Check out New England Music Blog’s coverage of the October 14th stop of the tour at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, MA.<\/a><\/u><\/b><\/p>\n
\nNew England Music Blog:<\/strong> In 2011, Judas Priest announced that KK Downing was leaving the band, and soon after that you would be taking his place. I imagine that\u2019s a pretty life-changing event?<\/em><\/p>\nRichie Faulkner:<\/strong> Well of course, I mean even to be considered for the position was a huge deal, you know? And to go down, meet the guys, and initially talk about what they wanted and what they didn\u2019t want, before even getting the position was an amazing experience. But then, just to get it, and then build up friendships and build up all this kind of band-of-brothers with this group that I\u2019ve idolized for years, you know, they\u2019re heroes of mine. It\u2019s just an incredible honor to be a part of.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
NEMB:<\/strong> Yeah, that must be pretty amazing. Who made the connection for you with the band?<\/em><\/p>\nRF:<\/strong> It was someone they contacted, a guitar player that I knew, called Pete Friesen. I used to play in bars and clubs around London with Pete, and he used to play with Alice Cooper, The Almighty and Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden, his solo project. They contacted Pete, and Pete\u2019s a great player, and he\u2019s a blues player, fantastic blues player, but I think that he recognized that it wouldn\u2019t really fit in with Priest\u2019s style of metal. So when they asked Pete if he could recommend anyone else, he put my name in the hat, and they pulled it out, and the rest is history.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
NEMB<\/strong>:<\/strong> When they announced the Epitaph tour, it sort of sounded like we weren\u2019t going to see too much of the band after that point. As the tour went on, it sort of seemed like once you came into the band, it\u2019s almost like you gave them a shot of energy that made everybody a little more excited about doing more in the future.<\/em><\/p>\nRF:<\/strong> I think it\u2019s\u2026 I mean, there\u2019s five people in the group, and I like to think that maybe I had a little bit to play in that. Obviously we\u2019re a unit, and I think you always get a bit of a different dynamic with a band when you get someone new. Sometimes it\u2019s good, sometimes it\u2019s bad, whatever it is, it\u2019s going to be a different dynamic. And I like to think that, you know, I helped a little bit in reenergizing the band, but we\u2019re all on the same team, we all love what we do, and they\u2019ve been doing it for forty years. So you can\u2019t do something for forty years and not love what you do. You know, that you for saying that, but I think we\u2019re all part of the reason why Priest is still out on the road. And we went out on the Epitaph tour, and it fires you up to do a record, you know? It inspires you to go back in the studio and create some more songs, and in turn, after that, when you\u2019ve got those songs, it fires you up to get back out on the road, and put them out to the metal masses in the live situation. So you can see how that kind of, it\u2019s like a wheel of creativity, studio fires you up for live, fires you up for studio, and you know, long may it continue in my book.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
![\"Judas](\"http:\/\/newenglandmusicblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/JPriest_TS14_050714_0156-246x300.jpg\")
Judas Priest 2014: Bass player Ian Hill, drummer Scott Travis, vocalist Rob Halford, guitar player Richie Faulkner and guitar player Glenn Tipton.<\/p><\/div>\n
NEMB<\/strong>:<\/strong> When you started rehearsing with the band, was there any song that you were like \u201cI can\u2019t wait to have this chance to play THIS song with Judas Priest?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nRF:<\/strong> Dude, all of them. Every single one, yeah man. If there was one stand out track in the beginning, it was probably \u201cVictim of Changes.\u201d It\u2019s a big song, its a great kind of journey in Priest-style metal, really, and I was looking forward to that one, if anything. But I mean, the setlist at the time, we had new songs that they had never played before, like \u201cBlood Red Skies,\u201d \u201cStarbreaker\u201d which they hadn\u2019t played for years, \u201cGreen Manalishi,\u201d you know, classics like that. So every single one of them, whatever the setlist turned out to be, was going to be a joy to play for me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
NEMB<\/strong>:<\/strong> So you guys put out the new album this year, \u201cRedeemer of Souls,\u201d which is great. How much input did you have in the writing of it?<\/em><\/p>\nRF:<\/strong> Well first of all, I make a fantastic cup of tea, so I\u2019m invaluable in the studio situation. No, plus the fact that, you know, they\u2019v always had that three man writing team, the two guitar player, singer writing team, which has always given, in my mind, that kind of classic Priest sound. So we kept it the same, it\u2019s a three-way co-write, I wrote the songs with Glenn and Rob and because I\u2019ve been brought up on a healthy diet of Priest and metal and guitar music, it\u2019s kind of, you know what to do. You know, you don\u2019t have to try and put on a different hat, or do something you wouldn\u2019t normally do, it\u2019s kind of ingrained in me as a guitar player, and obviously they\u2019ve been doing it for forty years, they know what they\u2019re doing. It kind of all slotted in nicely, you know? It all came together, both in a personal sense and on a creative level as well. We came up with tons of material, you never know what you\u2019re going to come out with when you go in the studio initially. But you go and you do the first song, then you\u2019ve got three songs, then seven, then twelve, then fifteen, and then we ended up with eighteen songs on this deluxe edition release because it was just a natural process, a creative one. Everyone was firing off ideas and inspiration from the other two guys in the room, you know there was three of us in there. It was just an amazing process.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
NEMB<\/strong>:<\/strong> What\u2019s your favorite track off the new album?<\/em><\/p>\nRF:\u00a0<\/strong>Aw again, man, it\u2019s so hard. I\u2019ve got to get an answer and stick to it, because everyone asks me this, and I always give them a different answer, there\u2019s so many good ones. We all hold them dear when we\u2019re creating them, the kind of go from a riff or a melody into this creature, you know what I mean? It\u2019s now in the live situation, it becomes a totally different animal. Because of that reason, it\u2019s like giving birth to little babies, and they\u2019ve all got different characters, and all different character traits and whatever, but you love them all the same. But I mean, I think songs like \u201cHalls of Valhalla,\u201d \u201cSword of Damocles,\u201d you know \u201cMarch of the Damned,\u201d \u201cCold Blooded,\u201d I like the sense in the song that takes you somewhere. You know, like \u201cHalls of Valhalla\u201d takes you to the mythical world of Vikings and Valhalla, and stuff like that. It just takes you in another world musically and conceptually. So I\u2019d have to say those songs, I couldn\u2019t give you just one, but I\u2019d have to give you those few.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
NEMB<\/strong>:<\/strong> Right, cool. \u201cHalls of Valhalla\u201d I think probably stands out as mine.<\/em><\/p>\nRF:<\/strong> Yeah I think, I\u2019d have to say, if one slightly pushes out above the rest, it might be that one. It\u2019s just epic, again, it takes you off in another world, both musically there\u2019s ups and downs, and screams and guitar stuff, drums are pounding, and vocally it\u2019s amazing. You know so, yeah, I think that sums up, kind of, the \u201cPriest essence\u201d of this record, no doubt.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
NEMB<\/strong>:<\/strong> Priest has always been really big on theatricality with their performances. On the Epitaph tour, you guys sort of went all out. What can we expect on this tour, is it another big production?<\/em><\/p>\nRF:<\/strong> Well the production is everything you can imagine and expect from a Priest show. We felt that on the Epitaph tour, it was really, you know, everything and the kitchen sink. It was all the bells and whistles, there were lasers, flame, it couldn\u2019t get any bigger than that, you know? So the interesting thing to do from there is how can we make the show bigger in other ways? How can we make it effective? And obviously, we\u2019re still going out, it\u2019s a great light show, we\u2019ve got some great screens, we\u2019ve got, you know, the bike comes out, but we\u2019re looking at making the songs do the talking. The songs with this band, in my opinion, are so strong over 40 years, that we\u2019re kind of making them more of the highlight and pushing those songs forward that we all know and love, and creating the strength of the set more in the strength of the songs. That\u2019s not saying that we\u2019re skimping on production at all, we\u2019ve got some new production going on this time, we\u2019ve got some screens some great stuff going on. And as I said, we\u2019ve got the leather and studs, and the Harley coming out, I mean it\u2019s just a great show. We played the first show in Rochester, upstate New York two days ago, and the next show tonight, and it just goes from strength to strength, we can\u2019t wait and get all over the country and see you all.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
NEMB<\/strong>:<\/strong> What\u2019s your arsenal of guitars like on this tour?<\/em><\/p>\nRF:<\/strong> I\u2019ve got, they\u2019re all Gibson guitars. I\u2019ve got three Les Pauls and I\u2019ve got three Flying Vs, and they\u2019re all customized in some way or another. What normally happens is I come out on tour, and you\u2019ve got some fantastic guitar stores in the US. Mom-and-pop guitar stores down the back streets, where you may not be aware of them, but you stumble across them. I always do that, get to the hotel, drop my bags down, look up the local mom-and-pop guitar stores and see if we can go and find some treasure. So that guitar arsenal at the moment, I\u2019ve got six out at the moment, but that\u2019s subject to change. So we\u2019ll see how many I end up with at the end of the tour.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
NEMB<\/strong>:<\/strong> Do you have any good Spinal Tap-esque stories from tales on the road? Anything crazy that\u2019s happened out there?<\/em><\/p>\nRF:<\/strong> It\u2019s always a careful one to bring up stories, because there\u2019s always stuff that happens, but it sometimes makes other people look silly, and I don\u2019t think I should be the one to tell you. You know, Spinal Tap was so great because it was so true. Those moments absolutely do happen, you know most days, if not a few times a week at least. You know, getting lost on the stage, you know stupid things. The olives aren\u2019t stuffed enough, or the ham isn\u2019t the same size as the bread, that stuff it goes on, maybe not specifically those things, but things of that character go on. I\u2019m sure if we had a few beers one night, I could probably tell you a few stories once the recorders are off, but it goes on all the time, I\u2019ll just say that much.<\/p>\nI will tell you one thing, we were out in Brazil on the last Epitaph tour, and Rob came out on the bike, and the bike was on. So the bike was roaring, and he drove it too far on the stage. He got an idea that he would do another lap around the stage, and of course, crashes it into the speakers on the side of the stage, and you know tips the Harley over. For a couple of seconds, when you\u2019re watching it, you don\u2019t know what\u2019s happening, I mean it\u2019s a huge silver Harley, and you\u2019ve got Rob underneath it. You don\u2019t know what\u2019s happening, what the outcome is, but he got up, he picked it up, the crowd went bananas, he got up on the bike, and he finished the show. So that was a bit of a Spinal Tap moment, the lead singer comes off the Harley Davidson on stage, you don\u2019t get much more Spinal Tap than that.<\/p>\n
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![\"Judas-Priest-Redeemer-of-Souls-Tour-2014\"](\"http:\/\/newenglandmusicblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Judas-Priest-Redeemer-of-Souls-Tour-2014.jpg\")
The Metal Gods themselves, Judas Priest, have just started a fall tour of the United States and Canada. Special guest on this tour is over-the-top glam-metal band Steel Panther.<\/p>\n![\"FaulknerHalford2011\"](\"http:\/\/newenglandmusicblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/2011_11_20-P1020431_WM-300x200.jpg\")
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