Spiritech: So Rob, why did you decide to record a Christmas-themed album?
Rob Halford: Yeah, I mean the Christmastime is just as important a time for me as it is for a lot of people and I just love the atmosphere and the enjoyment and the eating, the drinking and obviously the music that's associated with Christmas as well. So for me, for as long as I can remember when I was a little kid I've always liked every aspect of Christmastime and especially the music. So I've slowly but surely got around to doing it for the first time ever in my career, Brendan. It's out now and the general feedback has been absolutely fantastic from all the metalheads.
Spiritech: Were you expecting any kind of backlash or criticism from some metal fans for doing something like this?Rob Halford: Well, to be honest I don't really care these days about criticism. I mean, I used to when I was a younger man in music, I thought that the critics, you know, were that important in terms of dictating where the reaction might come and how it might affect you. But I realize now that a critical point of view is just one person's bit of feedback, so I just go ahead and make the music that I enjoy making and I've had a pretty long career doing what appears to be the right thing. So this is just another opportunity to express myself in a slightly different way. It is an unusual record, but metalheads celebrate Christmas like everybody else and they obviously listen to some kind of music through the Christmas holiday time, so this is my effort and like I said, so far, so good.
Spiritech: Were you at all inspired to do this project by Twisted Sister, whose own Christmas album a few years back was quite successful?
Rob Halford: I think it's really cool that Dee (Snider) and the lads, who I've known for a long time made that record. I think it just shows you again that there's loads of people that enjoy that interpretation of some of the Christmas songs that we like. Of course, we in the Halford band tried to keep it in the same kind of texture and atmosphere musically that most people associate my work with. So I think this is a little bit more serious than Dee's record. I love Dee's record, I think it's brilliant, but I think that territory's been covered sufficiently now with that type of style and approach and it's been a real success for him. Obviously, it's done well, so it means that there's a need for that type of style of Christmas classics interpreted in that way. Of course, with us, we only did five fairly well-known Christmas songs. We did one by Sara Baraeilles, called 'Winter Song' and the other four are original tracks from us. So I think our record has turned out to be quite different from some of the other things that have happened, as they should be. I don't think there's that much room to bump into each other, otherwise we're all going to sound the same, you know? So I think each of us are trying to carve out our own impressions with the way that we've covered some of these fantastic Christmas tunes.
Spiritech: How did you go about selecting which songs to cover for the new album?
Rob Halford: Well you know Brendan, I think you immediately have to dismiss things like 'Frosty The Snowman' and 'Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" (laughs). I couldn't do anything like that! I looked for music that would stand the interpretation by the players in the band. We wanted to make a strong display of the musicianship. It's kind of a serious record when you think about it, whereas Dee's is all about having a good time and rocking under the piano and having a few beers and all that kind of thing, but (it was) absolutely brilliant. I think ours is definitely different in the way that we've tackled some of these songs and so, you just look at the ones that can take the arrangements and take the essence of what you're about in a band like the Halford band and just show it off a bit, you know? We just went for the ones that felt like the most... ones that were going to be competent to have the transformation done on them.
Spiritech: Great stuff. Moving on to Judas Priest for a moment, I think it's fair to say that Nostradamus received a mixed reception. A year or so on from its release, is there anything you'd change about that album or are you still pleased with the final result?
Rob Halford: Yeah, I think it's done close to 750,000 sales (worldwide) and add in the illegal downloads, it's probably done over a million. So I think that's pretty good in today's market commercially, in the business sense of things. For us in the band, it was just a wonderful opportunity to complete an idea that we'd had and we'd talked about for many, many years. Growing up as we did, there were a lot of those types of concept records around in the 70s and we always wondered how we would tackle that kind of endeavour. So 'Nostradamus turned out to be a real satisfying experience for us all. We're still determined at some point to play all of that double-CD live in concert. We're having a band meeting this Christmas to figure out what we're going to do next year for Priest and hopefully doing something with Nostradamus live will be included.
Spiritech: I imagine you've got a pretty expansive and impressive stage show in mind for that then.
Rob Halford: Well, Priest is famous for putting on these big shows - the costumes, the lights, the stage sets. Whatever we do with Nostradamus has gotta be a solid goal, so it's going to take a lot of thinking and a lot of production. We're going to have to bring in some special crews to talk through all of the different possibilities - and there are many. We can either keep it straightforward where we just stand there and play, but I think that would be letting the side down. 'Cause it's larger than life musically Brendan, so we have to put on a full on show. But as soon as we know what we're doing, we'll make an announcement on the Priest website.
Spiritech: Interesting. Is Priest working on any new material at the moment?
Rob Halford: Not right now, no. We've just been on the road for almost two years, so we're having a bit of a rest. We've never really thought much about what we're going to do musically. I mean, even Nostradamus was kind of an unplanned event. When we found the subject matter we were able to get on with the job, but for all the years that we've been together we just do what we do. We come together as a trio - Glenn (Tipton), KK (Downing) and myself - and we start writing and make a record. So I'm sure we'll be doing that at some point in the future. But we never really have any forethoughts, it's just what we've been doing for 38 years basically. It's always a pleasure, it's always exciting because you never know what's going to happen next.
Spiritech: I look forward to hearing it! I was reading a magazine interview with you a few years ago and you mentioned that you were interested in black metal and wanted to try your hand at a project in that style. Any update on that at all?
Rob Halford: No, it's still floating around in my brain box! I love that kind of music and I've always wondered how it would sound if I had a go. It might sound like rubbish, but that's what life's about, you don't know what you can do until you have a go. So that's on the "to do" list, things left to do.
Spiritech: Who would you like to collaborate with on such a project?
Rob Halford: Well, I think it's common knowledge that the only person I've really talked about (with it) is Ihsahn from Emperor. He's a good mate of mine and I think he's an expert at that job, so if I did do anything it would probably be a collaboration with him.
Spiritech: It seems to me like a lot of veteran metal acts such as Metallica don't always keep very close tabs on what's happening in the current metal scene. Yet you seem to take a lot of interest in what's new out there in metal. What's your view on the current state of heavy metal worldwide?
Rob Halford: Well, I think you have to break it into different labels, because it seems like every type of metal has something going on, you know? Whether it's black, death, speed, classical, European, retro, it's all over the place. It's getting more and more difficult really to follow. Which I think is a pleasant problem. But equally, it's probably harder to break a band now than ever before. That's one of the reasons why I put my little record label together recently. Metal God Records has now opened the doors for any bands to submit their ideas, their music, so we can try and give them a bit of a leg-up. But you know, the simplest way is jump on the Internet; all these bands have got their own webpages and MySpaces, Facebooks, whatever. You just got to kind of wade through it all and try and find something that's got a spark, something that's kind of pushing ahead more than anybody else. And I can't really find anybody right now to be quite honest, 'cause everything tends to mash into everything else around it and that's when the problem starts. If you're sounding like everybody else, how are you going to be able to kind of put your head up above the crowd and say, "look at me, listen to me"? So bands have to work really hard to find an original spark.
Spiritech: What was the last newer band you heard that you were really impressed by, Rob?
Rob Halford: Well, they're not really that new, but it's Pelican or Porcupine Tree. That kind of prog-rock stuff, I like that kind of experience. I mean, there's probably shitloads of 'em that are out there that I'll never even discover, it's so swamped right now, you know? That's why you've got to do everything you can to make a noise above everybody else and just say, "We've got something to offer, something stronger than the next lot and we should be given the opportunity to grow and develop". But it's really tough right now, in a good way.
Spiritech: It's been great chatting with you Rob. Final question - do you have any last words for PyroMusic.net readers?
Rob Halford: Well, did you see us when we came over last time, Brendan?
Spiritech: I did yes.
Rob Halford: Well, we just had the most amazing time. Firstly, the Australian fans had been very, very patient waiting for us to come and play. It was brilliant coming back to Australia as the original lineup, so we just had the best of moments. I think we covered a lot in a short space of time, but we definitely have to come back. So I'd just like to say thank you again on behalf of Priest and say that Australia is very, very important to the metal community and the metal scene worldwide and we look forward to returning to Australia as soon as we can.
- Spiritech
