A tribute band... Fuckin' hell... I never, ever thought I could be involved in such a project. Of course, it occasionally happened, when the bands I was playing with were lacking original material to complete the set-list, that I was brought to perform a few great hard-rock tunes such as sometimes "Highway to Hell" or "Blood of my Enemies", sometimes "Paranoid" or even "Breaking the Law"... All that was great fun, but I never planned to commit myself to tribute acts...

Up to a June '98 day, when some fellows playing in a band called Aqualung came down and asked me if I could give a helping hand in performing with them on an "open stage" contest show. I remember, it was Monday and the gig was scheduled for the following Sunday, so I had to take the decision almost instantly... Shall I do it or not? Without taking the time for reflection, and to be honest, a bit excited by this challenging situation, I said "Right, I'll do it!". I started to work to get ready in time, and quickly discovered that their entire set was actually exclusively composed of Jethro Tull's biggest hits. (At that time, my knowledge of the Tull's career was limited to about two songs: "Locomotive Breath" and, thanks to an Iron Maiden Single B-side, "Cross Eyed Mary").

On D-day, as soon as we got on stage and hit the first chords, the audience responded instantly. The guys were jumping and singing from the first until the last note, it was amazing, so easy, the only thing we had to do was play and enjoy! And the same thing happened every night, gig after gig, it was pretty cool, but even though I really appreciate the music composed by Ian Anderson, I was not fully satisfied. I wanted to do the same kind of thing but within a music style that really does matter to me: Heavy Metal!!!

It didn't take me much time to find out THE band which in my opinion embodied the perfect choice, not only because they are so famous, but also for their wealthy, powerful musical work and the huge musicality of their songs –and of course the fact that they so deeply influenced me since the early hours and throughout my musical growth... IRON MAIDEN. The uncontested leader of the N.W.O.B.H.M! So, I picked up the phone for a few calls and the project was on rails.

For the guitar duelling and the sharing of those guitar harmonies, the first guy that I had in mind was the right one, Pascal Saint Amand, my long-time buddy, the one I started my first musical projects and played my first gigs with.

Incarnating Iron Maiden's drummer required two main conditions: being a good-level drummer and also being a little (not to say completely) crazy. This job was entrusted to Michel "Balmuzette" Lathuraz, with whom I had already been playing for several years on an original project (I must confess I hesitated pretty much before hiring his sticks, not because of fear for lacks of musical skills, but rather 'cos he's a real nutcase!!!).

Finding a good bass player was a more challenging task, and I had to keep looking quite a bit until a friend of mine gave me the number of a Brussels located bass player showing a very interesting level although his playing was quite jazz-oriented: Michel Vrijdag.

Last but not least... the singer! It didn't take me long to find one, though. I had joined Drakkar a few months earlier, just when the band was getting together again and working hard on compositions for their second album. Fabrice Vanbellingen, the band's vocalist, naturally joined Moonchild to incarnate "the air raid siren" Dickinson!

And the job was done... MOONCHILD, my Iron Maiden tribute project, was born. As soon as we started the first rehearse session, it sounded so great, so powerful, brilliant songs, fully overdriven amps, screaming lead vocals... Xtreme ecstasy!!!

The same magic kept happening again and again, show after show. Those songs are setting the stage on fire any time, most of the guys who come to see our shows are dead-end Iron Maiden fans, they're jumping, singing, (most of the time) screaming, stage-diving, they know every single word of each song, and all those moments on stage are genuine happiness!!!!

After a few months performing under this line-up, two changes had to be operated. The first one on the four strings neck. Indeed, the affinity Michel had for jazz was more and more evident, and even though musically and technically he was doing the job very well, when it came down to sound and feeling, we could clearly notice (and he probably did himself) that metal music was not exactly his cup of tea!!! Michel was replaced by Micka Joiret, who used to come to see Moonchild performing live and who, when asked if he would like to succeed to Michel, didn't hesitate for a second and joined instantly. He had Michel's qualities with a big plus: he had been a Maiden fan for ages!

A bit later, Fabrice left and was instantly replaced by Jean-Christophe Duvivier, another long-time friend of mine, who had been my drummer before leaving Belgium in 1994 to go and work in Japan (where he performed as the singer of a Dream Theater tribute band). Fortunately, he was back in Belgium a few years later.

It only took us one rehearse session, hell no, one single song to realize he was THE singer we needed!

That's it, seven years later, the same line-up is still playing Maiden's stuff, enjoying it so much each time!

Well, looks like we have to add a new chapter to our bio: in 2007, Micka decided to quit the band to spend more time on other activities. We went straight on a quest for a worthy successor and surprise!! Looks like we were really lucky 'cause we found a hell of a bassist. Gals & boys, meet Stéphane Sauvage (I'm not making this up, and the guy surely deserves his name!), bassist of French HM act Last Prophecy. He's a die-hard Maiden fan, and he brings with him the spirit, the sound, the presence and the raw energy of Steve Harris. And add a broad, permanent grin to that! We luv' ya Steph!. Steph is a quite resourceful guy and he also brougt us a great roadie, let's hear it for Fabrice Sauvage – of course, Steph's brother, and naturally, another metal head... Right, another sauvage!

The WILD WILD Sauvage bros For all that, and for having such awesome fans, a zillion thanks to you... IRON MAIDEN!!!.