East Coast Live
Folks. Sean McKenna here stepping in for Allan Zilkowsky of East Coast Live. We have Richie Faulkner
from Judas Priest. Sir, thank you for doing this!
Richie Faulkner
It’s a pleasure. A Pleasure and an honor to be with you here in the beautiful frozen Nova Scotia. It’s a
beautiful day here, and we’re looking forward to playing for you guys in a couple of days. And it’s a
pleasure to be here.
East Coast Live
And you will be playing, right? You will be playing. We know this?
Richie Faulkner
Absolutely. Yeah. We’re resting up. Obviously. We know the story. Yesterday we had to unfortunately,
cancel the show. And the reason for that is so that we can preserve our health and get better. Rob has
got a bit of a cold, so we can preserve our health, get back on track and do the rest of the shows in
Canada. So, yeah, that’s what we’re aiming to do.
East Coast Live
That’s perfect, and you know best wishes to him because I know anytime you get a sniffle, they’re saying
it’s COVID. So you got to be careful of that thing, right?
Richie Faulkner
Absolutely. Obviously, these guys have been doing it for 50 years. I’ve been doing it for a few years with
them. Even if you don’t tour as a musician, we all get sick from time to time. And it’s going to happen
when you’;re on the road. It’s a rigorous schedule and even pre COVID now post COVID, so to speak, you
gonna catch bugs and stuff like that. It’s just part of the life we live. And obviously, being a singer, if it was
me or Ian Scott or Andy, I think we could maybe just hammer through it. But obviously when your
instrument is your voice, it’s a bit harder to do. So he”s resting up. He’s resting his voice and he’s on some
meds and he’s going to get through it.
East Coast Live
The best to him. And obviously, when you have that voice, you got to be very respectful of it because it’s
such a distinctive voice.
East Coast Live
So not to come at you with the 2000th question about your health, but you had a setback there. Are you
finding that with the COVID thing, being back on the road, you got to be a little extra careful or can you
just handle yourself, business as usual. How’s that going for you?
Richie Faulkner
Well, I think everyone’s got to be vigilant. Obviously, the lockdowns and restrictions are kind of being
relaxed around the world. So in one respect, you can be a bit more relaxed, but in another respect,
because they’ve been relaxed, you’ve got to be a bit more vigilant. It’s a bit of both, really. It’s nice that it’s
been relaxed because we can now enjoy live music again and to see the fans and the looks on their faces
to be experiencing, in our case, heavy metal shows again, live heavy metal show is fantastic. And it’s
great for us again as well, to be able to deliver a live heavy metal show and see the looks on those fans
faces and be part of that live heavy metal community again, it’s fantastic. But obviously I don’t think it’;s
gone away completely yet. We’re still hearing of cases here and there, so we’ve got to be somewhat
careful. Depends what you listen to, what kind of sources you listen to, but you’ve got to be somewhat
vigilant. But again, I think it’s got to the point where everyone’s living their lives, but kind of using common
sense in terms of being safe again.
East Coast Live
Because I’m sure you got to be to the point where, oh my god, one more question about what happened
to me, but it seemed like it happened and we get the when it happened and then we see you out there
playing and then it just seemed to know where you were good, but there was probably a long period of
time where you went through some stuff to get back to where you’re at. I have a bandmate, I play music
myself. He just had open heart surgery last Wednesday and he’s going through a very rough time, so that
must have been for you, very draining,
Richie Faulkner
Definitely.. And I think people handle it differently, and I think I’ve spoken to people. There’s a whole
community of people that have had open heart surgery for different reasons. You know, mine wasn’t so
much the heart, it was the mechanics around it. So people have it for different reasons. They recovered
differently or their recovery period is longer, or their age affects them differently or their health that they
were in affects their recovery period. I was very fortunate in relation to some people that I’ve spoken to in
the community. I recovered fairly quickly and I just had in my mind that I wanted to get back out on the
road and do these dates and get back on the horse, so to speak. And I don’t know if that was a naive
thing. I don’t know if I knew how serious my condition could be or how serious I needed to take the
recovery, but it works for me, if you know what I mean. I had these dates. I was given the go ahead by the
surgeons. I had these dates, we put these dates up on the calendar and I just focused on those, really.
Richie Faulkner
I went through the cardiac rehab, got my heart strong and all the mechanics strong and everything like
that and just went for it. And again, I don’t know if that was a naive mindset to have, but it seems to work
and I feel strong and obviously there are precautions that I have to take moving forward and medications
and stuff like that, but I seem to be doing well on the road and it seems to be working fine.
East Coast Live
Well, I have to think for the mental health to be able to get back out when everything was shut down. You
weren’t able to play and then you had that setback. I mean, I think mental health wise, it’s got to be a
great thing to get up there and see thousands of people back in a Stadium?
Richie Faulkner
1000% yeah. I Mean, to be out after COVID last year, through rehearsals, we don’t band rehearsals, and
then we did production rehearsals and we were getting closer and closer to getting on the plane and
actually getting out to the US until we were in the US. We were actually on tour after COVID and three
weeks in, I was the one to kind of put the brakes on and it was quite upsetting, really, and it was exciting
to be out. As I said, it was a release for us to be out again playing and obviously for the fans as well, to be
out experiencing live music and to put the brakes on was kind of no pun intended. It was kind of
heartbreaking to put the brakes on not only for me and the band, but for the crew as well. The crew were
relying on working and everything like that, but it was out of my hands, really. And it’s just good to be back
again doing those dates that we promised, that we were going to fulfill and now look into the future,
moving on into 2022. We look into Europe and then dates beyond that.
Richie Faulkner
So it’s an incredible feeling.
East Coast Live
Well, it says something about that organization, not to cast you aside, but I mean, if they really wanted to,
they could have called somebody up and said, hey, look, he’s down for a few weeks, a few months. Let’s
keep it going. But they chose not to. They chose, all for one, one for all. Get you better. I guess what
that’s saying is after being in the band for the period of time that you have your focal point of the band
now, is that a fair statement?
Richie Faulkner
I couldn’t speak for them, really. That’s what they chose to do. It was an honor, really, that they chose to
wait for me. They gave me the support, really, and chose to wait and they could have got someone else
in. But as you said, they chose to wait until I was ready. And it was always when I was ready and when
we were looking at rescheduling these dates, it was always about when I was going to be ready. Am I
sure? Are the surgeons okay with me doing it? And they were always checking in with me to make sure I
was okay. And to this day, really, they always check in and the production manager always checks in and
just make sure I’m okay. I’m feeling okay. And it’s been supportive all the way through, really.
East Coast Live
That’s fantastic. I had a friend of mine that saw you guys in West Virginia, I guess a week, a week and a
half ago, and he’s a singer, guitar player, and he made a really funny comment. Obviously your name
people know your name and he said it was the first time that he saw you play live knew you by reputation
was blown away by how you played and that’s not me sitting here giving you an ass kissing sort of
sentiment. But he was very surprised. Do you tend to get that a lot? People just kind of pigeonhole you as
a guy that came into Judas priest and they don’t understand hey, you’re a talented player as well.
Richie Faulkner
I don’t know really. I mean, obviously I’ve been in the band for over ten years now, but I don’t think you
can take for granted that you still can play to people that haven’t seen me with a band. And not only that,
sometimes we play places that the band haven’t played before often, or as I said at all, sometimes I think
we played New Zealand a few years ago and the band had never played there. So you can’t take that for
granted, really. So you’re always planning to either a new fan or a new city or a new country and you can
never take that for granted that someone is going to see you for the first.
Richie Faulkner
And you’re up there upholding that legacy. And I think it’s a great legacy. And the legacy was there before
me for 40 years. So you can never take that for granted. So it’s an incredible one that your friend thought
that, tell him thank you for me.
East Coast Live
I will, for sure.
East Coast Live
I don’t want to hit you with the cheesy question, but I mean, you’re there ten plus years. They’ve been a
band for almost 50 years. Do you ever get tired of playing those songs?
Richie Faulkner
Yeah, I hate it, man. It’s the worst (laughing). No, it’s cliche. But those songs take on a different kind of
character every night based on their great songs anyway. But when you play them live to a different
audience every night, it becomes a different experience. I think it’s the same for the audience. You can go
and see a band for ten shows ten nights in a row, and it will be a different experience every night. I think
it’s the same for us. Plus there’s two albums worth of songs to choose from that I’ve been involved in as
well now. So obviously that takes on a different experience as well. When you’ve had a hand in creating
some of those songs that become people’s favorites as well, sometimes. And that’s an incredible as well.
So no, they don’t get boring. I mean, you got like The Sentinel, Victim of Changes. And again, it’s about
holding that legacy that means so much to so many people and the looks on their faces and when they’ve
got their horns in the air and they’re singing along with you, you become part of the whole experience
yourself.
East Coast Live
So you may or may not know this, but I mean, this part of the world. So there’s a huge following of metal
in Atlantic, Canada. It probably started in 1984 when Iron Maiden came here with Twisted Sister and kind
of went on from there.
East Coast Live
But you guys have a huge following here.
East Coast Live
I believe you’ve been here one other time before when things were postponed. Social media here was
just like, oh, not another concert. Everybody is super excited about this concert on Thursday night.
East Coast Live
Are you guys aware of the following that you have in this part of the world?
Richie Faulkner
When people like you tell us about it, we’ve made more aware. I think we haven’t been here for now,
seven years. I think we were here on the Redeemer of Souls tour. I think we were here in Macedon and
we didn’t make it here on the Epitaph tour. But every time we come up to Canada, we are kind of made
aware of how much heavy metal and Judas Priest. And as you said, heavy metal in general means up in
Canada, you can always tell when you cross the border into Canada and the audience reaction, this isn't
to put down the US in any way. But you can always tell there’s a slight shift in energy when you get out to
Canada and you think what’s happened to you? We’re in Canada. There’s a slight shift in energy which is
always a welcome one. Everyone seems a bit more unhinged up here in a good way.
East Coast Live
The other good thing too is if you carry US dollars, you come up across the border while you get to buy a
lot more stuff up here in Canada, right?
Richie Faulkner
Yeah, a lot more made from Europe to take back down. Everyone’s nice and kind up here. Everyone
seems in a good mood but now it’s evident really how much respect people have for metal up here and
it’s a great thing. It’s good to be back.
East Coast Live
So you guys get a couple of days before your show.
East Coast Live
I’m not going to say where you are. We’re going to keep that secret. But what are your plans over the next
couple of days? Because everybody thinks they read the stories of your where rock and roll is huge
partying thing. They don’t understand actually how regimented your schedule is and how intense it is.
What do you plan on doing for the next couple of days before the show?
Richie Faulkner
Well, we’ve got a couple of days off and if anyone’s been paying attention to the rock press, we’ve had
some illness in the band. Rob’s got a bit of a cold. So we’re going to take a couple of days for Rob to
recuperate and get ready for the show. And in the meantime, where we are at the moment, there’s some
good seafood, apparently. So I’m a big fan of seafood. We are by the coast so we’re going to do some
exploring. I usually try and find some local guitar stores and music stores and see if there’s anything that I
haven’t got anything I need in the local guitar stores. In terms of guitars and stuff like that, that’s basically
it, really. But mainly try and recuperate, get Rob back to health and give 1000% on Thursday.
East Coast Live
Fantastic. And again, Very nice to meet you. I hope you guys enjoy your stay in Atlantic Canada while
you’re here.
Richie Faulkner
Thanks very much.
East Coast Live
Mr. Ritchie Faulkner. It’s been a pleasure.
Richie Faulkner
You too, man. Take it easy.
