It was about working with other musicians, but more than that it's about exploring musical areas that you could never do with the band you're in, in my case Judas Priest. You could tackle musical areas and lyrical areas that wouldn't be appropriate for Priest.

I've got the luxury to tailor make the songs so I can sing them.

I never took a lesson until I was 20, and I'm glad I had those years living the life of a normal person. I don't consider that time wasted.

I write a lot of stuff, and some of it I don't even present to Judas Priest. But having said that, my first love is to play Judas Priest music.

Too much down time makes us miss home.

We love not just Judas Priest music, but we love heavy metal and we love to get out on that stage every night and perform. It's a joy to be able to do it.

I think we all appreciate it now just how lucky we are to be in a band like Judas Priest.