IAN HILL Says It Was Important For JUDAS PRIEST To Retain Its ‘Signature Sound’ When Hiring New Guitarists

In a new interview with Charlie Kendall’s Metalshop, JUDAS PRIEST bassist Ian Hill spoke about the additions of guitarists Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap to the band’s touring and recording lineup and how they have affected PRIEST’s overall sound. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We’re a band with a long history, so we have to sort of remain audibly very similar. There’s no point in going out there and playing a song 30 years old that sounds completely different. It’s gotta sound pretty much how the fans expect it to sound. So it was filling the roles, I think, initially at least.”Richie’s been with the band now for — what? — 12, 13 years,” he continued. “And, of course a lot of that time he was playing alongside of Glenn [Tipton, who has retired from touring]. So a guitarist being a guitarist, they’d talk and Glenn gave tips and hints to Richie the way Ken [former PRIEST guitarist Kenneth ‘K.K.’ Downing] might have done something, at least on the first tour. And then, of course, when we started to do new records with Richie, he could go and do his own thing. He could be himself rather than trying to fill somebody else’s boots. And pretty much the same with Andy, fast forward about 10 years. And so Richie has been assimilated, if you like — he’s now part of the clan, of the family. And the same happened with Andy. I mean, Andy was a great choice. He’d just [produced] the new record — he produced ‘Firepower’ — so he was familiar with all the new material. I think we might have done four or five songs from ‘Firepower’ on that particular tour. So, when you’re learning a song, half of it is knowing and getting it between your ears. You’re halfway there, and then the playing part — there’s nothing worse than playing something, getting it right, and you’re thinking, ‘What comes next?’ So, he was a perfect choice, really, to fit the bill. He’s also a fan of the band, and he was familiar, and still is, with all the older stuff as well. So, he was a pretty perfect fit. And of course, over the tours — I think he’s on his fourth tour now or something like that — he’s grown in stature as well and he’s performing really, really well on stage as well… So we have that signature sound, and I think that’s very, very important.”JUDAS PRIEST recently kicked off leg two of its “Invincible Shield” tour with special guest SABATON. The all-time greats are taking over new markets in North America this fall with an additional 23 performances. Produced by Live Nation, the tour launched on September 13 at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec and makes stops in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Omaha, Nebraska; Spokane, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Los Angeles, California; Phoenix, Arizona and more before wrapping up with three shows in Texas on October 22, 24 and 26.JUDAS PRIEST kicked off the spring 2024 U.S. leg of the “Invincible Shield” world tour on April 18 at Toyota Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford, Connecticut.”Invincible Shield” entered the U.K. chart at No. 2, just behind Ariana Grande’s “Eternal Sunshine”.Prior to “Invincible Shield”‘s arrival, PRIEST’s highest U.K. chart achievement was with 1980’s “British Steel”, which reached No. 4.PRIEST’s 2018 album “Firepower” entered the chart at No. 5.”Invincible Shield” was JUDAS PRIEST’s fifth Top 10 album, after the aforementioned “British Steel” and “Firepower”, as well as 2014’s “Redeemer Of Souls” (No. 6) and the 1979 live album “Unleashed In The East” (No. 10).”Invincible Shield” landed at No. 1 in Germany, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as No. 5 in France, No. 8 in Italy and No. 16 in Australia.This past March, Hill was asked by Spain’s Rock FM if he and his bandmates have thought about a possible retirement yet. The 72-year-old bassist responded: “No, we have no plan to retire yet. We’re still able to perform. The time to think about retiring is when your performances start to dip and you’re not doing too well. You have to think about it then. We’re not stupid; we know that we’re not getting any younger and that there will be a time when we have to retire, but there’s no plans to do so just yet.”