No show tonight, as Harrison and I are busy working on 50 Years of Iron Maiden! So, instead, we bring this 2020 interview with former Paul Di’Anno guitarist Steph Honde. It originally aired on my old show the LeBrain Train. This newly edited interview with the friendly French fireball will run tonight at 7:00 PM EST at the usual places. My writeup is below.
Steph Honde is a talented singer/guitarist from France who has performed with Paul Di’Anno, Sun Road, Chris Holmes, Hollywood Monsters, Jim Crean, Now or Never, and as a solo artist. In this wide-spanning interview, we discuss his favourite Canadian artists such as Max Webster, Wireless, VoiVod, Rock Candy, and Roch Voisine. We even touch on Celine Dion. We talk about his friendship with Paul Di’Anno, playing live with no rehearsal, and speeding up the songs. Steph talks about the rock scene in France, and going it alone without a label. Steph is a fan as much as musician too, so he gushes over Marillion, touring with DeepPurple, his signed Deep Purple 7″, and a private performance by a favourite musician. We talk about John Sykes, and other influences. Of course, we also had to talk about his epic cover of “Supper’s Ready” on his Ashes of Empire album. Steph’s defiance is refreshing. If he’s going to play without a label, then he’s going to play “Supper’s Ready”, because he wants to. Steph also did an acoustic cover of Deep Purple’s “Sail Away”, which he did to be different. Finally, we ask him what it’s like to open for AC/DC in front of 80,000 people.
This interview was conducted early in the pandemic, so of course that dominates part of the conversation. It’s weird to look back on with 2025 eyes.
Many of those old LeBrain Train shows were too long and could use some refreshing. This one never got enough views back in 2020. Let’s expose Steph Honde to a new audience! You won’t regret giving him a listen.
Streaming Live at 7:00 PM EST on Friday March 28, on Youtube and Facebook.
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