Scott Travis thinks he helped shape Judas Priest’s sound.
“Well, it’s hard for me to say, really, but, obviously, one of the reasons they asked me to join the band after the audition and get-to-know-you period and things like that was, obviously, ’cause they enjoyed the sound and the feeling that it brought to the band,” the drummer told Matty Roberts of the Percussion Discussion podcast when asked if he helped make the band’s sound ‘heavier.’
He added, “And I definitely, I guess I was, or am, a heavy metal drummer. And so, yeah, I’d like to think so, that I brought some of that element to the band, and, to me, that’s what they needed. I had seen the band with [previous Priest drummer] Dave Holland… [and] I thought they needed a definite extra kick in the a**. And I’m glad I was able to provide it.”
Travis joined Priest after auditioning in Spain in November 1989. He recorded his first album with the band, ‘Painkiller,’ in 1990. He has stayed with the band since then.
In a 2020 interview on the Jeremy White Podcast, Rob Halford discussed the famous drum intro to the ‘Painkiller’ title track, which opened the album and introduced Travis. When asked if the band planned the intro to highlight Travis or if it happened naturally, Rob replied, “It happened organically. We were writing all the songs for the record. We finished doing all the writing.”
The singer further explained, “In all of the songs that we’d written, we felt that this had so much to say and that because it needed this kind of extraordinary opening — the drums instead of a screaming voice or wailing guitars — we thought, ‘Let’s go for it.’ And what a great way to introduce Scott for the first time, as it was then, with Priest, with that particular record.”
“It still lights up the room. Whenever we play ‘Painkiller’ live and Scott’s there by myself on the stage doing that opening thing, fans go absolutely nuts. It’s a bit of metal iconography right there. It’s a glorious statement,” Halford shared.
Travis’ next show with Priest will be on December 5 at Aichi Prefectural Art Theater in Japan. After Japan dates, the band will head towards South America.
