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By Jeb Wright
Rob Halford lives, breaths and craves Metal every minute of
every day.
While he has been back in Judas Priest for a couple of years now
he still continues to look for new ways to share his music and
his musical vision with his fans.
His career as a record executive was born when he announced the
creation of Metal God Entertainment.
Halford began selling downloads of his music with his bands
Fight, 2wo and Halford.
He also put together the first compilation of the best of his
solo work titled Metal God
Essentials Volume I.
Now, for the first time, the collection is not only available as
a download on iTunes and
www.halfordmusic.com
it
is also available as a physical CD.
In addition to this, Rob plans on releasing two DVDs in the
coming months that celebrate his solo career and contain
interesting bonus footage.
In
the interview that follows, we discussed Rob's solo career
in-depth as well as the upcoming Judas Priest concept album
based on the life of Nostradamus.
We delved into Metal's responsibility to society and discussed
illegal downloading and the first time Halford sat in with Black
Sabbath.
This interview sees Rob letting his guard down while discussing
his music, his emotions and his love of all things Metal.
United we stand.
Divided we never shall fall.
-- Jeb
Wright
Jeb:
I have done many interviews in my career but it is always a
highlight when I get to talk to the Metal God.
Rob: I remember those interviews so it is good to speak to you
again my friend.
Jeb: Let's just jump in and talk about
www.halfordmusic.com.
Rob: That is a great website.
We have all the music and merchandise there.
We have the whole shebang going on the Internet these days.
As I have said before, the Internet connection is vital in the
music industry.
It is a great way for all the fans to stay connected and get all
the information of what you are doing in your own world of
Metal.
It is roaring along.
The big deal right now is the official CD release of the
Metal God Essentials Volume I.
I think the last time we spoke we were talking about
downloading.
I may have mentioned then that what I was hoping to do was test
the waters and see how it would go. I had never done that before
and it ended up being a real success through Apple iTunes and
robhalford.com.
The fans were going crazy saying, "We want the CD!"
I knew that was going to be coming from them but it was the time
factor of trying to put that together. Now we have the release
of Metal God Essentials being released on my own little
record company.
This far on I would have never dreamed I would have my own
independent record label but that is what happened.
We are distributed through other companies in various parts of
the world and the fans are going nuts for it.
Jeb: You have come full circle and rejoined
Priest and know you have your own side business.
Is it important to you to keep all of your music alive and in
the hands of the fans?
Rob: You've hit the nail on the head, Jeb.
I have always tried to attach longevity with my music.
Priest did Rocka Rolla in 1974 and it still resonates.
It should be the same way with these solo tunes.
I am just re-enforcing that belief, really.
Jeb:
What is it you have learned about yourself looking back at all
the bands that you have been in since Judas Priest?
Rob: I am staying the course.
My integrity is intact.
I am still completely immersed in all things Metal and I am
giving it 1000%.
It is really exciting to listen to material that I really don't
listen to that much.
I am more focused on what is going on now and what is happening
in the future.
When I was putting this collection together I listened to tracks
I had not listened to for years and years and years and there
was a real feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction.
Jeb: I am a huge Priest fan but I have
listened to everything that you have done because I am a huge
Rob Halford fan.
Some I liked more than others.
Rob: You're like me.
Jeb: You have never chased the trend yet you
were not afraid to try out different styles of Metal.
Rob: I got accused of that when I put out the Fight record.
To me, it was just me presenting myself how I was feeling at
that particular moment in time.
I know what you are saying, though.
I have my favorite Priest tracks and I have my favorite Fight
tracks.
I am drawn to some more than others.
That is just the way we are when we listen to music.
I think it is the way we perceive things and what we are
passionate about.
Jeb:
When you started the Metal God Essentials Volume I did
you think it would progress to an actual CD release or did that
matter to you?
Rob: Everything matters to me.
I still like to get CDs.
I like to tear the wrapping off of it and look at the artwork
inside of it.
It is like collecting DVD movies or books of authors you enjoy.
I like that tactile experience and the physical presence of
something.
It is important.
I live in both worlds, though.
I can get as much pleasure from a download as I can from a
physical release.
It is basically looking for what feels right for you.
I know having experienced the reaction of a download timeout
that is can be frustrating and the Metal fans are very hardcore
about wanting to have a physical CD to put in their collection.
Hopefully, I have taken care of business in that respect.
Jeb: Are you going to release all of the
albums on CD?
Rob: It is possible.
I think we have remastered Crucible and Resurrection.
If you go to
www.halfordmusic.com
then
you will see all the releases that are on CD.
We even have the K5 Demos; they were made before the
Fight band.
We are putting them out.
We have a Fight DVD coming out in the middle of November.
It takes a look at how I first ventured into my solo career and
it has live performances from all over the world.
It is important for me to keep that connection for people when
they are ready to check it out.
Jeb: How were you savvy enough to get into
downloads?
A lot of guys don't keep up with new technology.
Rob: I think that is vital.
You can be stubborn and just put your head in the dirt and
stumble on with one way of thinking.
I am excited about every aspect of the music industry and the
advances that are made.
We have gone from vinyl to 8-track to cassette to CD to MP3 to
all these other formats.
You have got to consider the advances and the advantages that
technology can bring to you.
Whatever is new I am all over it.
Jeb: How do you feel about pirating?
In the old days I could loan my copy of British Steel to
a couple of buddies to tape off but now there is the potential
for thousands of people to bootleg.
Rob: When the Internet was invented I thought that it was going
to be a blessing in one aspect and a minefield in another.
To a certain extent it is like when cassette recorders were
invented.
Next CD burners came about.
When the Internet came along everyone went, "Oh God, now what
are we going to do?"
You are left with a dilemma and a massive problem.
It is costing record companies and movie companies billions of
dollars.
At the end of the day it is a moral issue.
If you are real fan of the band then you want to be associated
with the original licensed material.
You show your fanaticism by buying the CD and the official
merchandise and going to the show.
It is still prolific amongst the younger demographic.
All of their mates have done it so they might as well do it as
well.
I
just saw something the other day about somebody being taken to
court over this.
The industry is making an example of one person for doing
illegal downloads and that is really just a cosmetic type of
display.
It sends a good message but at the end of the day if you are at
home on your computer and you go to MySpace or YouTube and you
see a clip then you go, "Oh I've got to get that."
The choice is there for you to pay for it or not.
The inclination is to say, "Well, it is free."
It is wrong.
It is confusing on an emotional level.
Fans go, "Oh they have millions of dollars.
They don't need more money."
That is not the point.
You can't walk into a big grocery store and help yourself to
everything and then walk out and not pay for it just because
they have millions of dollars.
There is a trickle down effect; everyone gets affected by it.
I am totally opposed to illegal downloading.
Jeb: At the same time record companies have
made some terrible decisions.
Does the combination between losing money to illegal downloading
and running a poor business make an artist like yourself more
involved in the business aspect of your career?
Rob: To a certain extent, everybody is in everybody's backyard.
There was a separation previously.
Record companies are scrambling and Steve Jobs invents iTunes
and charges ninety-nine cents for a download - which is not too
bad if you look at how many tracks, are on a release.
I don't think it is having the right effect though.
Then Radiohead puts their music on a site and you can pay as
much or as little for it as you want.
Everybody has gone fucking mental.
I don't know what is going on; we are all so confused.
Sometimes I wish the Internet had never been invented - that is
just passion speaking.
It would avoid all of this confusion and conflict if we were
back in the days of vinyl.
The ones who are suffering are the young bands.
They need to be funded by a record company.
They need the resources of the record company, which is a bit
like a glorified bank in some respects.
The record company pays for recording and gets them doing a bit
of touring.
Now it has got to the point that labels are so scared that they
will sign you but they want a cut of your merchandise, a cut of
your publishing and a cut of your touring.
It is an absolute panic that the sky is falling.
I don't know what the final issue will be or how we are going to
solve this.
I have heard that the three major labels are combining to go up
against Apple iTunes.
Everything is different for everybody else.
I think you have to look at your own world and what you are
looking to achieve and make the most of it and make the best
things happen.
Jeb: Let's talk about the DVD's.
You have two of them coming out.
Rob: We have the Fight DVD that is coming out.
It is about a fifteen-minute look at me putting the band
together.
We show us rehearsing and recording and then the bulk of the DVD
is our performances.
Later on we are going to release the Rock in Rio show.
It was really a fantastic night.
It is a great piece of Metal history that you can collect.
We have all of this coming out by the end of the year and then
in 2008 we have the new Priest coming out.
Jeb: Tell me where you are at with the
Nostradamus album.
Rob: We are almost done mixing, which is a great place to be
because that means all the recording is completed.
It has just grown into this giant Metal monster that tells the
story of this man's life.
It is some of the best Metal we have ever made.
We have really done some extraordinary things vocally and
musically that we have never done before.
It is a whole new experience for Priest and we are very excited
about it.
We are on track for a release in early 2008.
Jeb: I have heard this is going to be a
double CD.
Rob: We certainly can't fit it on one disc.
There is a ton of material.
I don't know the exact minutes involved but we certainly can't
get it all on one disc.
Jeb:
What made Priest want to do a concept album after all these
years?
Rob: The answer is partly in your question.
We have never done a concept release before.
We have been thinking about it forever but we couldn't get the
right vehicle for it.
I think more than anything it is the adventure of trying
something new and different.
We have been just about everywhere with Judas Priest over the
last three decades.
When we were presented with the idea of a concept album, we ran
to it.
We wanted to try it and see what we could do with it.
As much as Glenn [Tipton] and KK [Downing] write Metal for
studio releases, this is a one-off moment that we may never do
again.
We have immersed ourselves in the creative process of putting
together the music and they lyrics.
Jeb: Why did you choose Nostradamus?
Rob: He is still a world-renowned figure even though he has been
dead for five hundred years.
Everybody still knows about Nostradamus.
His books are in different languages around the world and he is
a controversial figure as some people accept his prophecies and
others reject him.
He had a very human life; he had his ups and downs.
He was subject to a lot of attacks from different politicians
and religions.
You identify with all of those elements with Heavy Metal music.
He is a very mysterious and intriguing character.
Jeb:
Was there a personal attachment for you?
Rob: Only so much as I have never done this before.
I am used to writing about imaginary characters and blood red
skies.
I knew of Nostradamus.
When the idea was mentioned, I thought it was brilliant and I
could see it in my head.
I could see the music, the stage show and the production.
It was a flash of immediate understanding of the whole idea.
I couldn't wait to get into the world of putting the words to
it.
Jeb:
There are a lot of critics who are going, "Please let this be
really Spinal Tap."
Rob: [laughing] Well, you know, at the end of the day that is
what you live with don't you?
You shrug that off and you don't even think about it.
You are doing it for all the right reasons.
You are committed and your passion is there.
You're behind it 1000% and you know you're not going to drop the
ball.
You know that it is going to be a great moment and a wonderful
achievement.
At the end of the day, you let it go and whatever the reaction
is then so be it.
It is very easy to be critical and cynical.
I will accept criticism if you lay it down in black and white
for me to think and ponder about where you critical points are
coming from.
Again, criticism and cynicism are all based on passion.
You love a band so much and you hear something that sucks and
you go crazy about it.
That is the passion that you deal with music.
You see scathing reviews about movies and television shows
everyday.
Do you think the producers care?
Not really.
It is just one person's point of view.
You just get on with it.
Jeb: Take me back to 1992 and the song you
did with the guys from Pantera.
Rob: We had been together on the European tour for Painkiller.
I had come back and put together the Fight band.
I got a call from Sony Music asking me to do a song for the
movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
I asked them the time line for it and they needed it right away.
My first inclination was to pick up the phone and call Dimebag,
who was in Dallas.
I told him what was going on and he said to come down to Dallas.
I jumped on the plane and gave them the demo and they banged it
out and I sent it off to Sony and they put it in the movie.
It was simple.
You have to keep things simple and not complicate it.
Whenever you do anything creative - if you beat something to
death in the creative process it can loose it's soul and spark.
If you do it really quickly then you get a raw and organic
emotion.
That is how it was with the "Light Comes Out of Black" that we
did.
Jeb: The same year you put Fight together and
the next year you put out War of Words.
I think you are the only person in Metal history that has
influenced two generations of Metal musicians.
You influenced one generation with Priest but if you listen to
Fight it sounds a lot like a lot of today's Metal bands.
Did you have any inkling that what you were doing was going to
be so influential?
Rob: To be honest, Jeb, you are the first person who has ever
said that to me.
I had no idea that is what that band might have done.
Jeb: It is obvious.
Look at the albums and listen to the music.
You were taking Metal to a new place.
There was you and Pantera.
Rob: I am thrilled to hear that.
Most of the feedback I get for being an influence comes from
Priest.
If there is anything that comes out of the Fight band that
people find influential then that is a surprise to me.
Jeb: Now, I will argue with you on the band
2wo.
I never got it.
Rob: To a certain extent I think everybody who listened to the
record, to a certain extent went, "Hmm, okay.
I am not really getting it."
That is okay.
I had a blast doing that record.
The funny thing is that I have had several people ask me why I
didn't put anything from the 2wo band on the Essentials
CD.
My initial reaction to them is, "Are you even interested?"
They say they were and I tell them, "Well, you weren't very
interested when it came out."
The thing about Trent Reznor is that he has a lot of foresight
and he puts ideas down that take a lot of time to get
established and connect with people.
I listened to that record for the first time in years before I
went over to the UK and I really got stoked.
It was still doing something for me.
I would just like to present it again and people can give it
what they will.
Sometimes with music you don't get it with the first go around.
Sometimes you need a bit of separation.
Sometimes you can listen to it again and go, "That was pretty
neat.
It was not what I was expecting but it has got some merit and
value."
I think I will put some of that on Volume II.
Jeb: I don't think of Trent Reznor when I
think of someone Rob Halford would collaborate with.
Rob: I didn't either till I met him in New Orleans and he told
me that he was a big Priest fan.
I think that is the primary reason he wanted to hear what I was
doing.
He heard the demos and he came to me and said, "I have been
listening to your music the past few days and I am really
interested in doing a collaboration."
I ran to it.
In my mind I thought he was a genius and I wanted to see what we
could come up with together.
Jeb: That band is overpowering to me.
Rob: There is a lot going on within those records.
I was up in Bryan Adams old house and we had about six guys on
computers creating sounds.
It was like a mad scientist laboratory.
If you really listen to it there is an enormous amount of
information, some of it is really subtle.
I enjoyed playing that stuff live.
We did a few dates around the US and elsewhere.
It really had some balls when it was played live.
I also have the original demos of the music as well.
If you listen to the original demos that I did with John Lowery
and Bob Marlette then you will see it had a very different
texture to it.
After John did his work with me, Marilyn Manson stole him.
Now he is with Rob Zombie.
Jeb: Resurrection made Priest fans wet
their pants.
Rob: It wasn't a calculated situation on my part.
I didn't go, "I am going to make a Priest record with the
Halford band."
It worked out that way when I started working with Roy Z.
It was just the way all the guys were feeling.
We wanted to write that kind of Metal music.
When it was released there was a collective sigh from the Metal
community going, "Oh my God, Rob Halford is back."
I had never been away but there was a sound, texture and a vibe
from that record that people related too.
I think they made it known that this is what they wanted from
Rob.
Jeb:
Were you ready to come full circle?
Rob: It wasn't premeditated.
I never really talked about it.
I remember having conversations with Roy where he said, "I know
everything about you and I know where I would want to have your
voice fit.
I know the kind of songs that I would like to hear your voice
surrounded with."
That is as far as it went.
We were off and running.
Jeb: When you open the album with the vocal "Resssurrrreccctiooon."
Did you go, "Fuck I just nailed it."
Rob: I will tell you when I did that, it was very spur of the
moment.
I was in Amsterdam.
We were listening to the track and I said that I wanted to try
something on the front of the song.
They set the mic up and that is what I did.
Initially the song just started with that guitar riff.
It was a last-minute thing that I did - the song was practically
mixed.
I got it in one take.
Sometimes being spontaneous is the way to go.
Don't think it through, just put it down and let it go.
Jeb:
Will there be a new Halford CD?
Rob: Eventually I would like to do that.
Obviously I have to look after Priest and the new album and the
tour. We will see where we are after that.
Jeb:
Are you the best Metal vocalist ever?
Rob: I would never be that pompous.
I know I am good at what I do and I will just leave it at that.
There are a lot of great Metal singers that I have a lot of
respect for.
You have to have a certain amount of ego, not in the destructive
sense, but rather just believing in yourself.
You have to know you are good at what you do and you have to
want to maintain that level of performance.
Jeb:
Do you feel humility when all your peers come up to you and call
you The Metal God?
Rob: I still feel uncomfortable quite frankly.
I suppose it is just the British reserve.
You get a bit embarrassed.
It is wonderful to be recognized like that, particularly from
fans, but you are just like, "Okay, thank you.
Can we talk about something else now?"
People go, "You changed my life" or "You saved my life."
That is a big thing for somebody to say.
You realize then how passionate the fans are about what you do.
Certain songs may have had a dramatic impact on their life.
Jeb: Metal is your life.
You do not go through the motions.
Do you think there is a limit that Metal should not go into.
I am talking about some of the Black Metal bands.
Is there anything in your world that you would say is off
limits?
Rob: First and foremost I am a total believer of the First
Amendment, which is freedom of speech.
I think guidelines are important.
I think you don't want to steer people into things they may have
difficulty absorbing.
I think ratings of some sort are important - particularly for
younger minds.
You can't stop it.
You have to have these moments where it kind of shakes up
society or culture.
It may be offensive and unpleasant but some of the greatest
things have come from those emotions.
I believe that nothing is off limits as long as you have some
sense of guidelines to prepare somebody for it like an R rated
movie.
You know in advance what you are going to be exposed to.
As long as there is a heads up then I think everything is
doable.
Jeb:
I listen to some of the new Metal and I think, "I don't know if
I want my kids listening to that" which is ironic because it is
the same thing my parents did.
Rob: [laughter] I know what you are saying and I think that is
commendable.
If you have young kids then you protect them.
You don't know what the reaction to the exposure might be.
Kids think differently than adults.
Adults don't think like a child.
You are instinctively protective but what you are being
protective about may not even need to be protected against
because a child's mind is a sponge.
It absorbs things but it also disposes of things.
I think common sense is the main thing that should prevail.
Jeb: You have had some negative things happen
such as the kids that killed themselves and the court case that
followed.
When things like that happen do they affect you or do you
understand you have no control over people's actions?
Rob: I don't think you are ever prepared for something like
that.
Your whole basis of what you do creatively is very positive and
constructive.
In your ideals there is no element of negativity or
destructiveness.
You genuinely believe you are giving people great music to have
great times with.
When something like that comes your way then you're affected by
it.
If you are not affected by it then you must have a heart of
stone.
You are dealing with real people who have gone through real
tragedies.
If you don't feel that way then that is kind of weird because it
is just human compassion to see and hear a story like what
Priest went through.
Life is full of surprises and most of them are pleasant but some
of them are unpleasant.
Jeb:
What would your life be like if you had not taken the path of
Metal?
Rob: As a kid leaving high school I was really engrossed by the
entertainment business.
One way or another I would have been involved in that world.
I don't know if I would be an actor but I would be involved in
the scene.
I would have ended up in that type of world.
Jeb: You would have escaped industrial
Birmingham no matter what.
Rob: Growing up as we did it was a very tough, hard-working
class place.
Much like certain parts of the world even today, you ended up
doing what your Dad did for a living.
If you aspired to other things then you needed to do the things
you needed to do in order to pull yourself out of that place.
That is what we did with Priest.
I became a musician because I knew there was a chance that I
could see what was on the other side of the English Channel or
the Pacific Ocean.
It was an exciting prospect to think that someday I might go to
Germany, Japan or the United States.
It was a wonderful dream to try to realize.
Jeb: What is it about you that attracts
people?
The fans are always there for you.
Rob: You are not really aware of that.
You just progress as you do. You keep your nose to the
grindstone and you take everything that you do with the right
virtues.
You don't just throw out material and you don't just throw out a
stage show.
I think the attractiveness is that the people can genuinely see
it is coming from an honest sort.
They are involved in a real moment when they listen to the music
or see it from the stage.
I
think if you delve too deeply into that then you mess it up
somehow.
You just have to let it flow and go.
The millions of fans around the world are the substance of the
end result.
When you see that reaction it is the most amazing thing in the
world - particularly the live performance.
You don't really wonder what you are doing that makes it happen.
I
doubt any creative person ever really thinks it through.
Look at someone like J.K. Rowling.
She was on welfare with a kid and was divorced in Edinburgh,
Scotland.
She was just scribbling notes down in a coffee shop all day,
just drinking one cup of coffee because she couldn't afford
another one.
Now look where she is at.
I think it is a wonderful source where all of this comes from
and it all has a great story line to it.
If you think it through then it takes away from the magic and I
love the Metal magic.
Jeb: Last one: Tell me about the first time
you sat in with Black Sabbath.
Rob: I was in Phoenix and I got a call out of the blue from
either Sharon Osbourne or Tony Iommi basically saying that
Sabbath were going to reunite.
They were going to play in Costa Mesa.
Ronnie James Dio was out with Sabbath.
There was a bit of a conflict going on between Ronnie and Ozzy's
management about the whole thing.
The deal was that Ronnie was not going to play the show.
Everyone was panicking.
Tony and I had been in each other's world prior to that.
I think it was Tony who called me and asked me to help them out.
We talked about doing the shows in Costa Mesa.
Over the phone we put down a set list.
I rehearsed the songs at home in Phoenix.
There was a day off before the Costa Mesa show.
The band was the same as it is now with Heaven & Hell. It was
Geezer Butler, Vinny Appice, Tony and Ronnie.
I rented this tiny little studio in Phoenix and we all got
together about seven o'clock one night and ran through the set
list.
They took off in the tour bus and I caught a flight the next day
to the show.
That is how it all happened.
Jeb:
Did they tell the fans?
Rob: That is a good question.
You know Jeb, nobody has ever asked me that before.
I do remember getting lost before I went on stage.
I got dressed and suddenly the intro tape started.
The dressing room was empty and I wondered where everybody had
gone.
I wandered out in black darkness.
I had no idea where I was or where anybody else was because I
couldn't see anybody.
I could hear the intro tape and I thought it must be time to
walk out.
I walked out and there was nobody else on stage.
I couldn't turn around and walk off so I kept walking and
walking.
People started going, "That's Rob Halford."
Finally Tony appeared and then everyone else appeared and we
slammed off into the first song.
Jeb:
Of all the shows that should have been taped!
Rob: I
have the bootleg DVD [laughter].
www.robhalford.com
www.halfordmusic.com
www.judaspriest.com
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