Rob Halford rocks the holidays
Heavy metal god. Gay hard rock legend. Christmas caroler?
One of these doesn’t seem to fit, but Rob Halford can go three for three comfortably. When he’s not doing the Judas Priest bit, he’s headbanging with his other band, Halford. This year, they pulled off a surprise Christmas album that works in mysterious ways. Winter Songs may not be a perfect holiday album, but it has heart.
Halford called to chat up his newest album as well as offering a couple of surprising insights.
Why a holiday album?
Dallas Voice: The obvious question is: What made you do a holiday album?
Rob Halford: More than anything, I?m seeking moments that I?ve really not had a musical adventure in. I?ve been trying to find the opportunity to do something like this. Everybody likes the Christmas holiday and that seed was planted a long time ago.
Dallas Voice: Was it difficult to translate songs that have been around forever into your sound?
Rob Halford: Here’s the deal: A good song is a good song. It will take any kind of translation.
Dallas Voice: Having said that, these being in the Christmas flavor, we worked at keeping within the context of thesongs. That?s pretty tough to do with a heavy metal band. But when I listened to some of arrangements, the instrumentation was first class. The band took the very original arrangement and made it metal. Traditional songs mean a lot to everyone and thankfully these songs lent themselves to be translated into a different manner.
Dallas Voice: Did the band look at you crazy when you approached them with the idea?
Rob Halford: They were like, "Has he completely lost his mind?" [Laughs] It was very much a team effort and it had been seven years since our last release. They loved the idea themselves. Why not see what we can do by stepping out of our box. Besides, we’re not heavy metal Grinches.
A team effort
Dallas Voice: You’re voice is legend in the genre. Was it restrained at all covering some traditionals?
Rob Halford: I’ve always counted my blessings. This voice can do many things and I see it as a gift. I just finished reading Adam Lambert’s review and it appears to be a fantastic record. First, thank God for Adam Lambert. We need someone like this in music and the gay community. His voice does many great things.
Dallas Voice: Do you have a particularly gay audience?
Rob Halford: I have my gay metalhead fans all over the world. Sometimes they are so obvious from stage but it’s still a wonderful surprise.
Dallas Voice: How cool is that?
Rob Halford: Some of these songs get into the Pride spirit and could even be a gay anthem like "Light of the World."
Dallas Voice: It’s been more than 10 years since you came out. How has it been since?
Rob Halford: It gives me a lot of comfort and it was a weight off my shoulders. There is a lot of phobia in metal music, but me coming out chips away at that wall, bit by bit. It just crossed my mind that I had no negative feedback. Fans were cool, and that speaks volumes for the better world we?’e in. We have come forward by leaps and bounds.
Dallas Voice: What would surprise us about Rob Halford?
Rob Halford: People think with my leather and studs look that I’m part of that community. It’s just a look - I’ve never been involved with the leather community personally, but I respect and support people’s choices and decisions.
Oh, and I can be a diva. I just wanna show up and record.
I have my episodes, too. Sometimes the band just thinks, "Oh, she’s having a drama moment."
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