For this weeks In Conversation we sat down with Rob Halford to talk new album 'Invincible Shield', performing with Dolly Parton, writing with Stock Aitken Waterman and being labelled 'Metal God by fans
Category
🎵
MusicTranscript
00:00 A lot of people have come to see you, fans have come to see you, you've worked hard to buy a ticket,
00:05 they've took money out of their wages and bought a ticket, there's a commitment right there, so you better not fuck it up.
00:12 Hi, I'm Nick and I'm joined by Rob Halford from Judas Priest for the latest in the Enemies in Conversation series.
00:23 How's it going today?
00:25 Hello Nick, it's going great, it's going great. I love these opportunities to talk to our friends in the music world,
00:34 in the way that you help us push the message out for Judas Priest.
00:39 We were saying off camera that I go way back to the beginnings of NME and so I have a great friendship that goes five decades,
00:50 so this is a wonderful opportunity to keep that reinforced.
00:54 Yeah, you were just saying you used to go to the newsagents to pick it up every week.
00:57 Yes, I used to go to my newsagents to pick up the NME and I'd take it home and I would devour everything that was on the pages,
01:06 the pictures, the stories, this is how we would communicate in bands, a lot of bands would pick up the copy of the NME just because of the information.
01:19 That was the only place we could get that kind of information. Up in the West Midlands, the NME being a publication from down south,
01:29 the big smoke, it was important, it's still important because you read stuff that you can only get at that particular place.
01:37 So communication through messages, through that side of who we are as a band and the music that we make
01:46 and introducing people to new music, new tours, new bands, new ideas, it's as important now as it ever was.
01:55 Absolutely. We're here in Walsall in our recording studio, I was wondering, did you record any of the new Judas Priest album, Invincible Shield, in this studio?
02:04 This is a great little studio, my friend Rhys has had it for a long time, he's worked really hard to keep it going.
02:10 This room that we're in has every kind of music being made in it. It's literally a 15 minute walk from my little house up the street.
02:21 So I have done some work in here, nothing absolutely relative to Priest and as he's saying that,
02:30 is he thinking about standing in the vocal booth there and laying down some demos for possibly Redeemer of Souls.
02:40 Anything can happen in a studio, that's what I love about it, it's like the Wizard of Oz, the things that go on behind the doors.
02:48 But this place is just a really cool vibe. I did a lot of the music for the Christmas album Celestial here, in the room next door.
02:59 My brother was banging on the drums and my nephew Alex, Ian Healson, was playing on bass with some other friends
03:06 and we laid down some ideas and videos for Celestial.
03:11 I love studios, I'm always excited to go into a studio at any given moment just because of the endless possibilities that are presented.
03:21 Has the band's recording process changed much over time? Are you quicker than you used to be? Are you slower?
03:29 That's a really good question. I would say that we're as efficient as we ever were.
03:36 When you ask me that question I think about the time when we were making an album a year and a world tour.
03:42 I can't remember the back to back, was it Screaming for Vengeance, Defenders of the Faith and something else?
03:47 How did we do that? It doesn't make sense.
03:51 And then you had to be efficient, then you really had to know your metal without dropping the standard that you create as you grow as a band.
04:03 Once you start to gain traction and get a fan base and collectively everything is getting bigger,
04:10 then the responsibilities kick in as they should be there from day one, but it becomes more of a thing.
04:17 So the writing for Invincible Shield, we got together for about a month with Glenn and Richie.
04:27 This chemistry of two guitar players and a singer has been wonderful for Priest.
04:33 Ever since we did that with British Steel, that was the first time we sat down as a trio to write.
04:38 And we've done that ever since and great things consistently happen in the way that we make the metal.
04:46 So we had about a month for the initial writing. We all brought in ideas.
04:54 Then we had a month looking at everything and starting to put the meat on the skeleton.
05:01 Then we take a month off to take that very important creative break.
05:07 Then we come back and for the second month we really start to kick things into shape.
05:14 A lot of that music from Invincible Shield came from just a couple of months of writing.
05:20 So again, efficiency, knowing what you've got to do without overthinking it.
05:26 I've always said that once you start to overthink it, stuff gets in the way.
05:31 It's very much instinct. You're really rolling with internally what you need to do.
05:37 There are certain elements on every Priest album that have kind of made a thread.
05:45 What I mean by that is you're going to have the fierceness, the dynamics, the energy of a song like the opening cut of Panic Attack or Serpent and the King.
05:57 You're going to have different textures like Crown of Horns. You know that.
06:03 Once you've completed a certain expression, you know not to go there again because you've already been done a part of the pitch.
06:12 Now you've got to try and see where the next place is that it's going to take you.
06:17 All of that came into play for making the music for Invincible Shield.
06:22 At what point in the process did Panic Attack come along? That's the first one that fans heard from the album.
06:27 Was it one that you wrote first or was it later?
06:29 That's a great question because I haven't got a clue.
06:32 When we're writing the music, we are just as excited and full of enthusiasm about the possibilities of where a song might eventually end up.
06:48 You don't say, "We're going to write the opening song for the album."
06:54 Don't do that. Just keep writing and expressing yourself as it takes you through all these different moments.
07:03 We overwrite for our music. There's always stuff that's left behind.
07:12 Stuff that doesn't make it to the A-list as we call it. The A-list, B-list and C-list.
07:18 There was a lot of A-list stuff that was happening for Invincible Shield.
07:23 A lot of it made the record.
07:26 We don't really talk about the tracking and the sequences until everything's done.
07:33 Then we all put the boxing gloves on. "This has got to be the first one."
07:37 "No, it's going to be this one."
07:39 Again, that's just part of the beautiful relationship that we have with each other in the band.
07:45 Listening to each other. Nobody dominates anybody else.
07:50 So important in every band. There's got to be some kind of a leader.
07:54 Otherwise it's like the Titanic. You've got to have somebody that's steering through wherever you're going to.
08:01 But to be respectful to each other.
08:05 And the drummer is as important as the singer, as important as the guitar player.
08:10 Everybody has to be dealt the same hand.
08:15 So all of that comes into understanding how we're going to put this record together.
08:22 Are we going to lead off with Panic Attack or are we going to lead off with this one and that one?
08:26 Eventually, compromise...
08:30 I hate that word but it's so important.
08:33 Compromise comes into play.
08:35 So when you finish the album sequencing, you're about as content as you're going to be separately.
08:44 And Panic Attack is the one that leads off the charge.
08:48 You mentioned your mutual respect between you and your bandmates.
08:52 And also the fact you're still so excited about the creative process.
08:55 Do you think it's those two things that have helped you to last?
08:58 The fact you are so excited and also you respect each other so you can work well.
09:02 It's got to be, hasn't it Nick?
09:05 That's a simple observation and question but it's really profound.
09:12 You've got to want to walk out on that stage.
09:15 You've got to really be there.
09:17 You're not there just because we're going to go and have a knock.
09:20 You've got to be wanting to stand on that stage and do the work that you need to do.
09:25 Because whether you like it or not, this word responsibility comes into play.
09:31 You have a responsibility to each other because of the work that you've created and the place that it's put you in.
09:38 So there's a responsibility there not to drop the ball, not to be deficient, not to go "that'll do" kind of thing.
09:46 None of that has ever existed in Priest.
09:49 We've always been extremely determined and the attitude of creating the best possible expressions in our music
09:58 has always led us forward.
10:01 None of that has fizzled out or diminished.
10:05 All of that is vital.
10:08 You've all got to be believing.
10:11 You're all on the pitch and you've got to get the ball in the net.
10:14 Not just one of you.
10:16 It's usually one bloke that puts it in the net.
10:18 But you're all going there for the same purpose, the same drive and determination.
10:25 You're in it to win it.
10:27 If you're not all feeling that way, it gets wonky.
10:34 I love one of the most beautiful things for me, and I'm so excited about this next tour,
10:40 is when I'm on stage and I've got my in-ear monitors on and I'm not doing my bit and I'm just listening to the guys.
10:46 I'm listening to them because I'm an absolute fanatic for everything when we're playing, as much as we are for each other.
10:56 But that's when the joy happens for me, because I can listen.
10:59 I might be strolling around the stage, but I'm listening.
11:02 The love that these guys are putting into the music is just phenomenal.
11:06 You can sense they're doing this because it means as much to them as it does to me.
11:12 Ian's playing his bass because his life depends on it.
11:17 And it's the same for everybody.
11:20 That's what I love about bands.
11:22 You look at any band and each one of them are doing their work, but the way it all connects together in such unity,
11:29 in expressing this is who we are and this is what we sound like, this is what we look like,
11:34 that's not lost on me or any of us in Priest.
11:39 It's great. Everything is on full roar, as it ever was.
11:42 Do you still get butterflies before you go on stage?
11:44 Oh, yeah.
11:45 Still?
11:46 Yeah.
11:48 I'd be dead if I didn't feel that way.
11:52 It's more nervous energy.
11:55 It's more, again, the responsibility that you've got a job to do.
11:59 A lot of people have come to see you, your fans have come to see you.
12:02 You've worked hard to buy a ticket.
12:04 They've took money out of their wages and bought a ticket.
12:07 There's a commitment right there.
12:09 So you better not fuck it up, RuPaul. Don't fuck it up.
12:13 That's important.
12:15 You can't just be blasé and stroll out and have a bang.
12:17 No, it's not that.
12:19 You've really got to be aware of every element because you're under scrutiny.
12:24 We just played to, I don't know, 50 million people at Power Trip,
12:28 but every single person was analysing this band.
12:31 Everybody was looking at, "Who's Rob doing? Where's Richard?
12:35 Look at Ian, what's Ian doing over there?"
12:37 Every single person has you under the microscope, and as it should be,
12:42 that's when you're at your finest because you're striving
12:48 to make every show the best possible show that you can do.
12:52 When you're out on a big old tour,
12:54 do you have to do anything in particular to look after your voice?
12:57 I don't do this.
12:59 I love to flap my lips because I love to talk about Metal 24/7 or music or life.
13:05 I just love life and I love to talk and listen.
13:08 I'm a good listener and I'm doing a lot of talking.
13:12 But when we're on tour, the only time I really use my voice is when I'm on stage.
13:17 It's a muscle. It needs its rest and recuperation.
13:24 So no, I don't do anything besides just being sensible and being aware of that.
13:31 You also just recorded a song with Dolly Parton, 'Bygones', for her Rockstar album.
13:36 How did that come about and when she got in touch with you,
13:39 were you all in from the start?
13:42 The first thing that did my head in was when I got the opportunity to be with her
13:48 at the end bit of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
13:52 and just be on stage with all those other incredible people.
13:57 Pat Benatar, Simon LeBron, Pink, Sheryl Crow, Annie Lennox.
14:02 I'm standing there and I'm like a deer in the headlights because I love these people.
14:06 They're all so incredibly talented and they've worked so hard to get to where they've gotten to.
14:13 And then at rehearsals it was just mad because she walks out on stage
14:18 and she looks like a million dollars.
14:20 And some of us have been up all night, and I'm in my shorts.
14:23 And I'm like, "Oh God, why didn't I put something decent on?"
14:28 She's just this ball of light. She walks into the room, she looks incredible, she smells great.
14:34 She's just so beautiful to everybody in terms of respect and care.
14:39 And she goes, "Hey Rob, do you know Jolene?"
14:43 First of all, Dolly Parton speaking to me.
14:47 "Oh yes, Dolly, I know a lot of you."
14:50 "Oh great, would you want to sing a couple of lines with me?"
14:52 "Yeah, yeah, that'd be great."
14:54 So we had some rehearsals and I remember I couldn't sleep that night.
14:58 I was awake all night, I was buzzing.
15:01 As much for Priest, but equally I'm going to do that thing with Dolly.
15:07 So we had that fantastic time together with that song.
15:13 And I only sang a couple of bits, but it went viral the next day.
15:16 There was a picture of me and her in clothes singing these lines together.
15:21 It just seemed so surreal. So there was that.
15:25 And then a short while later I get a note from Dolly on an email
15:30 saying I'm doing this rock star album you might have heard about.
15:33 "Would you like to consider doing a song?"
15:37 "Yeah."
15:38 "Can I send you the file?"
15:40 "Yeah."
15:41 As soon as I heard the demo I was all in.
15:44 She knew what she was doing to offer that piece of music.
15:48 It's not just Rob, it's Rob from Priest.
15:51 This is a Priest song, this is Priest with Dolly Parton.
15:55 So the Bygones track was just a really great chance to do something
16:02 that I think now is like, "Was it real?"
16:06 I went into a studio that I use in Phoenix.
16:08 She was in Nashville with Ken, our producer.
16:11 We were going back and forth, she was screaming on the phone,
16:13 "Oh my God, I can't believe that! Can you do blah, blah, blah?
16:16 Can you try this, can you try that?"
16:18 So we put it together in real time in that way.
16:21 And then eventually it made its way into the rock star album.
16:25 I didn't even know if it was going to be there,
16:27 because you know me, I think I'm shit.
16:30 Everything I do is not to the standard that I want it to be.
16:33 I'm always complaining, I'm always beating myself up
16:36 because I always think I can do better.
16:38 So when the song went to her I thought, "Well, let's see what happens."
16:42 It did really, really well. It got to some number one spots
16:45 in certain radio stations in the States.
16:48 And I'm just so pleased for this woman to get the recognition in that genre.
16:53 Yeah, yeah.
16:54 Because initially she turned it down.
16:56 She genuinely felt, "This isn't right for me.
17:00 Thanks for the respect and everything, but I'm dull, I do blah, blah, blah."
17:05 But of course, she's had a blast.
17:08 And all these people lined up to perform with her
17:12 was just again a testimony to the importance.
17:15 She's this living, breathing icon of music.
17:19 So, God, it's just nuts.
17:22 This kid from the Beachdale Estate, Walsall, singing with Dolly Parton,
17:25 one of the greatest greats of all time.
17:28 It's just brilliant.
17:29 If you got your head around the fact that you are in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame now,
17:33 is it something that means a lot to you?
17:36 It's important for lots of different reasons in terms of value
17:41 and being in the prestigious place of all of the other talent.
17:48 It's a very controversial place for a lot of people.
17:54 You get a lot of musicians pushing back for whatever reason
17:58 until they get nominated.
18:01 And sometimes when they're even nominated, they go,
18:03 "I don't really want this."
18:06 And it is what it is.
18:09 Everybody's got their different theories and ideas about what it is.
18:12 The same about the Grammys or the Brit Awards or whatever.
18:15 The gongs, as they're called.
18:18 For a British metal band to be in this American institution,
18:24 it's an honour, it really is.
18:26 It means a lot to us as a band and for British Heavy Metal as a reference
18:32 because there's only us and Sabbath and Metallica in there at the moment.
18:37 There's so many other people that are deserving to be in that place.
18:41 It's wonderful as we're talking now to see Ozzy's being recognised as a solo performer
18:47 and he definitely should be acknowledged for that.
18:50 So, yeah, it's cool.
18:52 Is it the end of the world in terms of importance? No.
18:56 But it's an honour and we accept it graciously
19:00 and it's just beautiful for this band and for the British metal music scene
19:05 and our fans, our fans as well.
19:08 A priest is more than the band.
19:10 A priest is always locked into the fans that have given us this life
19:14 and kept us going so strongly.
19:16 When did the fans first start calling you the Metal God
19:20 and when you first started hearing that, how did you feel?
19:24 It came from Metal Gods from the British Steel album.
19:29 It might have been a writer that had said, you know,
19:33 the singers in Metal God, Rob Halford, not that it was fun,
19:36 it was just like a slash, you know, lemme.
19:41 There are abbreviations of who some of us are.
19:45 But it just kind of got a life of its own, you know,
19:49 and then I started to take it too seriously so much so that I've had it trademarked.
19:54 I've actually got a trademark on Metal God because I cherish it so much,
19:58 not just for me, it's for the band and it's for the fans as well, you know.
20:04 And I always have fun with it, I always say that there was only one Elvis
20:07 and there's only one Metal God, and I mean that with tongue in cheek.
20:11 But this business about pedestals and standing on boxes,
20:16 again, I just cherish the fact that none of us have lost our way in that respect,
20:23 you know, and that's the yum-yum in me.
20:26 I'm from the Black Country, I'm from the West Midlands,
20:29 and none of us walks around with a spotlight on us and look at me,
20:32 don't you know who I am? That doesn't exist, you know.
20:36 The reality of who we are and how we want to represent ourselves
20:41 in the truest, realest sense is the way, and yum-yums won't stand for that, you know.
20:49 Don't forget where you come from, and don't forget where I come from.
20:53 I'm a singer in a heavy metal band, I'll lobby to death, and that's all it is.
20:57 We spoke about the Dolly collaboration, but I wanted to ask about another collaboration
21:00 from a long time ago. It's kind of become a bit mythical because it never got released.
21:05 So in the 80s you did a few tracks with Stock, Ake and Waterman,
21:08 and we did an interview with Pete Waterman last year, and he said that he thinks
21:12 if you're, you did a cover of 'You Are Everything', a stylistic song,
21:15 Pete said if that had come out he thinks it would have been Stock, Ake and Waterman's
21:18 biggest ever hit. That's what he told us.
21:22 I kind of agree with him because I've got that on my phone somewhere.
21:26 And it sounds great. It sounds great, you know. I mean, look what happened to Kate Bush
21:31 with 'Stranger Things' and 'Running Up The Hill', one of the greatest songs ever written.
21:36 That's what I'd love to see with those Stock, Ake and Waterman tracks.
21:40 It doesn't matter, you don't have to say this is from Judas Priest.
21:44 It's a song. You know, let the song do its job.
21:49 What's the other two called? 'Run Around' and…
21:52 Yeah, there's two originals in the cover.
21:54 That was a great day in Paris. It was wonderful to see the guy, because we walked in there,
21:58 there was me and Glenn and Ken, and they got the studio in Paris,
22:04 and we hadn't got a clue what we were going to do.
22:06 They had the idea for the cover, we got that sorted, and then the other two,
22:11 they just literally made him in front of our eyes.
22:15 It was just… they just made this really cool pop tune in front of our eyes, you know.
22:22 Each of them knew their job. It was a great day.
22:25 I think we were there for one day. We flew in and we did the thing,
22:29 and then we all went home.
22:31 Three tracks in one day.
22:33 Yeah. It was just remarkable.
22:36 And of course the story was… you see, all this came from me.
22:41 I said to the guys, "What do you think about doing something with Stock Hickey and the Watermill?"
22:46 "Is that it again?" you know.
22:48 "Why does he do these things?"
22:50 I go, "No, let's just have a look. If it doesn't work…"
22:55 I've always had this thing about if you don't have a go, you don't know.
22:59 You can't talk about something unless it's been created, until you've gone through the motions.
23:05 You can't sit there and go, "Well, that ain't going to work."
23:08 "Well, how do you know it's not going to work?"
23:10 You've got to go through the experience.
23:13 We went through the experience. I still love those songs even now.
23:17 It would be… in my lifetime, I would just love to see them get leaked.
23:23 Leak them for all I care.
23:25 Let's just see where those songs take us.
23:28 Because it sounds great. You can hear the voice. You can hear the guitars.
23:32 They're really fun pieces of music.
23:35 I haven't seen Pete in living memory.
23:40 Maybe I can just say, "Let me just leak these."
23:44 Send a file off to some place. Send a file off to TikTok and see where it takes us.
23:50 It sounds like if a big TV or film director had an idea, maybe if he'd heard them, or they'd heard them,
23:55 it could come around that way, perhaps, if someone wanted to use them in something.
23:59 He's a lovely guy, Pete. He's very respectful.
24:02 Maybe he's waiting for somebody to go, "Do what you want with them, Pete."
24:06 So I'm an NNE. "Do what you want with them, Pete."
24:10 Because Priest has become this indestructible, invincible shield.
24:17 If suddenly a Stock Icon and Waterman track is released,
24:20 I don't think it's going to be the end of the band.
24:23 People listen to music differently now.
24:26 Yeah, totally.
24:28 Something else in your career which was really quite incredible
24:31 was the fact that you came out in 1998.
24:34 Having read about it in your book, it sounds like it wasn't necessarily premeditated.
24:38 That day you thought, "I'm going to say it." It just kind of happened.
24:42 Looking back at that moment now, I guess we're on 26 years on from that.
24:45 Does it feel like quite a pivotal moment in your career in some ways?
24:50 If I reflect on it, it happened in the right way because it wasn't premeditated.
24:58 It was just simply me talking like I'm talking to you.
25:02 I just said to whoever it was, "Speaking as a gay man, blah, blah, blah."
25:06 Just those simple words resonated and went to a lot of places.
25:15 As I went back to the hotel afterwards, I thought, "Oh, that's it then.
25:20 "Now everybody knows I'm a gay guy."
25:22 Everybody in the band knew I was gay.
25:24 Everybody in the label knew I was gay. The management knew I was gay.
25:27 "Wouldn't you believe it?" All the fans were like, "We thought you were gay anyway."
25:34 There was me thinking I'm the only gay in the village.
25:41 The goodness that came out of that can't be overstated.
25:49 This is a guy from a world-famous top-shelf heavy metal band from the UK called Judas Priest.
25:56 This singer is a gay guy and he's openly out.
26:01 Somebody is going to go deeper into that and the implications and ramifications
26:08 and all of the things that go into a story because the story goes into people's lives from all different directions.
26:17 It just happens when you're a celebrity. I'm not a celebrity.
26:23 When you're in a place where a lot of people are looking at you and listening to what you say,
26:30 it carries a lot of strength to it.
26:35 Sometimes it can be not so good.
26:39 We've seen so many people in the entertainment business face difficulties and challenges
26:47 by some of the things they've said. Implied, "You're cancelled."
26:53 In my instance, there was no cancelling at all. There was just this embracing of, "Does it really matter?"
26:59 No, it doesn't matter, but it matters a lot to me as a man being able to cast off all this worry and fear
27:09 and putting everybody else first instead of me.
27:13 That's the thing about life. You've got to find a place to love yourself because if you love yourself,
27:18 you can love everybody else. You're living your life on your terms.
27:22 I can't stand it when certain governments and politicians say, "You've got to do this and you've got to say that."
27:30 "You can't do that. Women can only do this."
27:33 "You're not a fucking woman. You're a bloke."
27:36 "How dare you tell a woman what she can and can't do with her body?"
27:40 That's where it started, Nick. But all of that is in that element of being a gay man and coming out into a metal world
27:48 that at the time was really difficult because of the homophobia and the pushback.
27:54 I still get it now. Somebody bullied me the other day on Facebook because of,
28:01 "You say you're a Christian. Well, good for you, but you should drop that husband of yours."
28:06 "It's evil and you're an abomination to God. Find a woman. You'll be happier."
28:10 "Thank you, delete."
28:13 So I face that even now. I have to smile because words are words.
28:20 How you interpret words is entirely up to you emotionally.
28:23 They're just words on a screen or on a piece of paper. How do you define the content of that word?
28:30 Don't give those words power into your emotions. That's difficult.
28:40 We're all sensitive. We're all emotional, particularly people in the entertainment industry.
28:45 We're all like bottles of pop walking up the high wire.
28:50 We all want to be loved. We all want to be recognised.
28:55 We all want people to say how great you are. That's a fact.
28:58 Don't say it's not important because it is.
29:01 So to face those kinds of nasty little negativity moments, you've got to know how to deal with them.
29:11 Delete. Don't give it any thought because it has no value.
29:16 Another great story from your book that came out a few years ago is that
29:20 when you got the idea that you wanted to embrace this leather look, which became iconic,
29:25 you went to an S&M fetish store in Wandsworth.
29:28 When you did that, did you have any inkling how influential on metal and how iconic this look would be?
29:34 Or did you just think this is a strong look that I want to do now?
29:37 There's some great pictures on early priest photographs, photo sessions for the band.
29:44 And you know it's not right. Visually, it doesn't look right.
29:47 The music is so heavy and so full of this metal experience that you know that does not marry to the way we were looking at that point.
29:58 And Ken was the first one to wear the leather stuff. He was wearing a little leather jacket on Stain Class, I think it was.
30:07 This whole business of going on stage on a motorcycle for the first time wearing a biker's leather jacket, that was it.
30:15 There it is. There's the epiphany. There's the Eureka moment.
30:20 And yeah, I can remember that day, but not in detail.
30:27 I just said, we need to go to this leather shop. We all need to buy a ton of stuff.
30:31 He's off again. But I think it was the right move.
30:37 And from that moment on, Priest defined that side of who we are in metal with the appropriate visual work.
30:48 Did you know that in that moment that you'd found what you were meant to look like, you'd found the right fit?
30:54 Yeah, again, instinctively, we all agreed, yeah, we've got to look like this from now on.
31:00 And it's great if you look through from that moment on and the fun we've had with it, especially yours truly.
31:08 I don't look as metal as I used to. Let me rephrase that. Let me walk that back.
31:18 I still look like metal as it should be, but it's just become a little bit more extravagant.
31:26 I've gone all Adam Lambert in my old age, and I love Adam, what a voice, and he's a total hardcore metalhead.
31:35 So just have fun with it. It's all about referencing. Everybody knows a priest is a priest.
31:41 You say priest and there's a visual, these guys in leather and whips and chains and handcuffs and whatever, that's there.
31:48 How you decide to embellish that just to keep the thing moving.
31:56 Because everybody says, "Why don't you go out with the biker's cap and the leather jacket and the chaps?"
32:00 I don't want to do that because after three songs I want to look differently.
32:04 I want to give our fans the best night out in terms of expressions of my job as a singer.
32:12 I know this is doing its job, but visually I want to have some fun and put some different kit on every few minutes.
32:20 I'll end with quite a big question, but what are you most proud of in the whole 50 years of your career?
32:26 Still being here, basically. Still being here. I'm not being flippant.
32:31 It's taken an enormous amount of energy, self-belief, determination, fight, struggle.
32:39 These are all important words. Those all go into the fact that we're still able to do the work that we do and maintain relevance.
32:51 I've always said that any band's relevance is hanging on what they've just done.
32:58 This is our 19th studio album. I'm so proud of the guys for doing such incredibly strong, potent work this far on into who we are.
33:08 We're still shaking things up. We're still showing everybody the love, passion and care that we have for making metal music.
33:16 There are other references. The day the postman rang my house at 38 Kelvin Road, he said,
33:24 "I've got a package for you, Rob." It's the first copy of Rockarola, which was 1974. I can remember that vividly.
33:33 Ding dong, there's a postman. "You signed for this." I take it out and there's the album with the worst cover on any album ever.
33:45 I take the black vinyl and put it on. "That's it, Nanny. That's it. Superstars, Money in the Bank."
33:53 Wrong. It took another ten years of slog to get to that place where we felt we had made headway.
34:04 Most bands take at least ten years to get to a solid place for themselves as a band and, as importantly, the fans that support you to take you to that place.
34:18 It takes at least ten years. If you can get through the ten years, Mark, then you should be OK.
34:26 But it's all of that. That first album, what Sad Wings of Destiny meant after Rockarola, which was like,
34:34 "OK, we kicked the ball on the pitch, but Sad Wings is going toward the net, so things are getting better in every dimension."
34:46 Effectively, each album is an important reference to maintaining your place and your existence in what you do.
34:56 There are tipping points. The value of Scream of Vengeance, the value of British Steel, the value of Painkiller, the value of Invincible Shield.
35:07 They're all important. There are too many stories, too many spin-offs to make it all complete in terms of what's your proudest moment.
35:18 Everything that this band has done has been a proud moment for all of us in Priest.
35:22 Thank you so much for your time. It's been a real pleasure.
35:24 Thank you, Nick.
35:25 Thank you.
35:27 Thank you.
35:28 [BLANK_AUDIO]