Producer: I Was Blown Away By JUDAS PRIEST's Chemistry

Guitarist/producer Roy Z recently spoke to the L.A. Weekly about his work with JUDAS PRIEST and IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson. Several excerpts from the interview follow:

L.A. Weekly: What did you pick up from playing live with HALFORD?

Roy Z: "It was a good experience, because later on I was able to use that information I got from playing live. The things I saw that got the crowd reaction, I was able to transform into songs that I knew would work in front of a crowd — certain chord structures with melodies crescendoing at the right time, those little things that you just don't pick up on listening to a record or even watching a band live."

L.A. Weekly: Did anything about PRIEST surprise you?

Roy Z: "I was really blown away by the chemistry that they have. To be around that was like, 'So this is it, this is what other bands are missing.' And the tolerance — I think very few American bands have that. The British have a way of speaking their mind without totally going overboard like they do here. They're very civilized in telling each other off."

L.A. Weekly: Much of the new BRUCE DICKINSON album was recorded at your home. How was that?

Roy Z: "It was real convenient. Bruce had injured himself doing a gig at the Amphitheater, and he screwed up his ribs — man, he could hardly sing, and when he did sing he was in a lot of pain. But he managed to get through it in three days. We don't really use a control room. We're all in the same room, so the communication is immediate. There's a lot of eye communication."

L.A. Weekly: When did you first think about what an album sounded like, as opposed to just experiencing it as music?

Roy Z: "I think you don't really pay attention to production when you're young. But then, for some of us, we get this awakening, and figure out that sound has to do with a lot of what's going on to create the atmosphere. I just started dissecting records and looking at all the parts and why they worked — BEATLES records, STONES, ZEPPELIN, DEEP PURPLE — and just worked my way through. When I started doing my own recordings at home, I took all of that into consideration. Everybody would say, 'These sound great, man.'"

L.A. Weekly: What producers have you learned from?

Roy Z: "There's one guy in particular that I've learned a lot from, Richie Podolor, and his engineer Bill Cooper. They did all the THREE DOG NIGHT records, and they either engineered or produced all the STEPPENWOLF stuff. I could go on and on, but basically, that's real producers, right there. Versus when I walk into a studio now, and it's some guy that went to college, whatever, and they taught him how to be a producer. He's always just recording, he's not really giving much to the players."

Read Roy Z's entire interview with the L.A. Weekly at this location.