JUDAS PRIEST's RICHIE FAULKNER On Replacing K.K. DOWNING: 'I Was Confident I Could Do The Job'

John Katic of Guitar World recently conducted an interview with JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Richie Faulkner. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Guitar World: JUDAS PRIEST have a new DVD/Blu-ray, "Epitaph", which is the entire 220-minute set from the last night of the "Epitaph" tour. For the release, you guys did a premier in theaters. Was it surreal to see yourself on that big of a screen?

Faulkner: Absolutely! You see yourself on YouTube in little bits and pieces, and that's always amazing to see. I don't think PRIEST has done a live show in this format in movie theaters. It's exciting, not only to see myself but to see myself with PRIEST for the first time on the screen. There are no other words to describe it.

Guitar World: For a lot of people, this is going to be their first opportunity to see you with the band. You rose to the occasion with great playing on this DVD. Did that factor into your nerves going into that night?

Faulkner: I didn't let myself become nervous. I was excited and I was confident I could do the job. I was respectful of the position I was taking on the stage. Sometimes, if you let nerves into the equation, they can trip you up. I knew there was no point in being nervous. I did have a point to prove to the fans — that I was capable of being there. I think that was a healthy position to be in. Because the fans are so loyal and passionate and they paid their money to come down to the show, they gave me a chance, and I can only thank them for that. Within about a minute, they had their hands in the air singing along with me. It was a great testament to the fans.

Guitar World: Every kid that ever picked up a guitar fantasizes about stepping on stage with a favorite band. Doing the tour, did you ever find yourself sort of looking around, being a fan?

Faulkner: You never think that that is going to happen. You don't think you are going to get that call. You aspire to be that good. You think, "That's what I want to do." When you are on the stage, you're focused on your role in band and your parts, but every now and then you can sit back and take it in. Like in "Diamonds & Rust", during the acoustic guitar parts, I can look around a bit. I can watch Glenn [Tipton, guitar] and the sea of passionate heavy metal fans. You pinch yourself every night. It's incredible to be up there with these guys in all these amazing places every night.

Read the entire interview from Guitar World.