Former JUDAS PRIEST Guitarist K.K. Downing On His Retirement – “There Had Been An On-Going Breakdown In Working Relationships Between Myself, Elements Of The Band And Management For Some Time”
December 4, 2012, 11 years ago
GuitarHoo recently conducted an interview with former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing. In the interview Downing talked about his early roots as a young guitar player, the origins of Judas Priest, the history of heavy metal, his most recent project performing on the classic THE WHO song, ‘Eminence Front’ for the album: Who Are You? An All Star Tribute To The Who, song writing, and more.
Excerpts from the interview are below:
Guitarhoo: What do you think were some of the key elements of Judas Priests success and longevity?
K.K. Downing: “We were not an overnight success so we had to grind it out year after year, trying to get to where we hoped that we belonged.”
GuitarHoo: On the last Judas Priest album Nostradamus, it's nothing like anything the band has put out before. The lush textures, epic symphonic arrangements interwoven with the metal groovin' guitars, and a concept theme about 16th-century writer Nostradamus. Who in the band initiated the concept and direction of this album?
K.K. Downing: “After we discussed things, we all felt that it was an opportunity to get a lot more out of our system. I think we were also quite excited to be able to show we were musically more proficient than some people thought.”
GuitarHoo: After being one of the founding members of Priest and having a long successful career with the band, you retired in 2011. What brought about your decision?
K.K. Downing: “There had been an on-going breakdown in working relationships between myself, elements of the band and management for some time.”
To read the entire interview visit this location.
