RICHIE PAULKNER

Priest’s ‘new boy’, who replaced KK Downing, has been with the band since 2011 and has so far played on 2014’s Redeemer Of Souls and their latest album, 2018’s Firepower.

How did you get the job as Priest guitarist? In true musician form, it was two p.m. and I was in bed – I’d taken someone to the airport early that morning and I was catching up on sleep – when the phone rang. I picked it up and said: “Who the bloody hell is that?” It was Priest’s management. They said they’d been trying to get hold of me for a while via email. I looked in my deleted folder there were a load of emails from them that I’d deleted. Did you already know there was a vacancy? It was the first I’d heard about it. At the time it wasn’t a vacancy as such, it was just a temporary thing – could I do some of the upcoming tour. Ken [KK Downing] had completely quit, but they didn’t want that out there. Who tipped them the nod about you? I‘d been playing with [former Almighty guitarist] Pete Friesen, who I’d played with in a covers band called Metalworks, where we’d done Priest songs. He knew some of the crew, and they asked him, but he politely declined and put my name forward. What was your Priest album growing up? Painkiller. Breaking The Law, Electric Eye… Painkiller I knew but when came in with the drum intro, I was like: “What the hell is that?” What was your audition like? Glenn took me to the studio where he had a rig set up. He told me to get set up then he left to make a coffee. Unbeknown to me, he was standing at the bottom of the stairs, listening to me just noodling. He came up and said he’d have been embarrassed if someone had asked him to just play something. I said: “My whole life has been building to this point. If I can’t think of anything to play I might as well just go home.” At first did you feel like a bit like the work experience kid? Not at all. Right from the start it was very apparent that they wanted a member of the band, they didn’t want a hired gun. They would always ask what I thought. I think they appreciated that they had someone in from the outside who might have a different insight into how the band is perceived. Your first gig with Priest was an appearance on What was that like? American Idol. It was surreal. Tens of millions of people are watching it, but you can’t think about that. If you did you’d just buckle. You just think: “We’re flying the flag for metal, putting it into thirty million households.” You work closely with Glenn. What’s he like? He’s one of the loveliest people in the world. People say: “Is he a father figure?” He’s more like an older brother. You can mess up together with him and he’ll laugh about it. He’s an incredible teacher. And he wears very cool white loafers. What’s an argument like in Judas Priest? I’ve honestly never seen one. I’ve seen differences of opinion, but it was all constructive. That’s one thing Rob said to me: “You’ve got to get that stuff out or you’re going to be unhappy, it’s going to breed resentment, then we’ll put out a record that you’re going to be huffing over.” Rob and Glenn both said you saved the band. They saved me. We’re a five-spoke wheel. Which is your favourite Priest album now? Defenders Of The Faith. The Sentinel, Freewheel Burning… There’s something about that album that hits me in a different way.