Kastro Pergjoni, operations director of the Cart & Horses pub in Stratford, London, England where IRON MAIDEN made its live debut in 1976, recently launched a crowdfunding campaign to help raise £20,000 for former MAIDEN vocalist Paul Di’Anno so that he can undergo his long-delayed knee surgery.
So far, Pergjoni has raised only £8,600 from approximately 340 supporters.
During a new appearance on the “Uncle Steve’s Iron Maiden Zone” podcast, Kastro was asked if he has approached the members of IRON MAIDEN themselves to contribute in some way to the Di’Anno campaign, to which he responded: “Myself, no, I haven’t, to be honest, because I don’t wanna put things… What’s the best way to say it now? It’s not up to me to go to them, because I have no connections with IRON MAIDEN themselves. Even when I [need to approach] Steve [Harris, IRON MAIDEN bassist and founder], I go through his friends or his sister sometimes or close friends that he’s got to get stuff from him.
“But to go to MAIDEN for something that is related to MAIDEN, I don’t think that it is me personally, or Cart & Horses, the ones to contact them. I’d love if they come forward and just cover whatever is left or say whatever, but I don’t think it’s down to me to go to MAIDEN. Because [Paul‘s] got friends and he’s got connections with MAIDEN more than I have, so if MAIDEN wanted to, or if somebody else wanted to, they would have done it. But so far, nothing, unfortunately, no.”
“I do ask them sometimes, or I’ve asked now, especially with the renovation [that are currently undergoing on Cart & Horse], for a few things to be donated to the Cart & Horses, and I’m hoping they will. But for me now to go and ask them about something else now, which is not related to Cart & Horses, I think it’s not really the right thing to do… And also [Paul] himself is related to MAIDEN — it’s not me related to MAIDEN. It’s like going to somebody else’s family asking for their family. But if anybody wants, and if anybody listens and has to connections to MAIDEN or to anybody there, why not?”
