FORMER JUDAS PRIEST GUITARIST K.K. DOWNING DISCUSSES WHY HE LEFT THE BAND, POSSIBLY RECORDING A SOLO ALBUM AND RELEASING HEAVY METAL FRAGRANCES
Adrian Peel of Digital Journal spoke with former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing. Excerpts from the story appear below.
On his new business venture:
“Don’t laugh, but I’m just about to release Metal For Men and Metal Pour Femme, which is a new line of fragrances, and I’m going to be selling that internationally. Do you know Planet Rock? In the UK I’ll be selling that initially through Planet Rock, through the national radio station. That’s something else I’ve thought of in my sleep. Don’t ask me why! You see these people do a fragrance from the pop world and stuff like that, but nobody’s actually catering for rock and metal fans, so I thought I’d solve the headache of what to buy for Christmas type-of-thing…”
Discussing releasing a solo album:
“Well I think about it all the time, I do… I’m thinking that when all this dies down a little bit, even if I’m 65, 66 – it doesn’t matter. I mean you look at The Rolling Stones, The Who and everybody can still put their hand to their instrument and be creative. So I’m not ruling anything out at any time…It may well be an instrumental album. I could do it, but at the moment I’ve just got to finish what I’ve started, really, is what I think. But it won’t be too long. I would’ve thought by the end of next year, I’ll find a clearing and I would like to work with some chosen musicians.”
Explaining why he left Judas Priest:
“I felt that a lot of the spark wasn’t there – for whatever reason – anymore on stage. I felt that I had it, but I felt it wasn’t what I originally signed up for… I always thought that Judas Priest should have been a high-energy outfit and ultra-sharp, but I wasn’t enjoying it as much on stage as I should have been. All that traveling and living out of a suitcase and spending so much time in planes, vans, cars and trains, you have to really enjoy the concerts. You have to musically get on a high and that carries you through, but if you’re not enjoying it like you should, then it becomes a lot of hard work because you’ve still got to do the interviews and be pushed and pulled around the place.”
Does regret his decision to leave the band?:
“I don’t regret leaving because, to me, I thought that it had run its course. I miss what we had, but I don’t particularly miss what we had become when I left… You can look at You Tube and see Judas Priest playing at the US Festival, or at Live Aid, and I miss being at the pinnacle of the band. I miss that energy and youthfulness and just delivering all of that up. You become a certain age and I think that I would have been happy if, as I said, I was enjoying the shows. There’s disagreements with how things should be done and I thought if I’m outnumbered then it’s time to go…But I suppose we did fantastically well. I mean 40 years is great and I commend the guys for going back out. I was just watching a bit of their first concert of the tour in Rochester, New York, and it was great. Band sounded good and I’m happy that they continue. I sent an email saying ‘good luck with the new tour, guys’ to the management office. I do wish them well and I commend them highly for being out there and carrying on the legacy.”
Read more with K.K. at Digital Journal. Additionally, Downing, will be donating some of the proceeds from his forthcoming fragrances to the Teenage Cancer Trust.
For more information about K.K., please visit his official website.
source: digitaljournal.com
Once KK left I decided not to see Priest live again. I want to remember them as I last saw them on the British Steel 30th Anniversary Tour. They were still energetic, especially KK, and it was a great show with them performing British Steel in its entirety, as well as some other rarely played tunes.
That’s too bad. You’re missing out on a lot.
Nice to hear some honest comments. I think he’d be proud of how Richie is doing in his place.
Eddie, are you going to the show tonight???
Richie Faulkner blows KK away!
easy now….
Speedy licks isn’t everything, not even in metal …
WHAT??????? O.O
Don’t talk such utter cr*p!!!
Faulkner blows KK Downing away? Yeah, and I’m a better guitar playing than both EVH and Yngwie Malmsteen put together!!!
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and this isn’t a criticism on Faulkner, but that is like comparing a classic car to sports car or a vintage wine to a current vino.
D 🙂
I saw Priest on Wednesday night in Allentown. They were fantastic. They still seemed to have the spark. Maybe Ritchie brought in new blood and made the others up there game. To be honest though Glenn does seem to not be as into it as I have seen on many tours before. Maybe he was not feeling on top of his game or maybe just tired. Travel can wear you out and especially once you get older. I think Rob finally get his back worked on has helped also. From what I read he was in a good amount of pain. I also have a back that gives me fits so I can understand where he was at. Some days I feel lucky to just be able to get up, not go out and roam around on stage after traveling for hours .
Glen looked like he had a bad back or something along that lines, just stood there all stiff, his playing was great but he’s starting to look his age…
I’ve seen three shows this month, and Glenn is clearly not doing well. His playing has been uncharacteristically slow, sloppy and he’s even starting solos early or messing them up half way through. I’m so sad about what’s happening to him.
Whether KK ever works with Judas Priest again or not, whether he’s active musically again or not, he will forever be part of the most legendary heavy metal twin guitar team of all time. Nothing can change that. He’s apparently happy with his life, so good for him. If I ever get to meet him, or Glenn to for that matter, I feel like I owe him money for guitar lessons for all the hours I spent as a teenager learning how to play Priest songs. At one time, when I was 15 or so, I learned how to play every song on “Unleashed In The East” and played along with the record from start to finish as if I was in the band.