{"id":4501,"date":"2014-11-14T01:11:42","date_gmt":"2014-11-14T09:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/Interviews\/?p=4501"},"modified":"2014-11-15T10:58:24","modified_gmt":"2014-11-15T18:58:24","slug":"in-conversation-with-the-metal-god-rob-halford-delves-into-all-things-judas-priest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/Interviews\/2014\/11\/14\/in-conversation-with-the-metal-god-rob-halford-delves-into-all-things-judas-priest\/","title":{"rendered":"In Conversation With The Metal God: Rob Halford Delves Into All Things Judas Priest"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Andrew Bansal<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Undisputed metal gods for over four decades, Judas Priest released their 17th studio album \u2018Redeemer Of Souls\u2019 last July and are currently on a North American headline tour with Los Angeles based comedy\/parody metal group Steel Panther as support act. Recently, I had a detailed chat with singer Rob Halford about the making of the new album, the tour, Steel Panther, the early days and lots more. <\/p>\n

First of all, the new album came out recently and you took your time with it. From what I understand, it was recorded in different periods, a few songs at a time. How did that impact your vocal performance on the album?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, I treat every record with the same kind of focus. Obviously, when you perform in a band you just want to try and pull out all the stops, and you want to show what your abilities are at that given moment, and this is how I\u2019m singing in 2014. But then of course it\u2019s more than that with me because it\u2019s also about finding a new angle with the messages that we\u2019re sending out, and then all the other situations like writing with Glenn and Richie and finding vocal melodies and so forth, just generally pitching in. That\u2019s what I\u2019ve been doing for 40 years, you know, one way or another, and so I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve treated this one any differently. I would say that the main point of this record is, after \u2018Nostradamus\u2019 it was a six-year vacuum musically for Priest from the studio. So, there was a determination on this record from my part to sing and just get back to some of the vocal styles and approaches that are probably more in tune with what\u2019s expected from me as a metal singer.<\/p>\n

The standard edition of this album has 13 tracks and it\u2019s an hour long. Did you have any doubts or reservations about going that long with an album, specially with people\u2019s attention spans getting shorter and shorter these days?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, I think the thing is, it\u2019s pretty remarkable that four decades later, we still consider it very important for us to make another studio record. I think it makes us still relevant and significant. We could go out there and play music from any of the previous 16 studio records , we\u2019d have a vast catalog of music to play and people would still be happy, but I think what this new record displays is still our genuine passion and appreciation for everything we in the band love about Priest. So, this is just another shoutout to the metal community that we\u2019ve still got the ability to put together some really good songs, make a good record and we\u2019re getting ready to go out and show it off to fans around the world again!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Aside from the standard edition, there are also five bonus tracks on the deluxe edition. I personally enjoy all five of these tracks as much as anything on the album itself, to be honest, and I was curious as to how the decision to make these as the bonus tracks was arrived at, and whether these songs also written at the same time as the ones on the album.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, they were all put together at the same time. We were writing for maybe two months or just under. We had enough material for a double record and we approached the label with that idea but they didn\u2019t think it was a good idea, just because of the way things are right now. So it was their suggestion to just release a single CD and come out with a deluxe edition, which is generally the case now. So that gave us the opportunity to think about how we would present the actual concept of the \u2018Redeemer Of Souls\u2019 experience. So we just felt that the tracks running from \u2018Dragonaut\u2019 to \u2018Beginning Of The End\u2019 really told the story of where we wanted to be musically with our metal in that 13-track run. And then the five extra tracks, we could have put them in the vault and just brought them out periodically but we didn\u2019t want to do that. In today\u2019s world, some fans just pick and choose what they want. Some fans don\u2019t buy CDs anymore. They just buy a song here and there. So it was important for us to make sure that our material was available for everybody. Having said that, if we had put songs like \u2018Snakebite\u2019 or \u2018Creatures\u2019 on the single CD, it wouldn\u2019t have worked from our perspective. But I appreciate you saying that they are strong songs because they are, and they deserve to be listened to and enjoyed. <\/p>\n

And just before the release of the album, the tour was announced. You\u2019re touring North America through October and November to play in front of the fans here again. What is your aim with this tour? The new album is here now, so that is something you would want to present, but is it going to be more of an overall Priest show with everything off of the four decades that you\u2019ve been playing for?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, we\u2019re not bringing the kitchen sink this time, although we are bringing the Harley. We had everything on the \u2018Epitaph\u2019 tour. It was a big production, so we\u2019re going back to basically the type of show that we\u2019ve done consistently prior to \u2018Epitaph\u2019. Like any band, when you\u2019ve got a new record out you\u2019re excited and you want to show it off. It\u2019s obviously the \u2018Redeemer Of Souls\u2019 tour, and stage-wise it will be strong, but it will be, as the expression goes, of the \u2018less is more\u2019 type. But it will look great. We\u2019re constantly working on the production and it\u2019s going to be strong. When you go see the Lakers you want to see them still play as good as they can play, and I think it\u2019s the same with any band, really. It\u2019s also about the desire of wanting to play live. Priest has always been a live band. We love playing live, probably as much as getting in the studio. But it\u2019s important for us to be out there and show off these new tracks. They\u2019re going to sound killer and super-heavy live, and that\u2019s a fact.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

That should be great to see, but with a band like yours, there are so many albums that you\u2019ve done and obviously there\u2019s a demand and an expectation when a ticket buyer goes to a show, of wanting to hear the old songs. Sometimes don\u2019t you wish you could play more songs off of a certain album? Like I personally would love to hear more off of \u2018Angel Of Retribution\u2019, one of my favorite Priest albums.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you, Andrew! Yeah you know, when you get to this stage there are built-in prejudices and conceptions about what you\u2019re supposed to do and what you\u2019re not, but it\u2019s about the passion of the fans. We\u2019d get killed if we didn\u2019t do \u2018Breaking The Law\u2019, \u2018Living After Midnight\u2019 and the other things that made us famous in America on the radio. We still love radio very, very much, and we think it\u2019s an incredibly important component of the music scene over here. But yeah, I\u2019d love to go out and play \u2018Redeemer Of Souls\u2019 from front to end if we could, as that would be spectacular and may be we will at some point. We did \u2018British Steel\u2019 a few years ago, but you can\u2019t do that. You have to be sensible, and just try and pick and choose the tracks that are going to run together in a good live show presentation. I\u2019d love to pull out obscure tracks from \u2018Stained Class\u2019 and \u2018Sin After Sin\u2019, but would the show then carry the same kind of momentum? I don\u2019t know. That possibly could be another idea for a different kind of tour. I\u2019m sure if one is a Priest fan like you are, Andrew, then yeah it could be a really cool thing. But when you see a band for the first time or when you see your favorite band once every 3 or 4 years, then naturally you want to go in a time machine and you want to go back to places. That\u2019s the way it works in rock \u2018n roll. So you try and balance it up with the past and the present, really.<\/p>\n

You mentioned the Epitaph tour there briefly. At the time it was supposed to be the farewell tour, and I think you approached it like that with the full production and the long set list that you had. But at the back of your mind did you know at that stage that there might possibly be more touring with the release of the next album?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We got caught up in the drama of K.K. retiring. Not having our guitar player we were thinking that we\u2019d have to cancel the Epitaph tour, and then literally with weeks to spare we find Richie Faulkner, and we\u2019re so excited to have him with us and by all the great things he brings to the band. We should have given it some time and thought really, in retrospect, and said, look, it\u2019s a different band with Richie and that we are feeling differently internally. But we never got that far, Andrew. So we went out, in all honesty, doing a retrospective tour. The Epitaph tour was, as we said at the time, a farewell tour of sorts, just to get away from the big 18-month trips around the planet because you get to a point in life where you like to do things at a different speed. So, we\u2019ve constantly been trying to get the message out to our fans that it wasn\u2019t some kind of stunt. It was just a genuine place the band was in at the time, and let\u2019s face it, everybody should be fucking happy that we\u2019re still together and we\u2019re going to go out again, which I think they are (laughs).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

No doubt about that. So, this Redeemer Of Souls tour starts in North America, but will it also be a world tour where you\u2019ll play everywhere, may be even places that you\u2019ve never played?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I hear the new prime minister of Indonesia is a metalhead. It could be fun to go out to Jakarta. There are some places in the world that we still haven\u2019t had a chance to go to. I\u2019m all for that. I love going to places that we\u2019ve never been to before. So, the answer to your question is, we\u2019ll do this two-month tour of the States and then we\u2019ll take probably a decent break of 3 or 4 months before we consider going back out again in early 2015. Obviously we\u2019ve got to do home and Europe, and then we\u2019ll see about possibly going down to South America. We have a number 1 album in Japan for the first time ever, so it would be ridiculous if we didn\u2019t go back there. So we\u2019ll be spreading it out through 2015, and as and when we know where we\u2019re going and what we\u2019re doing, the information will go up on the website and the facebook. But I\u2019ll tell you what\u2019s pretty cool about this Nokia Live [the venue for the LA show of the North American tour] and I was thinking about it the other day, that it was the place where we premiered Richie\u2019s worldwide debut with Priest on American Idol. So, I\u2019m sure Richie will be feeling pretty good about that when he walks on that stage again all this time later to play his guitar. It will make the night a little bit extra special. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s true, I didn\u2019t even think about that. It was indeed the same venue where you premiered him as your new guitar player.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah! We got the call to come over and do that little medley with James Durbin. We flew from London to Los Angeles the next day, we did the show and then we flew back to London. So it literally was a whirlwind trip to travel that far for 3 minutes, but it was a valuable 3 minutes because it reached 30 million people in America, and it was another opportunity to spread the metal through the TV. I\u2019m sure we turned on some Priest fans at that time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Right, and on this tour of North America you\u2019re taking out Steel Panther as support act. I love that band and you\u2019ve had a history with their guitarist playing in your band when you were doing other things for a while, and even Richie and Scott Travis have jammed with Steel Panther in their shows. So it makes perfect sense but how did it materialize?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Firstly it\u2019s a great connection that we\u2019ve got in the band through Russ. I haven\u2019t met any of the rest of the guys. When you\u2019re going out together on the road, it\u2019s important that you not only have a musical connection but you can hang out, have some fun together and just talk about music and do all the other cool stuff. Touring is still pretty rigorous in lots of ways, so if you\u2019ve got some nice vibes going on backstage, it helps make the whole thing even more enjoyable. So, there\u2019s that perspective to it. The other perspective is that, why does it always have to be so fucking deadly serious in metal? Why can\u2019t we have a situation like this where we have this really fun balance between these two spectrums? Obviously we know what Steel Panther do and what they represent, and they do it fantastically well, and then you\u2019ve got the other end of it which is a band like Priest going it and doing it from our point of view. So I just think it\u2019s a very, very cool way of putting the show together. There would have probably been some bands in Priest\u2019s world that would have said, \u2018Fuck no, I\u2019m not going to do that. I\u2019m not going to take that band on tour with me.\u2019 Well, that\u2019s pretty blinked thinking in my opinion. I think there\u2019s an opportunity in many ways to have a great guest with exceptional talent like Steel Panther have got and bring it in with a different angle. The whole point about going out to see a band is to have a good time, have some drinks, have some laughs, see your favorite band and so on and so forth. So, I just love this whole package, I really do, and I think it\u2019s going to do really well. I was looking on Ticketmaster last night and already a bunch of shows are close to selling out. A couple havesold out already. So there\u2019s a lot of people running to see the show and I would hope that because of Steel Panther being based in Los Angeles that the Nokia should sell out. I don\u2019t know what the capacity is at that venue, but it\u2019s a really cool gig. I love the location of LA Live in Downtown. It\u2019s a great place to come and see some music.<\/p>\n

I think it holds about 7000 people if I\u2019m not wrong, and I\u2019m pretty sure it will sell out.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I hope so! That will be great. There\u2019s nothing better than seeing the two words \u2018Sold Out\u2019 (laughs).<\/p>\n

Exactly. But when this was announced, there was criticism from some circles in the media and even Priest fans that were saying Steel Panther are just a joke and Priest should take somebody else more \u2018legit\u2019. What would you say to those people?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t buy a ticket, somebody else will! When we were in New York looking at all the different opportunities for opening bands and were given a list, as soon as Steel Panther was shouted out, we knew that it was totally the band we needed. It\u2019s going to be a fucking great night out of rock \u2018n roll and metal. So, this decision comes entirely from Priest. A lot of our fans have got it, some of them haven\u2019t. So I guess they\u2019ll pick and choose on the night whether they want to see it, but I\u2019ll tell you what, once the first 2 or 3 shows of the tour have gone down, everybody will be running to it and the decision will be made for them because the social media will be alight. I can\u2019t begin to consider the fun we\u2019re going to have with each other on that social media level. I check out Steel Panther\u2019s facebook quite often and it\u2019s hilarious. It\u2019s really funny stuff. And the thing is, they\u2019re first class musicians, they\u2019re extremely talented guys, and they\u2019ve found a niche\u00b4, if you want to call it that. The combination of the two bands is going to be really solid.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s going to be great! And just following up on that opening act thing. I\u2019ve been reading up on the tours you did back in the 70s and you opened for all kinds of bands. I was wondering whether Judas Priest was ever in a position where you were not liked by an audience or by a certain band\u2019s fans?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the early days, yes. When we would open up for bands like Foghat, REO Speedwagon, Molly Hatchet, Head East and 38 Special, it was remarkable. We would go out and play \u2018Victim Of Changes\u2019 and there would be a blank look of \u2018what the fuck!\u2019 (Laughs) But that was then, way back before metal took a foothold in America. It was just as exciting and challenging as I guess it is for any new band that goes out to play in today\u2019s world. You\u2019ve got to win over your audience. I remember when we took Pantera out on some of the European touring we did in \u201991, and the audience just didn\u2019t know what to think of what was happening. But by the end of their set, the crowd was going nuts. For the most part that\u2019s what happened with Priest. It was a slow slog of winning people over in America. So yeah, we\u2019ve been there, on a stage where you can\u2019t have any light and only one spotlight (laughs). Everybody in the band would keep stepping in it. There was no dressing room, no deli tray and all that kind of stuff. \u201cNo deli tray for you!\u201d They would tell us (laughs). But you\u2019ve got to pay your dues, you know. Even now there\u2019s a ritual that you have to be prepared to go through. It\u2019s just the way it goes. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s interesting. And finally, I have just one more question for you. Over the years you\u2019ve toured with pretty much every possible band but is there any band that comes to your mind that you never got a chance to tour with and you regret not having toured with them till now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s a really good question. We\u2019re one of those \u2018had it all, done it all, seen it all\u2019 type of bands and I can\u2019t really think of any band to be honest, Andrew. We\u2019ve had the great fortune to play with all of the greats that have become our friends over the years. So as I\u2019m sitting here talking to you, nothing comes to my mind I\u2019m afraid, and I suppose that\u2019s a good thing. We\u2019ve been very lucky to work with everybody over the 40 years that we\u2019ve been together. But I tell you what, just off the top of my head, it\u2019s not exactly metal but it\u2019s the Rolling Stones. I think they\u2019re still one of the greatest rock \u2018n roll bands ever, so that would be a band, and I guess that would be a little bit of a throwback to opening for Foghat or something like that because it\u2019s not really connected musically but there\u2019s definitely respect there.<\/p>\n

I knew there had to be some band. I\u2019m actually surprised that you never opened for the Rolling Stones because I thought it would have happened at some point back in the day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well you never know, they\u2019re still going and so are we (laughs).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Remaining US Tour Dates:<\/strong>
\n11\/14 – Las Vegas NV @ Pearl Concert Theater
\n11\/16 – San Jose CA @ City National Civic
\n11\/18 – Salt Lake City UT @ Maverik Center
\n11\/19 – Broomfield CO @ 1st Bank Center
\n11\/21 – Boise ID @ Centurylink Arena
\n11\/22 – Tacoma WA @ Tacoma Dome<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Andrew Bansal Undisputed metal gods for over four decades, Judas Priest released their 17th studio album \u2018Redeemer Of Souls\u2019 last July and are currently on a North American headline tour with Los Angeles based comedy\/parody metal group Steel Panther as support act. Recently, I had a detailed chat with singer Rob Halford about the … <\/p>\n

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