Ian Hill from Judas Priest is this month’s conversation on Groove – The No Treble Podcast.

You can listen the new episode right here: Groove – The No Treble Podcast – Episode #45 – Ian Hill.

Who is Ian Hill?

Judas Priest ruined me. While I had been exposed to a myriad of musical genres over my young life, nothing has impacted me more than the infamous US Festival in 1983. Their “Heavy Metal Day” on Sunday, May 29th featured Quiet Riot, Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne, Triumph, Scorpions, Van Halen and the now-legendary Judas Priest. That one day – and all of those bands – got their hooks into me (deep), and I was a metal kid from that day onward. Last week, live in Montreal, Groove had the chance to sit down with Judas Priest’s bass player, Ian Hill, prior to their show with Deep Purple in support of their latest album, Firepower. Think on this for a moment: Judas Priest is not in the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. The band has sold over fifty million albums. They are Grammy Award winners. They have been active for close to fifty years in the music business. And, many (including myself) consider them one of the “founding fathers” of the heavy metal genre. Perhaps even more fascinating is how Ian has never done anything but Judas Priest for half a decade. No other bands. No side-projects. No solo albums. No supergroups. Ian loves his role of laying down the groove and letting others in the band take the spotlight. But, make no mistake about it, Ian is a bass player through and through. He learned how to play the bass from his father – a bass player for local jazz acts in the UK. While Ian’s father died when he was only fifteen, Ian carries those memories and his own passion for the bass with him. In 1969, together with schoolmate K. K. Downing, Hill formed Judas Priest. He has been playing bass with the band ever since, and is the only remaining original member following K.K. Downing’s departure in 2011.

Enjoy the conversation…

Listen in: Groove – The No Treble Podcast – Episode #45 – Ian Hill.

What is Groove – The No Treble Podcast?

This is an ambitious effort. This will be a fascinating conversation. Our goal at Groove is to build the largest oral history of bass players. Why Groove? Most of the content about the bass revolves around gear, playing techniques, and more technical chatter. For us, bassists are creative artists with stories to tell. They are a force to be reckon with. These are the stories and conversation that we will capture. To create this oral history of why these artists chose the bass, what their creative lives are like, and where inspiration can be found.