The Iron Maidens – Wanda Ortiz

Very few rock musicians are as accomplished as Steve Harris, the bassist, figurehead and ‘Zeus of metal’ in Iron Maiden. He and the bands intimidating manager, Rod Smallwood, have steered Iron Maiden to colossal success since the band launched the iconic single, “Running Free”, in 1980. So, it is not without some serious musicians chops that any bassist even attempts to emulate Harris on stage for a single song, let alone a whole set’s worth.

But not every musician and bassist is Wanda Ortiz, the ‘Steph Harris’ performing as an ode to Harris and Iron Maiden in the all-female tribute show, The Iron Maidens!

“Back when the band first formed everybody was pretty serious about their instruments. I was a bass major in college, I got my performance major, my bachelor degree in double bass, but I also played the bass guitar. As a bass player, of course, you’re going to be drawn to music more challenging, interesting and fun. I’ve always been an Iron Maiden fan since I was very young. When the band first formed everybody wanted to do something different, something more challenging. At the time I think there might have been like five all-female tributes to AC/DC, so we were like ‘we’ve got to do something else!’. Since we all wanted … something unique that nobody else was really doing, we thought Iron Maiden would be a good fit. We are all coincidentally huge Iron Maiden fans, so that made it better.”

Alluding to the challenges that performing another musicians work can present, I ask Ortiz if she cops much stick from punters who believe they can offer her advice on how to perform Harris’s material, beyond her considerable talent.

“Every once in a while, there will be a bass player in the audience. There’s a couple songs that I’ve gotten used to playing it a certain way or maybe a different position, but they’re the same notes, but it’s not the same position (Harris) plays it in. Sometimes I’ll get that, or sometimes I’ll get like, ‘Well, Steve uses two fingers’. Well, okay. Sometimes I’ll hear that. Very rarely though”

Ortiz references the Harris method of ‘two-fingered’ galloping bass, opposed to the three fingers most will deploy on the on the picking hand to emulate the man’s inimitable technique. As a regular performer covering other artists material myself… long are the nights when a beady eyed, half glazed, and often drunk punter decides that they are the resident expert in the intricacies of a particular song, bundling a musician and performer up to ensure their opinion is clearly understood…

For Australian fans, a special treat awaits. Ortiz and the ladies are coming to Australia! If you have any doubt that The Iron Maidens are anything less than the finest tribute to Harris and co. then please, search for their vids on YouTube.

“We’ve been wanting to go (to Australia), there’s been a lot of interest on our end. When someone’s asked, ‘What’s your fantasy place where you’d like to go play?’ We pick the most fantastical faraway place we can think of which is, ‘We’d love to go to Australia and see the Great Barrier Reef’. We’ve always wanted to go there, but we’ve never been invited before. This the first time it’s happening, and we’re thrilled. We hope we get invited back, so we want to do the best shows. We always want to do the best shows that we can, but particularly in Australia and New Zealand.”

Tune in to the full conversation with Ortiz here.

Catch The Iron Maidens on tour across Australia this May. Tickets on sale now via DRW Entertainment.

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