JUDAS PRIEST Bassist Talks About 30th Anniversary Of 'British Steel'

Direct Metal Music recently conducted an interview with JUDAS PRIEST bassist Ian Hill. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

Direct Metal Music: What was the recording process like for [1980's "British Steel" album]?

Ian Hill: The writing process back then, was basically Ken [Downing, guitar] and Glenn [Tipton, guitar] would write the majority of the music, Rob [Halford] would add the lyrics, We'd get together at somebody's house and kick them around a bit and then go to the studio, and having said that the songs were never complete until we went to the studio, if you know what I mean. Changes took place all the time (after they went to the studio). Of course, it was recorded at Ringo's house in Ascot which he bought from John Lennon.

Direct Metal Music: Was he ever present when you were recording any of the songs?

Ian Hill: No, he wasn't, unfortunately. He was living with his wife in Switzerland, I believe, some sort of tax exile or whatever, and he decided to rent us the studio that had been in the house since Lennon owned it, I think Lennon installed the studio, and so it was a modern, up-to-date sort of thing, he (Lennon) kept abreast of modern technology and bought new kits of equipment as they came available. It's a great big Georgian mansion set in some parkland, and stuff like that, you know, it was a plus for that. In fact, while we were there I think Lennon was shot, and we were sitting…I don't know if you ever saw the "Imagine" video that Lennon did with Yoko…

Direct Metal Music: Absolutely.

Ian Hill: He's sitting at the white piano and Yoko's going around and opening the curtains? We were sitting in that room when that thing (news of John Lennon's death) was playing on the TV; yeah, that was a spooky moment. I mean the house is tremendous. I mean, acoustically, you've got rooms large, small, wooden panelled sort of rooms. Rooms that were carpeted, tall rooms... It was in the days before a lot of processed sounds, you know, you had the basics.

Direct Metal Music: Yeah, and I read somewhere that you guys actually created your own sound effects for the record.

Ian Hill: Yeah, you had to in those days, you know apart from the BBC who used to do "effects" records (laughing) in those days. You could get a railway locomotive or buses going by and things like that, but the sort of walking robots, no they didn't do that so we had to invent those songs…whip cracks, the whooshing noise of scythes, banging on radiators, and broken bottles, we actually recorded all that (chuckles) great fun doing it.

Direct Metal Music: Going through all the changes that PRIEST has gone through over the years, since you put your first record out in '74, do you ever miss the times when you were playing in the small German and English pubs like when you were starting out?

Ian Hill: It's always a blast to play smaller places, I genuinely mean that. You get a great vibe with the fans, they are right there in front of you and you can see them all. You play great halls and auditoriums and there is generally about ten feet in between you and the front row and things like that, and the rest of the people you pretty much can't see them for most of the set because the lights are right in your face and stuff like that. But you get a real sort of connection with the fans in the smaller place because you know that all the people that are there are there just to see you anyway, you know. They're crammed in, and everybody's in the same groove, I get a tremendous rush off of it

Direct Metal Music: I wanted your opinion on how [Scott Travis'] drumming has changed the direction of the band. I mean, right off the bat, he came in and shredded on "Painkiller". How did he change things for PRIEST?

Ian Hill: It was the upbeat double-bass drums; I mean, Dave [Holland] was…I don't think he could play double-bass drums to be honest. Dave Holland was a very good technical drummer, you know, but he couldn't play two bass drums. And when Scott came along, it gave Ken and Glen the opportunity to write songs specifically for that, you know. You've got "Painkiller", which is a typical example. It was something that we just couldn't do before that Scott has allowed us to do those faster songs; that more upbeat, double-bass drum fast-tempo type of song, you know.

Read the entire interview from Direct Metal Music.