The San Francisco Chronicle got to sit down with Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson and talk about his latest autobiography, What Does This Button Do? During the interview, the vocalist was asked about “what’s metal’s enduring appeal” and gave a fun and interesting answer:

Q: Metal, popular in the 1980s, has been superseded by rap and country music. For its fans, what’s metal’s enduring appeal?

A: I can speak about what Iron Maiden’s enduring appeal is: We exist in our own world. Our fan base is a little bit like plywood. It’s formed of lots of layers of different age groups. Every layer sticks to the layer underneath it and doesn’t detach. People come to a show expecting to see people of my age, and they get a whole bunch of kids between 15 and 28. I don’t want to go onstage and look out at a bunch of crumblies my age. People of my age go along to shows, but you never see them in the mosh pit — mainly they’re standing by the toilet, waiting to get their prostate problem solved. We like seeing rabid kids leaping around. That’s what makes our hearts pump onstage. Our music is still fierce. It’s still in-your-face.

Obviously, Dickinson loves and appreciates his fans so his comments should be taken with a grain of salt. What Does This Button Do? drops in the U.S. today via Dey Street Books (formerly It Books), an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Check out the rest of the interview here.