JUDAS PRIEST Guitarist: 'People Want To Hear A Good Mixture Of Memorable Songs'

Jeff Kerby of KNAC.COM recently conducted an interview with JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

KNAC.COM: How is PRIEST dealing with the increase in press and the amount of people interested in your personal lives? Is it more or less difficult to come to terms with at this stage of your career?

K.K. Downing: "Yeah, I think we'd be complaining a lot more if we had never achieved the success that we have. There is a price to pay for everything really, isn't there? Being away from family, friends and pets is difficult. I mean, I'm 53, and I've never been married or had kids or whatever, and I guess it is a sacrifice that I've made to do what I do. The other guys have said that they regret not being around to watch their kids grow up and all that. I can understand that. I guess I always figured it was like I could do this or do that, you know? My choice was to do this. [Laughs] Even at that, there are still family commitments with parents, brothers and sisters or whatever. I just haven't been in the same situation they have been in because I've been with a longterm girlfriend, so I know what I'm talking about — that's some of my money too, dude! [Laughs]"

KNAC.COM: Are there bands of the day that you used to view as competition but that now you look over and just find comfort in the fact that they are still going at it and that you aren't alone?

K.K. Downing: "Yeah, I am very, very proud of bands like AC/DC, who have just gone out there and stayed together. They have just kept on doing what they do. We would have gone on carrying the flag and doing that if Rob [Halford] hadn't left for all those years. At least we're back now, and with PRIEST and CRÜE back, there are things happening. The good thing about us is that I've gone on a couple of websites where people say, 'PRIEST went out and they played and it was just like it always is and nothing's changed.' If anything, I think we're a bit more energized now. Maybe it is the absence that has given us the exuberance to go out and prove how mighty the PRIEST still is, you know?"

KNAC.COM: What is it that you believe PRIEST and CRÜE provide the audiences that newer acts aren't? The New York press or more mainstream publications always want to downgrade metal bands and use them as a punch line, but the success you guys have had seems to suggest that there's something going on — what do you think that is?

K.K. Downing: "The first thing we had to do is go out and make an album like 'Angel of Retribution'. That is very important across the board whether PRIEST made that record or not. It was an album that needed to be made at this time. If an album can have that type of effect, it may change what people are doing right now. Maybe it will show the younger bands that it isn't always about having your head down and aggression and attitude. People want to hear a good mixture of memorable songs. They want to hear the variety and the flair of the musicianship from everybody in the band and that includes the rhythm section as well. Just create some music that we can sing along to and rock out to — I think that's extremely important, and I think that's what's been missing for a long time."

Read K.K. Downing's entire interview with KNAC.COM at this location.

JUDAS PRIEST's "Angel of Retribution" has sold 146,224 copies in the United States to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan.