A Conversation with Judas Priest’s Rob Halford – HuffPost 7.7.14

Mike Ragogna: Hi Rob. How did Judas Priest’s approach to the new album Redeemer Of Souls differ from the last?

Rob Halford: I think the challenge, if you want to call it that, is just to really dig to come up with something that’s fresh, that’s new, that’s different from a previous experience. That is just the way that Priest has been doing things for forty-odd years, really. I don’t think anything has really changed that much in the way that we’re doing things.

MR: Maybe any surprises that came up during the recording process?

RH: I suppose the big surprise was having Richie “The Falcon” Faulkner with us now for the first time. Richie’s input can’t be overstated. He made some incredible additions to our new record. He’s just got this phenomenal completeness about him, not only as a guitar player but also as a writer and most definitely on stage. Richie’s involvement on this record was very important along with Glenn and myself, getting the focus and keeping everything on track to try and make a really strong, fierce, energized metal record and that’s what we’ve been able to do.

MR: Was this album more about exploring basics and essentials than expanding the group’s musicality?

RH: Yeah. The mantra we kept chanting was, “Heavy metal, heavy metal, heavy metal,” which has served us well over the decades. A short sidebar… Whenever we record with Priest, the idea of being able to transpose the recording into a live format is very important to us. Sometimes we’re able to do that relatively easily, but sometimes it can be a bit different. Compare the complex arrangements and sounds of Nostradamus to the very straightforward approach of Redeemer Of Souls. It’s such a good example. We really wanted to emphasize the basic instrumentation of the band with very few embellishments. It genuinely is about as live as you can possibly get in that respect.

MR: Is what inspired Judas Priest originally the same as what inspires you now? Did successful careers and becoming famous affect thngs?

RH: You know, that’s a really cool question, and I’ll answer it like this: Regardless of all the fame and success and the fifty-million records we’ve sold, the core of what makes Judas Priest raw is still intact. When you put any kind of band together, in its pure state, it’s all about a dream, it’s all about self-belief. You start with a bunch of people that have a strong connection musically, that have an idea of making a sound and doing some shows, and that’s what we still do in this band. I’m really pleased that none of that has been sidetracked by any of the extraneous things that can happen when you do become successful. When you take all of that away, you’re just left with your band, you’re just left with your music, and that’s really what I think is still at the heart of Judas Priest, the simple love, the passion that we have from making music.

MR: And do you think that’s what connects you to the audience after all these years?

RH: Yeah, I think so, Michael. Particularly, metal fans. Metal fans can smell anything that’s less than pure and genuine. They can sense it. I think we had the most amazing time due to that fantastic relationship with our fans. Our fans know we’ve given our hearts to all of them. We’ve been writing and recording and performing, and I think that’s part of the success of Judas Priest as well. We’ve maintained that friendship for twenty albums. You’ve got to be upfront and as real as you should be.

MR: Does the scene or this whole lifestyle ever get old, or is it still a thrill after all these years?

RH: Yeah, the thrill is still there. It’s still the best thing you can ever have in your life, being in a band that has this wonderful connection through multiple generations of fans. It’s really heartwarming and it’s very inspiring. It’s also very humbling because it’s a different world today from when we began making metal forty years ago. In today’s world, the metal fans find you themselves. They’re not led to you by radio or the media, and I don’t mean that in an insulting way. What I’m saying is these young metal heads with their smartphones and their laptops and their texting and tweeting and Instagramming and Facebooking are on a personal journey of self-discovery regarding the music they want to get into. For that portion of your fan base, it’s quite remarkable. It’s a combination of all of those wonderful aspects that various generations of fans bring to the shows and bring to the records. It matters, really.

MR: If you look at metal through the years, it’s had many variations. Might a decent way to describe metal these days be classic rock on steroids?

RH: I think I’ve lived long enough now to be able to move past a lot of issues that I have personally with certain types of metal. I thought we started with a very pure form of music that then became all kinds of alien species. When that started to happen it was a bit confusing to me, but now I embrace it, I think it’s all extremely potent and valuable and important. More than anything else it just shows you the diversity of this kind of music. All of the things that branched out into various subgenres come from the roots of a band like Judas Priest. It’s amazing, really, that it’s been able to take on all of these different manifestations. It’s fantastic, I love it. Anything that encourages the strength and power of metal globally is clearly something we should welcome.

MR: Who were your first influences?

RH: When we began, we didn’t really have much in the landscape to go to for inspiration on our level because it was a brand new music. For me as a singer, I was inspired by all the greats of the time, whether it was Janis Joplin or people like Robert Plant or Mick Jagger–singers that had some power or personality. Even the roots of singing in metal, which is the blues, people like Bessie Smith, for example; people that were singing from the heart, just a pure, flawless type of strength and delivery. That was what I was thinking about when I became a professional musician. I daresay the rest of the guys in the band, at the time, would have been pushed by those artists that they were involved with. I think really the foundation of the House of Judas Priest is multi-layered, coming from all areas of classic rock and bluesrock. It’s a wonderful place to build from because it’s so psychedelic, really. We’ve often said that to be able to live through the sixties and the seventies was quite phenomenal. The originators have now moved on or passed away, but what a wonderful source for Judas Priest to have gone to. We really value that.

MR: I’ve had the thought that metal’s closest cousin is really opera because of the relentless theatrics and crescendos. What do you think about that?

RH: In Judas Priest’s world, we’ve embraced all of that fire and flair and flamboyance and strength and power. Judas Priest is a very hard band to pin down. We call ourselves a classic metal band, but we’ve done a lot of things over the decade. I think we were one of the first metal bands to bring out that type of production, actually, the big dramatic shows. You look on YouTube at shows we did in the eighties, for example. The Turbo show was gigantic, so was the Defenders Of The Faith tour, which is celebrating thirty years this year. The Painkiller tour more recently, the Epitaph tour… We’ve always embraced that because heavy metal music has always been known to be larger than life in volume, in power, in the visual aspect of it. We’ve always tried to take on all of those extra elements to push the power of metal through Judas Priest.

MR: Where do you think metal embraced religious and occult themes? It seems like some bands use them and some bands don’t and there’s not really an eye batted either way anymore.

RH: Judas Priest is a great name. I love the name of my band. I think it’s one of the most original, strong names ever. It’s not only a great name, there’s only one Judas Priest, but in the two words you get a sense of what we tried to do with our music. You’ve got Judas, who betrayed Christ, so you have that kind of dark element, and then you have Priest, which is obviously the other direction, it’s a sense of purity and empathy and light and all the goodness. It’s the two things–the negative, the positive, the left, the right, the dark, the light, the power of the metal, the more subdued elements. It’s a wonderful name that translates into some of the things that we’ve been trying to do with our music throughout the years. But as far as the antagonistic side of it, I think it’s great if you’ve got a name that provokes. To me, that’s what rock ‘n’ roll has always been about. Rock ‘n’ roll was invented to do what it did. It wasn’t a music that was invented to be taken lightly, it was a music to create revolution, and it should still do that now.

MR: To me, one of your album covers really illustrates that juxtaposition of light and dark you were talking about, British Steel. It said a lot without being an overblown illustration.

RH: Yeah, it did. That artwork has become iconic, really. If you look in the history of rock ‘n’ roll covers, you’ll always find the British Steel razor blade in there somehow. Again, your artwork should try and project the entity of the music that’s displaying. It still makes people wince a little bit; it’s like a paper cut, or dragging your nails across a chalkboard. It kind of goes down your spine, doesn’t it, when you look at it for the first time. There’s something very appealing about it even though it’s quite menacing. It’s got a Dexter quality about it.

MR: You might say whoever came up with the cover concept was pretty sharp. Sorry.

RH: [laughs] Oh, I agree, yeah. Just the title, British Steel, just the two simple words along with the simple cover sent an extraordinarily loud message around the world. And particularly at the time that it came out, Michael, as you know 1980 was the beginning of what’s still referred to as one of the greatest decades that heavy metal had. If you look at all of the metal that came out from 1980 to 1987, it’s quite mind-blowing; extraordinary talent from all over the world, particularly the UK and US. The 1980s was the epitome of metal music really taking hold of the world and giving it a good shake.

MR: Rob, Judas Priest and a handful of bands like AC/DC collectively were the clarion call that metal was here to stay whether anyone liked it or not.

RH: Yeah, exactly. It was an extraordinary decade because, of course, not only were we gaining tremendous success, but we were also gaining tremendous pushback from parts of the world that were becoming quite intimidated and a little afraid of what we were doing. I think there was a feeling in some parts of the establishment that metal was going to be just as reactionary as what was happening in the sixties in America, around the Vietnam War and everything. You have these extraordinary figures, whether it was Dylan or Crosby, Still & Nash or any of those provocative performers, and there were some people in the establishment in the eighties that felt that heavy metal was going to be just as potent in its reach. And to some extent, it was. Even though the eighties was an extremely affluent time for a lot of people–it was just a major pig out in all forms–I think there were some areas of the establishment, i.e. the PMRC organization, that were legitimately concerned about the values of some of the things that were going on. The 1980s was an amazing time in many reference points.

MR: So the mission of metal in the 1980s? Mission accomplished. Now what is the mission of metal today? There’s no one left to shock.

RH: You’re absolutely right. I think the invention of the internet has really dissipated the shock value of anything anymore. Maybe that’s a good thing, because shock value can have its appeal, but if it’s not supported by some kind of quality good music, it doesn’t have much value, does it? I was talking to some friends the other day about the last really great shock artist that had substantial music–my friend, Marilyn Manson. There won’t ever be another Marilyn Manson because it’s all been done now, and kids are doing it themselves. They don’t need to go and look at an artist or watch something on TV, they’re doing it themselves and posting it on YouTube, thanks to Jackass. It’s probably not much of a great loss, in my mind anyway.

MR: Well, the key now to breaking acts is supposedly social media, but the key to breaking in the metal genre also used to be the great discovery of the mystery behind the band. It almost seems like social media would work against that, wouldn’t it?

RH: Two of the greatest bands that pushed back against all of the intrusiveness were Led Zeppelin, who never gave an interview in their lives and Tool who you never saw a picture of. Also to some extent KISS, because they took the makeup off. That’s a very interesting question, Michael, because even in recent years, Priest had to get on board with that. I’ve always treasured the mystique and the mystery and the magic of a rock ‘n’ roll show. I don’t really want to know what’s on the deli tray in the dressing room. I don’t want to see how everything works. I just want to get lost in the escapism and fantasy of a rock ‘n’ roll show. But that’s over now, that’s completely gone. Now if you don’t jump on board and get integrated in social media you’re going to get left behind. They’ll all be getting down to the nitty-gritty, getting down to the basics of what good music is all about, that’s probably getting more honest and truer now than ever before. You win some, you lose some, Michael.

MR: So was the band going back to basics through Redeemer redeeming for Judas Priest in some respects?

RH: I think what we try to do is keep the brand and tradition of Judas Priest alive with a title like Redeemer Of Souls. It marries well with Sad Wings Of Destiny,Screaming For Vengeance, Defenders Of The Faith. We’re just reaffirming a lot of things about ourselves with that title, and it just happens to have another kind of evocative sense about it. Whose souls are we redeeming? Are we redeeming your souls? Is this redeemer just a simple fantasy character? What are we about? We like to bring a lot of thought process and interest and value to not only the titles of our records but also to the artwork. When you look at the artwork and you read the title your head starts spinning trying to make sense of it. I think as long as we’re doing that we’ll lead everybody to draw their own conclusions.

MR: Rob, here we go again. What advice do you have for new artists?

RH: Well, I’m probably going to repeat myself, but you’ve got to try your damnedest to be as original as you possibly can. You’ve got to be dedicated to practice, practice, practice. You can’t practice enough. Those are two important elements, but again it’s all the peripheral stuff. You’ve got to be prepared for a f**king battle, man. It’s a never-ending battle to be in a band, on all levels. You’ve got to be prepared to be able to handle that mentally. Keep your music at the heart of what you do, but be prepared to take on all of the other non-musical aspects and somehow find a way to deal with it all.

Transcribed by Galen Hawthorne