SCOTT TRAVIS Says JUDAS PRIEST 'Needed A Definite Extra Kick In The A**' Before His Addition To The Band

In a new interview with Matty Roberts of the Percussion Discussion podcast, JUDAS PRIEST drummer Scott Travis was asked if he was responsible for bringing an "extra heaviness" to the band's sound following his addition to the group three and a half decades ago. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, it's hard for me to say, really, but, obviously, one of the reasons they asked me to join the band after the audition and get-to-know-you period and things like that was, obviously, 'cause they enjoyed the sound and the feeling that it brought to the band. And I definitely, I guess I was, or am, a heavy metal drummer. And so, yeah, I'd like to think so, that I brought some of that element to the band, and, to me, that's what they needed. I had seen the band with [previous PRIEST drummer] Dave Holland… [and] I thought they needed a definite extra kick in the ass. And I'm glad I was able to provide it."

The 63-year-old Travis, who was born in Norfolk, Virginia, joined PRIEST after an audition in Spain in November 1989.

Travis made his recording debut with PRIEST on the band's 12th album, 1990's "Painkiller", which was recorded at Miraval Studios in Brignoles, France, and was mixed at Wisseloord Studios in Hilversum, the Netherlands.

"Painkiller" was PRIEST's twelfth studio album and it marked singer Rob Halford's last recording with the band for more than decade, as he left PRIEST in May 1992 to pursue a solo career. The album received a Grammy nomination for "Best Metal Performance" at the 33rd annual Grammy Awards, losing to METALLICA's cover of the QUEEN song "Stone Cold Crazy".

Scott's long and very influential drumming career has also included acclaimed work with FIGHT and RACER X.

Travis's mother went to Juilliard and his brother, who is 10 years older, exposed him to THE BEATLES on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and Elvis Presley through an extensive record collection.

In a 2020 interview with the "Jeremy White Podcast", Halford talked about the classic drum into to the "Painkiller" title track, which opened the album and introduced PRIEST's then-new drummer Travis. Asked if PRIEST made a conscious decision to come up with a way to spotlight Travis or if the intro happened organically, Rob replied: "It happened organically. We were writing all the songs for the record. We finished doing all the writing. And then back in the album world, making albums, like we still do as a band — we make records which are called albums which take you through the songs that we represent ourselves with at that time, whenever we do it — this 'Painkiller' track, which ended up being the title track… And sometimes the title track doesn't necessarily have to lead the record off. But it just felt such a potent statement. In all of the songs that we'd written, we felt that this had so much to say and that because it needed this kind of extraordinary opening — the drums instead of a screaming voice or wailing guitars — we thought, 'Let's go for it.' And what a great way to introduce Scott for the first time, as it was then, with PRIEST, with that particular record. It still lights up the room. Whenever we play 'Painkiller' live and Scott's there by myself on the stage doing that opening thing, fans go absolutely nuts. It's a bit of metal iconography right there. It's a glorious statement."