BraveWords.com: Are you going to concentrate on the solo material? Or will there be some Judas Priest greatest hits thrown in there?
Halford: “It’s a bit of a dilemma isn’t it? My answer is if you want
Judas Priest – why would you not want it from the original source? I’m back in Priest now, so it makes sense that if you want to hear Priest… hear the real deal. That’s really important for me to communicate.
‘Breakin’ The Law’ sounds best when it’s played by Glenn, Ken, Scott, Ian and myself. That’s it. That is ‘Breakin’ The Law’. Anything else is a cover version. Regardless of the fact that the
‘voice’ is there, that’s got nothing to do with it. The Halford band is the Halford band through its own strengths and character and the songs that have been made. Admittedly, there’s been only two records so far, but there’s this new music on the way and I think the songs we put together in Resurrection and Crucible are still as viable as any band. The songs are strong. The songs are workable all these years later. So, that’s what we’ll concentrate on doing.”
BraveWords.com: Good! Resurrection was a brilliant album…
Halford: “Thank you. It’s a really strong album and it’ll be fun to play material from that album again.”
BraveWords.com: No mention of
FIGHT. Does that suggest that it’s a whole other project and you won’t cover those songs this time out?
Halford: “That’s easier for me to do then doing some Priest songs quite honestly. I think it’s conceivable.”
BraveWords.com: Let’s talk about the Live In Anaheim CD & DVD. When I spoke to you in the past, you mentioned this long-term plan to release different live projects over the years. There’s Rock In Rio and now Anaheim. Is this the end or will there be more releases from the vaults?
Halford: “There’s so much stuff. We pretty much had cameras rolling at every show that the Halford band did in those years. So, there is still a lot of footage floating around. I don’t know what we’ll do with that, but it’s nice to think there’s stuff in the ‘vault’ (as they say). And Anaheim just seemed to make sense because as we’ve gone through setting up Metal God Records (this little indie metal label) and because I now own all of that material. I can do what I want with both the Halford and Fight material. It was a case of finding its place on the label within that business framework. So really, these are the last two releases. The Anaheim DVD (which is on its way) and the CD which is out now.”
ML: Are there any more titles in the vaults that you plan on releasing?
RH: “So, we’ve got the Anaheim audio (CD), the Anaheim DVD and the Crucible remixed and remastered. It was like putting it through the car wash. All bands do it and it was just natural that I would go through that. That’s about it for blasts from the past. Now, we’ve got to look at what can be done in the future. Not only from the Halford band, but from the new talent that we want to sign and put out on Metal God Records.”
ML: So you want to sign talent now? I spoke to you before Nostradamus, before Rock In Rio and you seemed to have this five-year vision that didn’t include other bands. You’re actively looking for new bands?”
RH: “We are now, yes. That’s because it’s taken the time it takes for any new business to launch itself. Whether it’s the label or the apparel company. You kind of
‘self guinea pig’ yourself because you want to make sure you are able to deliver the quality material and if it doesn’t work – you’ve only got yourself to blame. So, you want to go through all of that exercise and get the factory running – so yes, we are actively looking.”
ML: Since you’re actively looking and you’re the Metal God, are you looking for only metal bands or any good musicians whether they do
Dave Matthews or
Judas Priest? Are you simply looking for someone you can market or does it have to be the next great metal guy?
RH: “We’ve talked about this (the team that works together) and I think it would be kind of putting everything in one box if we kept it as just metal. So, one of the ideas we’ve had is to have another division within Metal God Records to consider the opportunities of other talent. It’s going to be strong music. Metal has many different dimensions. If it has that more loose-y lighter type of experience, I think that there’s an opportunity to bring in a band in that deals with that texture completely and doesn’t go much further away in the invention. Is that band determined to be on Metal God Records or a sub-division of the label? For example, Sony has this massive core of artists that do different types of music. So, you have to look at all the opportunities… don’t you? There are so many great musicians out there – metal and non-metal… a good song is a good song is a good song. I’m a metal musician foremost, but I’ve got the experience and understanding of knowing a good song when I hear it. You don’t put blinkers on and go ‘this is the only place we stay’; not when there are opportunities for other talent to grow and develop. That’s what being a musician is all about.”
ML: You mentioned being a ‘metal musician’. Bands that came up in the ‘80s like
DEF LEPPARD and
BON JOVI have softened up their sound as they got older, but you never have. Is there a point as you get older that you start thinking ‘I may want to take it back a step because of my voice or physically or my ears can’t take everything on 10’ or will you always be The Metal God?
RH: “I think an example of that is the new track
‘The Mower’. I’m really going full whack and that’s just because the message in that song is about the angst and frustration that I feel going on around me in the world whether it’s from a societal point of view or things happening in the news. Whatever it might be, I still get emotional about life and living and things piss me off. That’s what I love about having the opportunities of a metal singer to vent. I’m venting on ‘The Mower’. When I’m talking about ‘who dances on the throne’ and ‘such pickings for the crow’ I’m just using that metaphorically to talk about all the stupidity that goes on in the world around us. So, is this the way you want to be perceived – you’re a fifty-nine year old metal head. It’s the joy of being a musician regardless of whether you’re a metal singer or whatever. If your heart’s in the right place and if it’s credible or real then it doesn’t matter how many digits there are in your age bracket.”
ML: So, there’s no unplugged tour with you in beach shorts and flip-flops just yet…
RH: (laughs) “No, I couldn’t do that. It’s a very interesting question to ponder really what you suggest Mitch. I did the Christmas release last year, Winter Songs. That was just another opportunity of me saying ‘this probably isn’t what you expect of me, but what I’m doing here is very real and very genuine from a personal place.' Take it or leave it and a lot of people took it and that was a very gratifying experience. I don’t want to play it safe. I don’t want to be the same metal musician over and over again. I want the opportunity to do things I’ve not yet done or at least just show the broad amount of possibilities that are out there in metal.”
ML: That was the brilliance of Nostradamus. That you did something different to what you had done in the past.
RH: “It was and that was the joy of writing that material. Just thinking back to the days that Glenn (Tipton), K.K. (Downing) and myself spent together; it was a really wonderful session as far as the writing went. Everyday was just a thrill to come away with these new songs and to put them together in the format of a concept record was just tremendously satisfying for all of us as musicians. I keep pushing for that opportunity for us to play Nostradamus live even if we only do it once you know. To me the record truly hasn’t lived until we have the opportunity to perform it live. Everything you hear on the record is artificial. It’s not real. It’s recorded. It’s fantasy and that’s the great joy of music. You try to capture an element of realism, but at the end of the day it’s all fantastical. It’s like going to the movies. The only way you make that real is by performing it live in front of your fans. Any band’s credibility is based solely on their ability to deliver what they record in a live dimension. So, I really hope we’ll get that opportunity with Nostradamus.”
ML: Sounds like you need to do a die-hards only club gig.
RH: “Anything is possible.”
ML: You mentioned you’d be touring next year with Judas Priest. Will it be a greatest hits tour or for a new album?
RH: “It won’t be a new album unless K.K. and Glenn are accumulating ideas which there is every possibility that they are (laughs). That’s what we tend to do then we all come together and throw it into the pot. I don’t know if that’s going on or not because I’ve been so immersed with all of these things with the Halford band. There’s still so many places around the world that want to get the British Steel show.”
ML: Like Montreal (which hasn’t gotten it)…
RH: “Exactly. So, there’s the British Steel show or the greatest hits thing if that’s what we want to do. It could be any number of things. I’ll be seeing the guys again towards the end of the year back in the UK (where I go every Christmas time) and we’ll figure it all out. We’ll see where we are in 2011, but the Priest will be back (as they say).”
ML: Finally,
RONNIE JAMES DIO… RH: “He was a dear friend and I loved him to death. You have to celebrate through the sadness like I did for days after the news hit. I listened to his voice and I listened to his songs. It gave me tremendous strength to get through that grieving process and millions of the fans went through it. Just a horrible thing to happen to someone so wonderful and fabulous; he lived a full life. He did tremendous things in music and in metal especially. He loved his fans. He loved being a singer. He had an extraordinary voice that no one else could come close to. Ronnie James Dio’s voice was unique to himself and no one else. Lots of wonderful memories and the music lives forever.”
Mer 5 Mai - 22:50
BraveWords.com caught up with the Metal God recently and discussed the plethora of activities going on in JUDAS PRIEST frontman ROB HALFORD's busy back-yard these days including his latest release, Halford Live In Anaheim (CD and DVD), his upcoming release Halford IV – Made Of Metal as well as his upcoming performance at Heavy MTL II in Montreal on July 24th. Part one of the chat reads as follows: 
