Jay Nanda of the San Antonio Metal Music Examiner recently conducted an interview with bassist Ian Hill of British heavy metal legends JUDAS PRIEST. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: How is [the new JUDAS PRIEST guitarist] Richie [Faulkner] working out, and what can we expect of someone we've never seen play with PRIEST before?

Ian: Yeah, Richie is an altogether great talent. An absolutely excellent guitarist. He does what Ken [former PRIEST guitarist Kenneth "K.K." Downing] did, plus his own little traits. He's a great performer and character. We've been really lucky to find him. Even the way we found him — we weren't even looking. [laughs] Someone (else) was going to take over for Ken, and they couldn't do it, and it was him. You find what you can. We had a chat with him and gave him a go, and thank God. The crowd is taking to him well, and with all due respect to Ken, no one's missing him. [laughs] No one's asking about Ken.

San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: Really, you're not getting any feedback about K.K. not being there?

Ian: No, and you'll know why when you see Richie perform.

San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: You go back with K.K. during your schooldays, I believe, so it can be said that you're the closest to him. What was your first reaction when he made it known he was stepping away?

Ian: We were all absolutely stopped in our tracks. When he came up and announced that he didn't want to carry on . . . Richie knew for a month that he had the job, but God bless him, he kept his mouth shut. [laughs] We said, "Richie, if he doesn't come back, you've got the job." He must have been waiting to tell somebody.

San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: K.K. made it clear that it wasn't his health or his golf interests. Was it songwriting differences or a disagreement on whether this should be the final tour?

Ian: I don't know. Anything I say would be speculation. Personally, I think he had enough. Out of all of us, maybe he's the one who enjoyed it the least. If you ever get the opportunity, that's something you'd have to ask him.

San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: Rob [Halford, vocals] reportedly said the other day that you all have made significant progress on the next album. How far along are you, and what can you tell me about the songs or direction of it?

Ian: We pretty much finished three tracks. Obviously, we did this before Richie had come along. Rob and myself and Glenn [Tipton] and Scott [Travis]. There's still Richie's input to go on top of that. Rob and Glenn have got a lot of songs knocked out. My ideas, too, this time around and with Richie's input, we'll start on completing this album sometime next year. We're going to carry on from where we left off with "Angel Of Retribution". After the concept album ["Nostradamus"], we're going to get back to the heavy metal that PRIEST is known for.

Read the entire interview from the San Antonio Metal Music Examiner.

Jay Nanda of the San Antonio Metal Music Examiner recently conducted an interview with bassist Ian Hill of British heavy metal legends JUDAS PRIEST. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: How is [the new JUDAS PRIEST guitarist] Richie [Faulkner] working out, and what can we expect of someone we've never seen play with PRIEST before?

Ian: Yeah, Richie is an altogether great talent. An absolutely excellent guitarist. He does what Ken [former PRIEST guitarist Kenneth "K.K." Downing] did, plus his own little traits. He's a great performer and character. We've been really lucky to find him. Even the way we found him — we weren't even looking. [laughs] Someone (else) was going to take over for Ken, and they couldn't do it, and it was him. You find what you can. We had a chat with him and gave him a go, and thank God. The crowd is taking to him well, and with all due respect to Ken, no one's missing him. [laughs] No one's asking about Ken.

San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: Really, you're not getting any feedback about K.K. not being there?

Ian: No, and you'll know why when you see Richie perform.

San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: You go back with K.K. during your schooldays, I believe, so it can be said that you're the closest to him. What was your first reaction when he made it known he was stepping away?

Ian: We were all absolutely stopped in our tracks. When he came up and announced that he didn't want to carry on . . . Richie knew for a month that he had the job, but God bless him, he kept his mouth shut. [laughs] We said, "Richie, if he doesn't come back, you've got the job." He must have been waiting to tell somebody.

San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: K.K. made it clear that it wasn't his health or his golf interests. Was it songwriting differences or a disagreement on whether this should be the final tour?

Ian: I don't know. Anything I say would be speculation. Personally, I think he had enough. Out of all of us, maybe he's the one who enjoyed it the least. If you ever get the opportunity, that's something you'd have to ask him.

San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: Rob [Halford, vocals] reportedly said the other day that you all have made significant progress on the next album. How far along are you, and what can you tell me about the songs or direction of it?

Ian: We pretty much finished three tracks. Obviously, we did this before Richie had come along. Rob and myself and Glenn [Tipton] and Scott [Travis]. There's still Richie's input to go on top of that. Rob and Glenn have got a lot of songs knocked out. My ideas, too, this time around and with Richie's input, we'll start on completing this album sometime next year. We're going to carry on from where we left off with "Angel Of Retribution". After the concept album ["Nostradamus"], we're going to get back to the heavy metal that PRIEST is known for.

Read the entire interview from the San Antonio Metal Music Examiner.

JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford fell off the motorcycle he famously rides onto the stage at the end of each show during last night's (Thursday, September 15) concert at Ginásio Nilson Nelson in Brasilia, Brazil. Fan-filmed video footage of the incident can be seen below.

On the last show of the tour supporting PRIEST's 1990 "Painkiller" album, Halford was knocked off the motorcycle he by a misplaced prop. He broke his nose and was rendered unconscious, causing him to miss the last song of what would be his final show with the band for more than a decade.

In an interview with Hellbound, Halford stated about his nightly ritual of cruising out on stage on a motorcycle, "The whole association with motorcycles and JUDAS PRIEST goes back to 'Hell Bent for Leather' — whenever that song was written... When we were touring in England, we thought that it would be cool if we could bring the bike on stage when we did the song, as it seemed like the right thing to do. So when we would go to a city we would ask one of our crew to see if there were any motorcycle guys or girls that had parked their bikes and could we use their bikes and give them a couple of T-shirts, or buy them a drink and that type of thing.

"When we got to America, we basically asked our management company to contact Harley-Davidson and told them what we wanted to do. They were really excited about the association of their bikes with this heavy metal band from the UK. They gave us the 1981 low-rider for a dollar. Prior to that, they would give us Harley's and then we would give them back at the end of the tour. The official one that you see now, which has been customized — the frame, the wheels, the engine all the internal stuff are the original components. So we have had that bike since then."

Regarding the connection between motorcycles and rock and roll, Halford said, "In my mind, in talking about the United States, it’s all about Harley-Davidson. There has just been this ongoing relationship in rock and roll with Harley for as long as I can remember. The roots of motorcycles and rock and roll culture goes back all the way to Marlon Brando in that movie 'On The Waterfront' I think that it is still relevant in today's rock world. I've seen guys like AVENGED SEVENFOLD in other metal bands that are using bikes on stage. The MÖTLEY CRÜE boys are using bikes in their videos. We are using bikes in our videos but Harley-Davidson is the most important brand for us. They are American and the represent America, even though for awhile Harleys were made in Japan, which was a bit unusual but eventually they moved back to the States where they belonged.

"Harleys are the perfect American motorcycle to be associated with rock and roll music. And I've always said that the Harleys are synonymous with heavy metal because like heavy metal, Harleys are big and loud and brash and they smell and they piss some people off, and they have all the same attributes that heavy metal does. So it's a very close correlation between rock and roll, heavy metal and motorcycles. It's the independence, the rebel streak — all of those are attached to being on a Harley."

 

JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford fell off the motorcycle he famously rides onto the stage at the end of each show during last night's (Thursday, September 15) concert at Ginásio Nilson Nelson in Brasilia, Brazil. Fan-filmed video footage of the incident can be seen below.

On the last show of the tour supporting PRIEST's 1990 "Painkiller" album, Halford was knocked off the motorcycle he by a misplaced prop. He broke his nose and was rendered unconscious, causing him to miss the last song of what would be his final show with the band for more than a decade.

In an interview with Hellbound, Halford stated about his nightly ritual of cruising out on stage on a motorcycle, "The whole association with motorcycles and JUDAS PRIEST goes back to 'Hell Bent for Leather' — whenever that song was written... When we were touring in England, we thought that it would be cool if we could bring the bike on stage when we did the song, as it seemed like the right thing to do. So when we would go to a city we would ask one of our crew to see if there were any motorcycle guys or girls that had parked their bikes and could we use their bikes and give them a couple of T-shirts, or buy them a drink and that type of thing.

"When we got to America, we basically asked our management company to contact Harley-Davidson and told them what we wanted to do. They were really excited about the association of their bikes with this heavy metal band from the UK. They gave us the 1981 low-rider for a dollar. Prior to that, they would give us Harley's and then we would give them back at the end of the tour. The official one that you see now, which has been customized — the frame, the wheels, the engine all the internal stuff are the original components. So we have had that bike since then."

Regarding the connection between motorcycles and rock and roll, Halford said, "In my mind, in talking about the United States, it’s all about Harley-Davidson. There has just been this ongoing relationship in rock and roll with Harley for as long as I can remember. The roots of motorcycles and rock and roll culture goes back all the way to Marlon Brando in that movie 'On The Waterfront' I think that it is still relevant in today's rock world. I've seen guys like AVENGED SEVENFOLD in other metal bands that are using bikes on stage. The MÖTLEY CRÜE boys are using bikes in their videos. We are using bikes in our videos but Harley-Davidson is the most important brand for us. They are American and the represent America, even though for awhile Harleys were made in Japan, which was a bit unusual but eventually they moved back to the States where they belonged.

"Harleys are the perfect American motorcycle to be associated with rock and roll music. And I've always said that the Harleys are synonymous with heavy metal because like heavy metal, Harleys are big and loud and brash and they smell and they piss some people off, and they have all the same attributes that heavy metal does. So it's a very close correlation between rock and roll, heavy metal and motorcycles. It's the independence, the rebel streak — all of those are attached to being on a Harley."

 

JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford fell off the motorcycle he famously rides onto the stage at the end of each show during last night's (Thursday, September 15) concert at Ginásio Nilson Nelson in Brasilia, Brazil. Fan-filmed video footage of the incident can be seen below.

On the last show of the tour supporting PRIEST's 1990 "Painkiller" album, Halford was knocked off the motorcycle he by a misplaced prop. He broke his nose and was rendered unconscious, causing him to miss the last song of what would be his final show with the band for more than a decade.

In an interview with Hellbound, Halford stated about his nightly ritual of cruising out on stage on a motorcycle, "The whole association with motorcycles and JUDAS PRIEST goes back to 'Hell Bent for Leather' — whenever that song was written... When we were touring in England, we thought that it would be cool if we could bring the bike on stage when we did the song, as it seemed like the right thing to do. So when we would go to a city we would ask one of our crew to see if there were any motorcycle guys or girls that had parked their bikes and could we use their bikes and give them a couple of T-shirts, or buy them a drink and that type of thing.

"When we got to America, we basically asked our management company to contact Harley-Davidson and told them what we wanted to do. They were really excited about the association of their bikes with this heavy metal band from the UK. They gave us the 1981 low-rider for a dollar. Prior to that, they would give us Harley's and then we would give them back at the end of the tour. The official one that you see now, which has been customized — the frame, the wheels, the engine all the internal stuff are the original components. So we have had that bike since then."

Regarding the connection between motorcycles and rock and roll, Halford said, "In my mind, in talking about the United States, it’s all about Harley-Davidson. There has just been this ongoing relationship in rock and roll with Harley for as long as I can remember. The roots of motorcycles and rock and roll culture goes back all the way to Marlon Brando in that movie 'On The Waterfront' I think that it is still relevant in today's rock world. I've seen guys like AVENGED SEVENFOLD in other metal bands that are using bikes on stage. The MÖTLEY CRÜE boys are using bikes in their videos. We are using bikes in our videos but Harley-Davidson is the most important brand for us. They are American and the represent America, even though for awhile Harleys were made in Japan, which was a bit unusual but eventually they moved back to the States where they belonged.

"Harleys are the perfect American motorcycle to be associated with rock and roll music. And I've always said that the Harleys are synonymous with heavy metal because like heavy metal, Harleys are big and loud and brash and they smell and they piss some people off, and they have all the same attributes that heavy metal does. So it's a very close correlation between rock and roll, heavy metal and motorcycles. It's the independence, the rebel streak — all of those are attached to being on a Harley."