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In the mid 90’s it
seemed as though the chance to ever hear a new Judas Priest recording was very
dim until the name Tim “Ripper” Owens came up and that he would be fronting
a rejuvenated Priest. The resulting
record blew the minds of many diehard metal heads and the rest was history.
Flash forward a decade and we see Tim fronting a band of his own creation
with Beyond Fear. Beyond Fear’s debut is a fierce exercise in real metal and
it is what the fans have expected from this long running powerhouse of a
vocalist. Speaking to Tim is a
pleasure as always and he speaks his mind no matter what comes out of it.
I have been into this demon of a CD since it landed in my hands and I
still feel the same way about it, it is full blown metal disc that if you cannot
get into this, you are not a metal fan. Jeffrey Easton
interviewing Tim “Ripper” Owens. Jeff:
How are things going? Ripper:
Things are good, crazy but good. Jeff:
Why are things crazy? Ripper: I just got
back home from a tour and now I am about to go out on another tour as well as
about to go to Jon’s house. With
two kids it is harder now. Jeff: I totally
understand how you feel. Ripper:
Here is a good story to start off with.
I am a big Cavaliers fan and if I want to go watch them somewhere in the
back of my mind I am thinking I have to ask my wife.
I cannot go to any concerts any more, the only concerts I go to are my
own now and I have to go to Europe for that. Jeff:
How did your last Euro tour go? Ripper:
It was a good time. Jeff:
Where did you hit this time? Ripper:
We hit the UK, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Italy,
France etc. Jeff:
Were the crowds good, were they into the new stuff? Ripper:
They were the best crowds we have seen yet. Jeff:
Are you doing a majority of the new album and Priest stuff? Ripper:
We do a little Priest medley and some Iced Earth Stuff as well.
On our headlining stint we will add more stuff from those periods. Not only are we playing the whole album, we are playing
two great songs that are going to be bonus tracks sometime in the future.
They were going to be on the record but someone at the label had the
“brilliant” idea to make them bonus tracks.
Jeff:
You can always pull some Winters Bane stuff out. Ripper:
We just might do that. We
could stick a little bit of Heart Of A Killer in the medley I told you about and
a little bit of Blood Stained. Jeff:
On to Beyond Fear. How did this act come together? Ripper:
Back when I was still in Priest I started writing some material with the
though that I might do a solo thing someday and after I left Priest and started
IE I knew I would have time. Then I
had the idea to make it a band effort so that the fans knew it was for real and
not some flash in the pan, a serious project.
I wanted to make something that I knew that I would listen to and I do
not listen to much music at all. I
wanted it to have some modern guitars along with some old school guitars along
with melodic vocals so I decided to do it. Jeff:
You mentioned going to Jon Schaffer’s house.
I take it that you are indeed going to do the new Iced Earth record? Ripper: He has been
working on it so I am going to go to his place and hang out for a few days. Jeff:
So how much time to do you get to promote this record? Ripper: I get at
least three good months to promote this record and that’s a good time frame
considering I am in another band. Jeff:
Are you happy with the response with the new record? Ripper:
Yes I am as it is the best reviewed
record I have been apart of as a whole across the board.
It is great because of all of the people who said I am not a song writer
this proves them wrong. Jeff:
Speaking of the songs, where did the material come from?
It seems as there is some introspective material here. Ripper:
The lyrics about everything, maybe watching TV and seeing something
political, somebody dying or about my faith in music. Jeff:
Where did Dreams Come True come from? Ripper:
The song title is a saying that I gave my parents after I joined Judas
Priest and the song is about me and my dreams. The song has a personal meaning
for my life since I was a kid. Jeff:
All along I felt that you should have had more involvement in Priest or
Iced Earth because I felt that you had talent and this disc is proof that you
do. This is a really good album and
the songs back up that notion. Ripper:
Do you know that is? Because
this is a real true metal record. Jeff:
Why do you think that the scene in America is so devoid of it? Ripper:
It is better than it was when I joined Judas Priest.
It is there, it is just not that noticeable.
It depends on labels as well. This
album will not sell that well in America. Jeff:
Why is that? Ripper:
Because I cannot find it. Let
me give you an example, this album should have a label on it stating “former
Judas Priest/current Iced Earth singer Tim “Ripper” Owens.”
There is nothing on there, it is not in record stores, there is no
section for it at all. If you went
into a store and you saw an end cap and saw Metallica or such and you saw next
to it the No Fear CD with the above mentioned on it you will buy it. In Europe they are all over it and it is everywhere.
I am not saying that it is the labels fault but it is somebody’s fault
and that is a problem here in the U.S. McDonalds
does not put a hamburger out without advertising it and neither should you put a
new record out without advertising it. I
know it is not going to sell a million albums but it will help someone find it.
It is a great record, it is a perfect record for America as it is not a
Euro metal record. It is not a
total American metal record but it is a good record for the American metal scene
as it is a modern old school metal record.
Jeff: Have you
suggested this to SPV? Ripper:
I would have thought that somebody would have thought about that.
You would not put a Rob Halford album without that on the cover even if
the record is called Halford. The
front of it will say Judas Priest singer Rob Halford. Jeff:
Even when they put the Fight album out they had that on there.
Ripper:
Exactly, you have to do that. I
know it is a band effort but you have to start somewhere.
Even with Demon’s And Wizards it says who is on it. Jeff:
The digipak even has a sticker on the CD itself stating the personal. Ripper:
That is the problem, sometimes people do not think and that is why sales
do not go up. This album could have
sold double what it has if they had done that.
Jeff:
AS far as the band itself, how did they come together? Ripper:
Dennis Hayes was with me in Winters Bane, possibly one of the best bass
players ever. John Comprix is my
right hand man, my writing partner. I
love his guitar playing and the modern elements of his writing and playing.
He brought Dwane and Eric with him to make it a perfect band. Jeff:
What is going to happen to the band when you go back to Iced Earth? Ripper:
They know that they will have to do other stuff while I do IE, they know
that. Jeff:
I know you have you issues, but this is a great CD and the people that
have heard are indeed blown away by it.
I know you are on limited time so I will say thank you for your time. Ripper:
Thanks for everything, I appreciate it. |
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