Nicko McBrain

Nicko McBrain (2006)

Michael "Nicko" Henry McBrain (born June 5, 1952 in Hackney ) is an English musician and since 1982 drummer for the band Iron Maiden .

Life

McBrain grew up in east London . He got his nickname "Nicko" from his parents because he called his favorite teddy, which he took everywhere with him, "Nicholas The Bear". At the age of twelve he discovered his inclination to play the drums . In 1971 he was a founding member of the British rock formation Charlie , but soon left this band to play with the "Streetwalkers". After gaining significant experience there, he joined the band of the Canadian blues guitarist Pat Travers in 1977 and replaced the local drummer Roy Dyke .

McBrain made his studio debut on Putting It Straight , which featured experimental rhythms and black influences. Making Magic was the next and also the last album that McBrain recorded with the Pat Travers Band. During an American tour he left the band and joined the French formation Trust around 1981 , which was an opening act for Iron Maiden on their tours in France, England and Germany. December 1982 he moved to Iron Maiden when Clive Burr stopped there due to drug and alcohol problems. With McBrain, the longest-running Iron Maiden line-up was finally complete. The success initiated with Clive Burr on drums was to be expanded significantly in the following years. The first Iron Maiden album with Nicko McBrain was Piece of Mind . He held workshops for several manufacturers of drum equipment, including appearing as a guest musician at a session at the Frankfurt Music Fair. In addition to music, he is also active as a private pilot . His wife Rebecca, a former model, runs a cosmetics and lingerie store. He has two grown sons from a previous relationship (* 1983 and 1992).

Equipment

McBrain currently plays on drums of the brand Sonor and pools of the company Paiste . He also plays his own signature drumsticks from Vic Firth . Nicko McBrain was an endorser of Sonor until the 1990s . Until then, he was also using a Ludwig Speed-King pedal . From 1993 McBrain was an endorser of the British brand Premier Drums. Since then, the DW 5000 Turbo, later also the DW 9000 foot pedal, has become an integral part of his equipment. On January 22, 2016, Sonor announced that McBrain is again a Sonor endorser. A SQ² set with a special Iron Maiden design is used to match the stage. Details and photos of the new set were posted on the Sonor website and social media on February 24, 2016, the day of the first date of the world tour, which started in the United States.

McBrain behind his drums (2008)

Tour Kit (2008)

Premier Maple Classic Drums with custom finish

• 6x6 " Tom
• 8x8 "Tom
• 10x10 "Tom
• 12x12 "Tom
• 13x13 "Tom
• 14x14 "Tom
• 15x15 "Tom
• 16x16 "Tom
• 18x16 "floor tom
• 24x18 "Gen-X bass drum
• 14x6.5 " Ludwig LM402 snare drum

Nicko McBrains signature drumsticks

Pool from Paiste

• 15 "Signature Reflector Heavy Full Crash (custom)
• 19 "Signature Reflector Heavy Full Crash
• 16 "Signature Reflector Heavy Full Crash
• 20 "Signature Reflector Heavy Full Crash
• 18 "Signature Reflector Heavy Full Crash
• 14 "Signature Heavy Hi-Hat (Reflector Finish) (custom)
• 13 "Formula 602 Heavy Bell (discontinued)
• 22 "Signature Reflector Bell Ride" Powerslave "
• 17 "RUDE Crash / Ride
• 20 "Signature Crash (Prototype)
• 22 "Signature Reflector Heavy Full Crash
• 20 "Signature Reflector Heavy China (custom)
• 40 "Symphonic Gong (Custom Brilliant Finish)

Drumsticks

• Vic Firth Nicko "Boomer" McBrain Signature Drumsticks.

Trivia

• McBrain's drums do not have the usual Premier and Paiste logos. Rather, the inscriptions are in the same font style as the Iron Maiden logo.
• His favorite Iron Maiden albums are Powerslave , Brave New World and A Matter of Life and Death .
• Before McBrain became the drummer for Iron Maiden, he played the devil in The Number of the Beast music video and the beast on the road tour.
• With the exception of the song New Frontier on the album Dance of Death , McBrain was never involved in the songwriting of Iron Maiden. But he is in the ten-part Listen With Nicko! Cycle in The First Ten Years single box as the narrator of jokes he wrote himself.
• McBrain has been playing barefoot since switching to the DW foot pedal in 2000. According to an interview with the online magazine Revolver about the DVD FLIGHT 666 , he had "more freedom" when playing.
• In 2009 he opened his own Rock n Roll Ribs restaurant in Coral Springs , Florida .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Nicko McBrain biography on the VicFirth homepage. vicfirth.com, accessed March 28, 2010 . 
2. ↑ History of the band Charlie. charlie-music.com, accessed August 18, 2010 . 
3. ↑ Nicko McBrain in an interview. (No longer available online.) Maidenfans.com, archived from the original on January 27, 2013 ; accessed on August 18, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ Iron Maiden: Iron Maiden Thank- Nicko McBrain: . In: From Fear to Eternity Booklet . EMI , June 6, 2011.
5. ↑ Nicko McBrain back at Sonor. Siegener Zeitung, January 24, 2016, accessed on February 22, 2016 . 
6. ↑ Nicko McBrain profile. (No longer available online.) Maidenaustria.at, archived from the original on November 17, 2008 ; accessed on August 18, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ↑ Nicko McBrain's Premier Drums . premier-percussion.com. Archived from the original on December 6, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 23, 2009. 
8. ↑ Nicko McBrain's cymbals . paiste.com. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
9. ↑ Vic Firth Signature Artist: Nicko McBrain . vicfirth.com. Retrieved September 6, 2008.
10. ↑ Rock n Roll Ribs . rocknrollribs.com. Retrieved January 21, 2010.

Web links

Commons : Nicko McBrain  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Nicko McBrain in the Internet Movie Database (English)