ROB HALFORD
interviewsofrecordingartists.com
Rob Halford has been the lead signer of Judas Priest for more than 14 years. In the arena of heavy metal music most bands last a year then fall from the record charts never to be seen or heard from again.
Halford has kept Judas Priest on the top of the charts with platinum album sales and sold-out concert tours worldwide. Halford took the time to answer some questions about the band and their remarkable career.
Q.How has Judas Priest stayed together for 14 years?
A.I really enjoy writing and recording this type of music. If I didn't enjoy my work then I couldn't write new material year after year. I still get a thrill out of my work and the daily challenge that my work presents to me. It's always a challenge for me to work on new material with the band in the recording studio. I try to stretch my creative powers to the limit whenever I write new songs. All of the members in this band work very hard every day to put forth our best efforts in everything we do. From the first day I joined Judas Priest, I wanted to make the band a success.
Q. When you began Judas Priest, did you feel that the time was right for a change in the British music scene?
A. When Judas Priest began, there were many hard rock bands playing the clubs and concert halls. When we began, hard rock music was really taking off in terms of popularity in Great Britain. We were fortunate enough to stand out from the rest of the hard rock bands that were on the scene. I feel destiny was important for Judas Priest to be a success in the early days. We believed that our destiny would be fulfilled in this band.
Q. What has kept you working during the tough times that you've experienced in your life?
A. Whenever the times have been tough, I never sat back and waited for things to improve. I would always work at improving my situation with all of the strength that I had. When we sold a million albums we didn't rest and take it easy. Too many entertainers take a break when they should be working to stay on top of things. I would never sit back and bask in the glory of my success because working for continual success is an ongoing process. You must maintain a high standard of achievement in all of your work. You must not feel that you will always be respected once you have made a platinum record. It actually gets much tougher to succeed once you have a platinum record. The desire to succeed is not as strong once you have earned a platinum level of record sales.
Q. The song lyrics you write have a positive meaning for the youth of today. Why do you have so many enemies among the parental groups in the United States?
A. That's nothing new to hard rock and heavy metal music. Since the beginning of heavy metal music there have been numerous enemies devoted to the destruction of metal. I think that it has to do with the way that metal is presented to the public. A small group of people only look at the surface of metal music and the presentation of it in music videos. These are sensational times for heavy metal music. The press is using all of the bad things that have happened in the past to sell newspapers. The press at times doesn't really look beyond that initial appearance of things whenever they write about heavy metal music. People want to hear about the bad news and the bad news often makes the headlines. It really amazes me that people always want to hear bad news. People can't see beyond the immediate condition of things. I feel that is something that we must live with. Fortunately, a small group of people are creating all of the bad publicity for heavy metal music. The vast majority of people know that heavy metal music is mostly made up of musicians with good values and qualities. A fringe element on the edge of the scene is causing all of the trouble and they don't know what heavy metal is about anyway.
End.
COPYRIGHT 2009.
interviewsofrecordingartists.com
Rob Halford has been the lead signer of Judas Priest for more than 14 years. In the arena of heavy metal music most bands last a year then fall from the record charts never to be seen or heard from again. Halford has kept Judas Priest on the top of the charts with platinum album sales and sold-out concert tours worldwide. Halford took the time to answer some questions about the band and their remarkable career.
Q.How has Judas Priest stayed together for 14 years?
A.I really enjoy writing and recording this type of music. If I didn't enjoy my work then I couldn't write new material year after year. I still get a thrill out of my work and the daily challenge that my work presents to me. It's always a challenge for me to work on new material with the band in the recording studio. I try to stretch my creative powers to the limit whenever I write new songs. All of the members in this band work very hard every day to put forth our best efforts in everything we do. From the first day I joined Judas Priest, I wanted to make the band a success.
Q. When you began Judas Priest, did you feel that the time was right for a change in the British music scene?
A. When Judas Priest began, there were many hard rock bands playing the clubs and concert halls. When we began, hard rock music was really taking off in terms of popularity in Great Britain. We were fortunate enough to stand out from the rest of the hard rock bands that were on the scene. I feel destiny was important for Judas Priest to be a success in the early days. We believed that our destiny would be fulfilled in this band.
Q. What has kept you working during the tough times that you've experienced in your life?
A. Whenever the times have been tough, I never sat back and waited for things to improve. I would always work at improving my situation with all of the strength that I had. When we sold a million albums we didn't rest and take it easy. Too many entertainers take a break when they should be working to stay on top of things. I would never sit back and bask in the glory of my success because working for continual success is an ongoing process. You must maintain a high standard of achievement in all of your work. You must not feel that you will always be respected once you have made a platinum record. It actually gets much tougher to succeed once you have a platinum record. The desire to succeed is not as strong once you have earned a platinum level of record sales.
Q. The song lyrics you write have a positive meaning for the youth of today. Why do you have so many enemies among the parental groups in the United States?
A. That's nothing new to hard rock and heavy metal music. Since the beginning of heavy metal music there have been numerous enemies devoted to the destruction of metal. I think that it has to do with the way that metal is presented to the public. A small group of people only look at the surface of metal music and the presentation of it in music videos. These are sensational times for heavy metal music. The press is using all of the bad things that have happened in the past to sell newspapers. The press at times doesn't really look beyond that initial appearance of things whenever they write about heavy metal music. People want to hear about the bad news and the bad news often makes the headlines. It really amazes me that people always want to hear bad news. People can't see beyond the immediate condition of things. I feel that is something that we must live with. Fortunately, a small group of people are creating all of the bad publicity for heavy metal music. The vast majority of people know that heavy metal music is mostly made up of musicians with good values and qualities. A fringe element on the edge of the scene is causing all of the trouble and they don't know what heavy metal is about anyway.
End.
COPYRIGHT 2009.
