

The 23-year-old daughter of legendary British bass player Steve Harris, singer Lauren Harris, shall perform before her dad's band, Iron Maiden, on their concert at the Locomotive Stadium in Sofia, Bulgaria on June 4, 2007. This was the reason to get in touch with her just a few days prior to the show and find out more about the Lauren Harris Band, female-fronted groups, rock music in the UK, The Osbournes, and Steve Harris, of course.

Vassil Varbanov: Hey, Lauren, how are you?

Lauren Harris: I'm fine, thank you! How are you?

V. V.: It's raining like hell here in Bulgaria, and they say it's probably going to rain on Monday, June 4, too... Anyway, where are you at the moment?

L. H.: In London. The weather is not much better here, I'm afraid. It's very miserable.

V. V.: Ok, tell us now more about your band.

L. H.: We work really well together and we get on well, too, and I think this is really important, as we're a team. Without my band behind me I'd be lost.

V. V.: We know you have Tom McWilliams on drums, Richie Faulkner on guitar and Randy Gregg on bass, the latter being obviously the most experienced guy.

L. H.: He's played with Thin Lizzy, yeah.

V. V.: I believe he also played with Dee Snider from Twisted Sister.

L. H.: Yes, and in two other bands, tooВ - Angel and Garlic.

V. V.: When we visit your MySpace profile, we get impressed by the fact that you still have no record deal. Why?

L. H.: We've been playing gigs for two years now, and I needed to build up my profile and get comfortable, because two year ago I'd never actually done anything like this before, except for singing in pubs and clubs, butВ never with a band. However, towards the end of the summer we'll start shopping around labels, so hopefully we'll secure something.

V. V.: When we read the fans' comments on your profile, there's a very funny one, saying something like, "Lauren, I really love your music, but I like your big boobs better!" Do you get lots of harassment like this?

L. H.: Oh, my god, ha-ha! Yeah, you get things like that every now and then, and I'm a girl as well. I mean, there are lots of girls in rock now, but years ago there weren't many, so... Well, I just let it go over my head.

V. V.: You just mentioned that today we've got more female singers in rock music than ever before. Is there a particular one you admire?

L. H.: I went on tour recently with Within Temptation and their singer, Sharon den Adel, is just unbelievable! The other women I absolutely love are the two vocalists of Heart (sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson) - they're brilliant!

V. V.: You know, on June 4 your band and Iron Maiden will be playing on the opening night of the biggest festival in Bulgaria - Arena Muzika. One of the other nights of the event shall be headlined by another female singer, namely Pink.

L. H.: Oh, I know her!

V. V.: Do you like her?

L. H.: Yeah, I do. I think she's brilliant!

V. V.: Another night, July 4, is going to be headlined by Marilyn Manson and Type O Negative from the USA...

L. H.: They're also brilliant!

V. V.: ...and the other night, June 20, will be headlined by a bunch of guys coming from your island - The Exploited from Scotland.

L. H.: I've never heard of them.

V. V.: You don't remember songs like "Sex & Violence" or "Punk's Not Dead"!?

L. H.: No...

V. V.: Well, being English, to what extent does the famous British rock'n'roll tradition and heritage have influenced you? I'm talking mainly about bands like Rainbow, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and stuff.

L. H.: They are the strength of rock to me. I think they're absolutely amazing. England has had some really great bands that have a huge impact on today's rock music.

V. V.: And if you had to choose between The Beatles and Pink Floyd, which band would you pick?

L. H.: Oh, that's a hard one... Maybe I'd choose The Beatles.

V. V.: I'm sure you have to face questions about your dad all the time, and now we have one coming from one of our listeners: Do you have nightmares when you hear the title of one of Iron Maiden's famous hits, "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter"?

L. H.: Ha-ha-ha, I was a bit worried about it when I was younger, but not anymore.

V. V.: You know the Osbournes are doing this famous family reality TV show. Has your dad ever been approached by big TV stations to get proposals to make something like this with the Harris family?

L. H.: Ha-ha, I don't know whether he's been approached or not, but if he did, he'd definitely say no, because our family is just too normal and boring. We're not that crazy like the Osbournes.

V. V.: However, Steve is a crazy football fan. Are you going to football games with him or you find them boring?

L. H.: I really like football, and so does my sister. We both go to games whenever we can, and my dad plays football at home as well.

V. V.: Finally, how long is your set in Sofia going to be?

L. H.: I think it's gonna be about 30-35 minutes long.

Copyright: Tangra Mega Rock