ROB HALFORD: 'I Think We've All Got A Bit Of Metal God Inside Of Us'

October 2, 2009

Renata Espinosa of Fashion Wire Daily recently conducted an interview with JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On Metal God, Halford's signature brand of t-shirts that have all the soft-worn appeal of a vintage concert t-shirt but with all-new original graphics that he's betting will appeal to die-hard metal fans and aspiring rockers alike:

"The imagery is simply an extension of what I do with my music.

"If you see something like this thing I'm wearing, with this fantasy mythical creature with a guitar, it says something strong and powerful. That's just been a natural progression over the years in rock and roll, to try and find a way of saying something about yourself with the item of clothing you're wearing."

On the association between fantasy and heavy metal:

"You can see I'm covered in tattoos of dragons and all this other mythical imagery, and that's again a part of my background as a lyricist. I've got a very vivid imagination and a lot of characters I create are made up in a fantasy kind of way. They always carry realistic virtues and attributes. So if I'm writing a song like 'Painkiller', it may be, like, about, this really evil, menacing guy, which is the persona of the creature that you create, but he's doing good. I always have a lot of fun with that."

On why the collection right now only features t-shirts, for both men and women:

"I think that you have to have a little bit of a leash on what you do, otherwise it's chaos. But we always see the light at the end of the tunnel. I don't think we can suddenly stop, Don't make records, don't make clothes, don't make movies. I think we have a responsibility to try and keep that creative optimism going, no matter what we do."

On how his particular take on things will distinguish his brand of rock-related apparel:

"I think that my connection is a little bit more personal than some of the other great things that are going on around me. This is a direct connection to me. It's called a 'Metal God' t-shirt. I think we've all got a bit of Metal God inside of us."

"I was talking to someone earlier and they were saying, it's like everybody wants to be a metalhead, but people are like, 'Can I really be one? I don't really know what this is about, but I see it, and I look at what they where and the shows they go to, and I see it on VH1 Classic 'Metal Mania', and I'm like, 'wow, it looks so cool.' But if you're into that rock and roll, edgy, exciting type of passionate world, then I think that these t-shirts and this initial launch have a way of connecting to you as a person."

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