BN: Judas Priest hail from Birmingham, England, as does Black Sabbath and many other classic metal bands. Birmingham seems to me, to be the original birth place of heavy metal. What is it about that city? Is it the steel factories and industries of the city that brought on that dark, metallic sound?

KK: It's difficult to say. People talk about it all the time. It definitely was a very industrial place and wasn't the most pleasant place to grow up. Personally, I came from a real broken home situation so I guess you become a bit of a rebel...you either become a heavy metal guitar player or you end up jail! (Laughs). Obviously, you want to express your aggression and I think subconsciously, I kind of perceive the guitar as an instrument, but not necessarily a musical instrument. It's like a gun substitute...when you look at it, it can be a weapon of sorts. Personally, I get as much enjoyment out of looking at a guitar and holding it as I would actually playing it. Is that weird?? Is that perverse, or what?? It definitely is weird.

BN: You seem to have a guitar fetish...

FH: The guitar obviously symbolizes something to you...

KK: I think it does, absolutely. It's kind of like firing a gun. I've got some guns back in England, but I seldom touch them.

BN: Like Ted Nugent...guns and guitars.

KK: I actually have a Brand Gun, a WWII big machine gun with a tripod, I can barely pick it up. It's been decommissioned. I just wanted to bring it home and play with it. I really would like to get a tank! You can actually buy them in England for about 4,000 quid. All the armor and everything has been decommissioned. If you have a bit of land, you can have some fun. Assault vehicles! You can really intimidate the neighbors (laughs).

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