During a recent interview with Guitar World, Judas Priest’s Richie Faulkner talked a bit about his upcoming solo album. According to him, the new material is “a bit more bluesy.”

Faulkner said the following:

“I’d like to do it more as a band thing. I wouldn’t want it to be called Richie Faulkner’s Rainbow. I worked on a project with a few people during the pandemic and we’re in talks at the moment with labels. I don’t want to give too much away, but when the pandemic hit I thought maybe it’s time to get a batch of songs and get them into shape and put them out.”

He also added:

“It’s always hard to talk about your stuff without crawling up your own ass. I think it’s heavy, but it’s not as ‘metal.’ It’s a bit more bluesy. You can hear that it’s coming from a guitarist in Priest, but it’s enough of a departure to sound like something outside of the band. There’s some [Jimi] Hendrix references in there and stuff that’s a bit more groove-oriented.”

During an appearance on the “In The Trenches With Ryan Roxie” podcast, Judas Priest’s Richie Faulkner revealed that he is planning to release a new solo album. The guitarist is currently “looking for record labels” to release the effort.

Faulkner said the following:

“I haven’t really spoken much about it publicly, but there is something I’ve kind of been [putting] together during the COVID period. I mean, I know we’re still going through it but there’s been a lot of downtime. So I’ve used that time to kind of get some songs I’ve been working on, get them together, polish them up, get some people together that I respect in the music business and record some stuff. And I haven’t spoken a lot about it. It’s in the process of being finalized, and we’re looking for deals and stuff. We’re looking for deals at the moment, we’re looking for record labels, so I don’t wanna get too far ahead of myself.”

He continued when asked if the album will feature guest musicians:

“Well, I’ve always been into the band. It’s never been like RICHIE FAULKNER’S RAINBOW or anything like that. I’ve always been into the band — with the band name and the four or five guys or girls in it rather than a solo project. But also, when I joined PRIEST, I didn’t wanna sort of get the gig and then, straight away, ‘Oh, now listen to my solo thing.’ PRIEST, they welcomed me in, they gave me a voice, they gave me an opinion, and I felt like this was my band. They’ve made me a part of it and I gave back a thousand percent. So I didn’t wanna sort of then do my own thing and abuse that opportunity, if you know what I mean. But 10 or 11 years in, I feel that fans know that I’m not gonna abuse that opportunity. I’ve given 10, 11, almost 12 years [to PRIEST] now, so I felt, with the pandemic as well, with a bit of downtime, maybe put some stuff into that.”

He also added the following about the musical direction of the new material:

“As far as stylistically, it’s always hard to tell, really. You just do what you do. You can hear where the roots are, from PRIEST, but I think it’s different enough to be its own monster. And then hopefully someone else interprets it in their own way and hears something completely different to what I hear, hopefully.”

[via Blabbermouth]