Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 381 is my conversation with Adrian Smith, the guitarist for Iron Maiden, one of the biggest heavy metal bands in history, and a genuinely obsessed angler. We talk about his book Monsters of River and Rock: My Life as Iron Maiden's Compulsive Angler, fishing with his dad as a kid, losing and then rekindling fishing as music took over, and how he chases fish all over the world on tour because fishing gives him balance, what he calls meditation with a punchline.
Listen now: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · YouTube · Press play in the player above to watch.
Adrian Smith is the guitarist for Iron Maiden, one of the biggest heavy metal bands in the history of music. Beyond his career as a rock musician, he is a lifelong and self-described compulsive angler, and the author of a memoir about how fishing has run alongside his life in the band.
Monsters of River and Rock: My Life as Iron Maiden's Compulsive Angler is Adrian Smith's memoir told through fishing. It weaves together stories of fishing with his dad as a boy, his rise with Iron Maiden, and the way he chased fish around the world while touring, all centered on his lifelong obsession with angling.
Adrian brings rods and reels on the road. Iron Maiden famously travels the world on its own jet, and between concerts he would slip away to fish wherever the tour landed, including fishing alone in Miami. He treats fishing as the counterbalance to the intensity of touring and performing.
Adrian describes fishing as so absorbing that you stop thinking about everything else, which he says is incredibly good for your head. In his book he calls it meditation with a punchline, a way to find calm and balance that still delivers the thrill of the catch.
Yes. As he got serious about music and joined bands, and then as Iron Maiden took off in the 1980s, Adrian lost interest in fishing for a while. He eventually rekindled the passion and it became a vital way to balance himself out amid the demands of being in one of the world's biggest bands.
Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 381 with Adrian Smith is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and iHeartRadio. The video version is embedded at the top of this page.
I never expected to sit down with a guitarist from Iron Maiden, let alone one who is as serious about fishing as anyone I know. Adrian is quite a fisherman, and the idea that he carried his rods all over the world on tour, slipping off to fish between shows, is exactly the kind of story I love. I wanted to hear how fishing fits into a life most of us can barely imagine. Press play in the YouTube player at the top of this page.
Adrian talks about why fishing is so good for his head, how it pulls him completely out of everything else, and what he means when he calls it meditation with a punchline. For a guy living at the volume of Iron Maiden, that balance is everything. Listen to that section in the player above.
Adrian fished constantly as a kid with his dad, then drifted away as music and the rise of Iron Maiden in the 1980s consumed his life. He describes how and why he came back to fishing, and how it became the thing that kept him level. If you have ever drifted from something you loved, this is the part to hear.
Iron Maiden tours the planet on its own jet, and Adrian always had his rods with him. He tells stories of fishing wherever the tour landed, including fishing alone in Miami, and how he carved out those moments amid the chaos of a world tour. Press play in the YouTube player above.
Adrian turned a lifetime of these stories into a book, Monsters of River and Rock, full of memories from fishing with his dad to fishing on tour. He talks about what it was like to tell his life story through angling. Listen to how he frames it in the episode.
Listen to the full conversation: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · or watch in the YouTube player at the top of this page.
What I love about this conversation is the reminder that fishing reaches everyone, even a rock star playing stadiums around the world. Adrian could do anything with his downtime, and he chooses the water.
His take on fishing as balance and meditation is something I think about a lot, and hearing it from someone living the life he lives makes it land even harder.
Press play in the player above, or grab Episode 381 on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
The Tom Rowland Podcast brings you long-form conversations with the most accomplished anglers, hunters, conservationists, and outdoor professionals in the game. Listen to every full-length Tom Rowland Podcast interview.
Adrian Smith · Iron Maiden · Monsters of River and Rock · Miami
Adrian Smith is the guitarist for Iron Maiden, one of the most successful heavy metal bands in history, and a lifelong angler. He is the author of Monsters of River and Rock: My Life as Iron Maiden's Compulsive Angler, a memoir told through his obsession with fishing, which he has pursued around the world while touring with the band.
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