13 QUESTIONS WITH TIM 'RIPPER' OWENS OF ICED EARTH

Tim 'Ripper' Owens was thrust into the international spotlight in the late 1990's when he was plucked from a midwest cover band to become the new lead singer in JUDAS PRIEST, filling the shoes of the legendary Rob Halford. After six years with Priest, Two studio discs, and two live discs, He even became the inspiration for a Hollywood movie, ROCK STAR (even though the story was changed drastically, the rights to the story still originated with a 1997 New York Times article focusing on Owens).

Tim parted ways with the band when Halford reunited with them last year. He has joined ICED EARTH, replacing that band's original singer, Matt Barlow. Iced Earth has just released their latest disc, The Glorious Burden via SPV/Steamhammer, and is about to embark on a worldwide tour. Tim called up from his home in the small town of Akron, Ohio, to chit-chat and answer some of our stupid-ass questions. I spent all weekend transcribing this monster interview, so here's hoping you all dig it. I certainly did. Without further hesitation or rambling... I give you... 13 Questions with Tim 'Ripper' Owens:

...and if your ass is too lazy to read, and you just want to listen, CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MP3 OF THE 30 MINUTE-LONG INTERVIEW (slow modem users, don't bother, it's over 20MB in size)

Steve C: The first time I saw you, you were playing in Boston with Priest on the Jugulator tour, and I remember seeing you walk around before the show; we were all setting up. You were fullly decked-out in your leather, and the studs...and you were sipping a cup of warm tea.

Tim 'Ripper' Owens: Yeah?

SC: ...and I'm thinking to myself, "Jesus, that sucked the Rock 'N Roll right out of this whole image".

TO: See? And it continues to.

SC: Were there any conceptions that you had when you first joined THAT band, of partying or of devastation, that were just blown out?

TO: Well yeah, you know what... I found out it was a job, so you have to definitely take care of yourself, I mean...I guess maybe another style of music, or something else that you do musically, it depends what kind of style you do, you might not have to. I mean, there's a lot of bands that are partying. I guarantee their vocal styles are a hell of a lot easier too.

SC: Right, well you've got to take care of yourself...

TO: I have to, and I found that out... it was a pretty big shock. I was like "Man, what's this? You mean I gotta go to bed and sleep all night?" So it was strange just to find that out. I wish I was drinking a beer before the show, a couple during the show, and you know what? There isn't anything wrong with that. The problem with me is...is it could damage my voice, because I might do something I wouldn't usually do vocally. That's the fear.

SC: So is it a pretty strict regime when you're on the road? (I think I meant to say 'regimen'...but I'm a dope and can't read my own sloppy handwriting when I'm asking these questions off a notepad)

TO: Fairly strict. With Priest, I hit a lot more gyms; we had a lot more hotels, so I had a lot more gyms, and with ICED EARTH, we're not really going to have very many hotels, it's such a busy schedule. Really, to tell the truth the Priest schedule was pretty busy, but we still would get up earlier, or drive all night and get a hotel. Stay in a lot of nice hotels...

SC: Where as this is going to be a lot of sleeping on the bus?

TO: Yeah, and you know what... I'm not against that. I used to say with Priest, "why are we getting these hotels when we could have just stayed on the bus?" We could have drove overnight and slept in the bus, and then got up there and had all day to do whatever we wanted.

SC: Different mentality I guess. You were touring with guys that were twenty years older than you at the time

TO: Well, and also the rooms ... I did like it because I got to go to the gym every day, and now I won't have that.

SC: It's going to be rigorous.

TO: It'll be. There will be plenty Playstation Golf being played.

SC: The Glorious Burden ... finally got released this week.

TO: Yes.

SC: I've done some reading and [Jon] Schaffer has said that the label was trying to get the disc out last fall, but they decided to wait until January for a 'proper release'...what exactly was the hold up?

TO: Well, I think they wanted to put a good promotion into it. I think they wanted to try and build it up. When I joined the band, it probably was a big shot to them, and they said "hey wait a minute, we have a whole other angle we could push with this thing." It wasn't that he (Schaffer) just got Bob Smith singing from the local tavern, and I think that helped the label. I was on SPV with Priest, and they were familiar with me, so they thought "You know what? Ripper's out of Priest, Ripper's in Iced Earth".. Maybe if the material sucked, it would have been different, I guess...but they heard the material and just thought "You know what...Man, this is..."

SC: This is something....

TO: Yeah, this is good stuff...and they were hearing it from the magazines. Some of the German magazines that heard it, and thought "Holy Crap"... Rock Hard, which is one of the BIG metal magazines... big rock magazines in Germany gave it a ten out of ten...and they don't ever do that. Kerrang just gave it an outstanding review. Kerrang deals with more hipper bands a lot of times than the average metal band, so I think they heard these things and they thought "Man, let's do this right" .

SC: Well that's actually one thing I wanted to ask....

TO: and it was KILLING us! Man, we were like, "OK, I got ya! But come on, man" (I THINK what he means is that the reviews were coming in, and the disc wasn't even released officially...)

SC: That brings up an interesting point. The Glorious Burden is very Patriotic in theme, and you just said it's getting reviewed very well overseas. I would that would be more of a hinderance than anything else.

TO: Well, I think it probably is a little bit, you know, I mean... but with the good comes the bad. I guess the album's also a glorious burden, isn't it? But it's got history throughout the world in it also; it's not just American history. and it's not talking about the dominant American this and that. It just talks about Gettysburg, which is an American war. It talks about Valley Forge. It talks about Red Baron, Atilla, Waterloo, so it's got... you know, it does have "When the Eagle Cries" about 9-11, but bands have done it for years. We are getting some flak every now and then, but this is done because somebody is a history buff, not an American ... If [Jon Schaffer] was so much this 'American guy' he never would have gone over to Europe and toured in the first place. I mean, he loves Greece, and loves Germany. The fact is that it's an album about history, and that's what he loves....and people look into things way too much. I mean, it's unfortunate that an album comes out and that it has meaning...whereas 95% of the albums that are out there have none... You know, [songs about] doin' it in the shower, and whatever they're about...it's unfortunate that when someone finally DOES do one about history... and Europeans SHOULDN'T say it, because they've got albums over there ...mostly in Germany... about wizards and dragons, and who gives a...

SC: Right...who gives a rat's ass....


Hey ma! It's those ICED EARTH guys!

TO: You know what I mean, so it's like "what're you worried about? you're doing silly little Lord Of The Rings albums over there, and I mean... but you shouldn't worry about THAT. It has a meaning, but people always look into it too much. They did the same thing with Judas Priest records. They would talk about the lyrics or the albums, whereas the past albums were singing about "Turbo Lovers" and parental guidance...but they forgot about that.

SC: Yeah, they have short attention spans.

TO: Yeah, I don't think there's no need to look into it THAT much...

SC: Speaking of getting flack for shit... How are the Iced Earth fans reacting to your presence? Are there any Matt Barlow die-hards that are giving you shit?

TO: Yeah, there will always be people who hate me... You know what? There's either going to people who didn't like me anyways... or there's going to be people who just liked Matt a lot...

SC: You stepped into Halford's shoes in Priest...

TO: And Matt Barlow wasn't Rob Halford...

SC: Yeah. Exactly. I mean, you've already been in a position to catch inordinately large amounts of shit for stepping into someone else's shoes...

TO: yeah...

SC: So is this something you're just used to at this point?

TO: Well, you know... 90% of fans out there that came to Priest shows and saw me, liked me... so I won most of them over. I'm not worried about it. I like Matt, but out of the people who might not accept it, a lot more HAVE accepted it...and a lot more has told me "Man, I never liked Matt anyways". I've had Iced Earth fans say that to me, so there's the good and the bad. There's the people saying that "I thought the weakest part of Iced Earth was Matt"...and there's people that say Matt WAS the band. The thing is, Jon wrote almost all the material. Jon did it. Matt wanted to leave. That was the thing. If they don't accept me, they can't buy Matt's solo record, because he left music. Matt was a great singer, and Matt was good...and I'll always have that, but Jon has said for the past...I don't know how long... since he saw me in the Jugulator tour, that when he writes music, he writes for someone like me. That kind of voice is what he thinks of when he writes music. He's always said that, so now he's got it...so I think the fans should dig that and like it, because this is what Jon's vision is.

SC: You've been recruited into Iced Earth. It's your second gig with a classic sounding metal band with an international following... If this gig to replace Barlow hadn't surfaced, and you had to start all over again given the prominence of piracy, record company consolidation, and hard rock being virtually ignored by a lot of radio stations, would you do it, or would that be it for you?

TO: No, I would continue on. I had plenty of offers

SC: Oh really?

TO: yeah, I had a lot of good offers, so this wasn't the only one. First of all, i could always release my own album, and I don't have to sell 500,000 copies if I release my own. I could probably sell 100,000 and survive.

SC: Well, a lot of people are doing that now. Just releasing stuff on their own, and taking more of a profit for themselves.

TO: Yeah, and you could do that. I could do a short tour throughout the world, but I had offers from different guitar players and different bands. One band was on a major label, that had major management...It was a new band, and they were awesome, but...it worried me that if I did THAT, I'd release one record, and even if it did well, that it could be the end though after that...and if I would FAIL with that, then it'd be gone, because I'd change music a little bit. I would have done it somehow. I was the singer in Judas Priest... I wanted the end of Judas Priest to come, because I knew I could do more. I knew that Priest has molded me, and they were like, my college, you know, they were like my schooling. They put me out in the world for people to see, and they said this, they knew it. They knew I wanted to spread my wings, and that's when we talked about it. I was for them getting Rob back, because I knew that I was going to be able to do well.

SC: Really?

TO: I've done more since I've joined Iced Earth, I've been on more covers, even by myself, throughout the world on more magazines, and more interviews. I've never done so many interviews in my house...EVER. I've been sitting here for a month. I did from 11:00 to 10:30 last night.

SC: Jeez.

TO: ..and today I'm at it from 1:00 to 5:30, every half hour, so it's really...

SC: You're a busy guy.

TO: Joining Iced Earth was just the perfect thing...I would have been able to do it, I just knew it. I'm releasing a side project also, so I just knew that it was going to be the best move. Iced Earth was definitely the best thing for me, because vocally I think it showed me off a lot more than anything else could have. Traditional Metal has legions of fans that are there, somewhere...that's the weird thing about it. It's not a newer type of metal, which I like...I like all kinds of music; I'm not one of those old school metal guys who hate all this and say "I can't stand it". I mean, I'll listen to LINKIN PARK, EVANESCENCE, but I'm not going to play it, because I'm thirty-six years old.

SC: But none of the major hinderances right now are bothering you, in terms of piracy, or..the record companies are all imploding...

TO: It does, oh it kills us. We'll see how this record does, I mean, Iced Earth's last record, Horror Show, was their biggest one. Every record they've released has sold a little bit more, you know, so their last one sold about 250,000 copies, and that's...for us, that's what we need. If we sell 250,000 copies, we're alright. it's just a different level, and obviously we want to sell more than that now, we want to just keep going up, that's what they have done with every record...and that was when downloading was happening. Iced Earth packages stuff very nicely.

SC: I've noticed, the artwork and the packaging is extremely extremely detailed.

TO: That's the thing. You want to download something, the quality's not going to be quite as good, you're not going to have the extra stuff. That's the whole thing with Jon, is he thinks, "man, that's not..." But I am against it, I'm totally against it. There's got to be a way to make people pay SOMETHING for it.

SC: It's interesting actually, when I was sent promo information for The Glorious Burden, I was sent LINKS to RealAudio samples, that were like ninety seconds long, and obviously the quality is much lower than if you had a full CD. How savvy are you guys, or how savvy have you guys had to become about piracy?

TO: and all that stuff really sucks, cause man, we couldn't stand it. When we were doing the promo trip in Europe, the journalists are JUST hearing the CD before they come up and talk to us. You know what I mean, it's like, God..that just sucks.

SC: it's hard because you can't really sit with it... You've got ninety seconds of streaming, hissy audio to make a determination...and it's very difficult.

TO: yeah, it is. We hate it, but that's the problem. One person...moron...gets the CD and then it's out there on the internet. This wasn't on the internet until it was released. Now it's out, and people can start pirating (laughs)

SC: ...and start pilfering it, right...

TO: but it HASN'T been...and you know, when you make your living at it, it's a bad thing, it's just uh...I think you should be able to download a couple of songs per record, maybe...to see if you like it...or somehow be able to listen to it without downloading it...or buy 'em like they're starting to for 99 cents a song...if you want to do it, that's how you should. I don't know why you don't want to go out and spend thirteen, fourteen dollars to go buy one, it's not...

SC: It's a number of things, I think the record companies shot themselves in the foot for a while, You know, there was no reason CDs had to cost twenty bucks a piece.

TO: No, but you know, a lot of that has to do with these damn record stores. When you go to the malls, and Camelot, and you go to these places that are in the malls, they cost a lot more money. I don't go there and buy them.

SC: you're absolutely right, the retail markup was ridiculous.

TO: Target's cheap. Best Buy's not bad. But you always have mom and pop stores, we have places around here called Quonset Hut (Thanks to Mark from Ohio for clarifying what Ripper said), that you can go and buy 'em...That's just how you have to do it. Or you can buy them online now, where it's cheaper, go to AMAZON.com

SC: Well, let's just say hypothetically, you're at the grocery store, picking up a dozen eggs, and some long-haired kid runs up to you and says "DUDE! I just downloaded the new Iced Earth record! You guys ROCK!"

TO: yeah, well let me just tell you the weirdest thing, I had a funeral last night and my brother said "So, your album's out"...and we're talking...This guy's standing there and says "Yep, I'm gonna have to have my son download it for me"....

SC: You hear that, do you punch the guy in the face?

TO: I said, "Yeah, times must be tough for you... you can't reach into your pocket and grab 12, 13 dollars out and go buy it"

SC: So it DOES piss you off...

TO: Well, it does...It pisses my wife off. People come up to her and do it, and say "Man, I just downloaded Tim's album"... She's like "Do you work for free?" You know, if you go out and buy it.. and then you go download it, because you want to save a copy, I have a lot of people that do things like that...that's cool. or buy the CD and then burn yourself another copy.

SC: Right. Not unheard of.

TO: But to tell ME that...and I don't mind when kids download and make mix CDs of one song [from different artists]...that's pretty cool. I think that's a good idea, why not? That's not really taking much out of ours...But when people come up to you, and they've even copied the friggin' cover art...and then they ask you to sign it...and you're at a family function. I was at a Halloween party, and it was like my mother-in-law's stepdaughter or something...and it was like "Here would you sign it"... I'm like "you're frickin' nuts!"

SC: Oh, for crying out loud.

TO: People do that and it's like, "Ugh".. People just...they don't think...

SC: Evidently not.

TO: They think it's exciting that they have your CD maybe, I don't really know...I can't quite figure it out.

SC: The video for "When the Eagle Cries"...

TO: yes...

SC: features some very powerful imagery from the September 11th attacks. Has that facilitated or hindered getting the video played on various video channels, considering how many of them are international?

TO: Well, yeah... Europe won't play it.

SC: yeah, I didn't think so.

TO: But here's the sad part...this is how SAD it is... America won't play it either.

SC: The audience for what you guys are doing isn't exactly booming in the U.S...

TO: Well.. Yeah, but you know...it would be played on a heavy metal station...

SC: Oh, there's specialty shows all over the place. I'm not talking about Eddie Trunk's show or anything...

TO: No, but I mean...on MTV2, there's Headbanger's Ball

SC: and Headbanger's Ball won't play it?

TO: No...

SC: What the fuck...

TO: Because it's about 9-11.

SC: So?

TO: Exactly. So we're checking ... Bill O'Rielly will be getting a phone call...he is...everyone will be getting a phone call because of this.

These...VH1 and all these places... Fuse...all these... Uranium...won't touch it. Which, we have another video for, "The Reckoning", which is better for those stations anyway. For those shows, because it's fast and in your face, and a good song, so that probably should be played anyways, but "When the Eagle Cries" is an awesome video.

SC: I just checked it out online the other day.

TO: I think it's a great video...and...

SC: I would understand a European outlet not touching it...

TO: Well, but here was their reasoning... They said it was old news.

SC: Oh for crying out loud...

TO: That's Germany for you...Germany said "nah, this is old news, we don't want it"... I'm thinking It's an event in history. I mean, you know what? Gettysburg is old too (laughs) ... You know what I mean? Atilla's old... Red Baron's old... MTV2 won't play it, OK? ...and I'm watching this Headbanger's Ball, because we had an advertisement on it for the album, and I was waiting to see it...and here's a video with INCUBUS showing Hitler the whole video, and he's flying around with angel wings.

SC: I've seen that... (incidentally, if you haven't seen the video for 'Megalomaniac', you can check it out here)

TO: I'm thinking, "Wait a minute..." It's sad. It's a sad day. We're really upset about the America thing, because everybody that I've shown this video to loves it. It's unbelievable when they say "we can't play it because of the content", yet you're seeing people's ass cracks...

SC: Nah, that's horseshit...

TO: you know and it's like, OK whatever...

SC: That's a horseshit response.

TO: yeah, we'll see what happens...It's a good video. You always get controversy. No matter what, all I've been in is bands that have controversy for something.

SC: Who's showing up at Iced Earth shows? Is it thirty-somethings with leather and denim, or are you attracting kids to these things?

TO: Well I haven't played any yet, (Oh yeah, I'm a fucking genius. You think I would have checked on that little tidbit before throwing out that brilliant question? Of course not.) but it's going to be pretty similar to the Priest thing. it's gonna be...Priest started drawing a lot of young people. it's going to be your thirty-somehing down to eighteen, nineteen, maybe younger. it's unbelievable, the audience now. I just went to a show here in the states here in Cleveland... NEVERMORE and some bands that don't sell quite as much...it was a big crowd, and it was a lot of young kids. Iced Earth, it's amazing...the fan base keeps getting bigger and bigger. and the one thing is that there's so many online webpage things and webzines that young kids look at. We have Metal Edge out there; which we were just in Metal Edge... we're in REVOLVER this month, so we're in all the major magazines, so I mean these kids are looking at these. and I mean, Iced Earth sold I think close to 100,000 in the states, and that's really good for a band that didn't tour in the states.

SC: Right...

TO: So I mean, you think about it, they haven't really toured much in the United States as much as they'd like, they never concentrated as much, so now they're ready to...to go after it even more, so I think that's our main goal now.. I know they've never done the press on the United States that we have done now, so I think it's going to be a good thing.

SC: There was a piece in the REVOLVER interview where you mentioned going on the press tour in Europe, where you noticed Schaffer's drinking habits one night.

TO: Yeah, that... You know...that thing has become a pain in the ass. That Revolver article, to me, on my end, was crap. they messed up everything I said. Never had that happen, but even some stuff I said about Priest was like "no, that's not even..." What happened was, we had an interview, and they spread whatever I said out wherever it fit into the article. After Jon would say something, they'd fit my thing in there. And it wasn't like that, it was a funny experience, because Jon doesn't drink.

SC: Oh, OK.

TO: It was a funny experience because he got drunk, you know...

SC: Right.

TO: So it was like, it was...but it made it a lot worse than what it is..and I think it's amazing how they put it in there, I was just amazed, because it was during a conversation and whatever I said built up to it that we were a little crazy, that it was a good time until one night Jon drank at the hotel bar...and they didn't say this, I don't think...'cause I read a little bit in the magazine and threw it down like "you gotta be kidding me". He was with the Magazine that we were doing the interview with.

SC: Ahhh, OK.

TO: So him and the guy from the record label were sitting at the lobby bar, and I went to bed after the interview. So, and then that was it. he was with the guy from a big magazine in Spain. It just made it look a lot different, and made it look like I was just irate, like "This is it", and that's the problem with these things. And then there was even something else I said about the...Priest not letting me write, and that wasn't how it was said...I know because I never say it like that... I say Priest didn't let me write, but I had nothing against it. It was cool, I just sat back.

SC: 'cause that was the way they did things....

TO: Yes...so [the article] was just a bad thing

SC: I hooked up around Halloween with Metal Mike [Chlasciak], who used to play in HALFORD's band, and I asked him about the Priest thing, and he said that they had known for months, even though there was denial brewing from the Priest camp forever that they weren't going to get back with Halford. How long was that going on? What was the timeline of events that led up to you finally leaving?

TO: Well, you know what? There was talks. I think what he probably meant was, they thought it was gonna be [happening] for months because they kind of talked about it, but when a decision was made, the decision was made, and it was announced. I mean, it went quick. When we made the decision to go "You know what... OK, Rob's coming back" ... I mean, there was probably talks for months, "Well let's see if it's gonna work out".. "Could we do it" ... "Let's see" ...But when Rob was coming back...when he came back, he came back, that was it. The decision was "OK, let's announce it"

SC: Oh, OK...

TO: I mean, so it wasn't a finalized decision for months. It was made when it was made.

SC: I read that you had very little, if NO input, into the making of Rock Star...It was just...The Production company bought the rights to the story?

TO: Yeah, it was bad, I mean it was...

SC: I read that [New York] Times article (The article was featured in the Sunday New York Times on July 27th, 1997, and it was titled 'A Metal-Head Becomes A Metal-God) when it came out years ago, and they bought the rights to THAT story from The Times?

TO: They did, yeah. And then decided to make their own movie.

SC: So, even though they bought the rights to a story that was about YOU, you didn't profit either directly or indirectly off the creation of this movie?

TO: Nope, nothing. So, it's kind of a strange...

SC: That's a pain in the ass...

TO: Yeah, it's kind of a strange thing, I think we're going to look into it eventually here, but uh...

SC: I also read that you were disappointed that there were so many parts of that film that were very glamorized, or that weren't accurate ...

TO: Yeah, well that's why we pulled away from it. They decided to make their own movie, I mean, it wasn't even close to ...

SC: Right, it wasn't even close to what happened.

TO: I mean, there was a few similarities, but then they just went off on their own thing...

SC: If you HAD any input, what more realistic events would you have added into it?

TO: He wouldn't have been from Pittsburgh. It wouldn't have been done in the 80's looking like they had it. I would have made it with me from the small hometown of Akron, and still staying in Akron, and having the same friends, and when it started, I didn't even have a girlfriend, so I mean, I'm married now...but my story is more down on a normal level.

SC: It's not glamorous, it's not...

TO: No. It would have made for a better story 'cause there's more human elements of my life and what's happened. Unfortunately, they decided to make it Spinal Tap-ish, and it's unfortunate. The Sex, Drugs, Rock 'N Roll thing was WAY off. I mean, the whole thing. I mean, I wish I was single. I mean, I wished that if I was single and I was doing that...any man would have wished that it wasn't ... Or maybe not 'wish' I shouldn't say that... But, there isn't...that's how it is, and that's the good thing. My life... I have...met my wife, who I've known all my life... (Just a small note - While I've been following Tim pretty well up to this point, I am completely LOST at this point in his response. He met his wife who he's known all his life? Whatthefuckdoesthatmean?) ...and we got married, we have a baby now. My mom was diagnosed with M.S...the whole story was so much better, so... I shouldn't say "I Wished", I have to change that line I should say...people thinkin' they would wish that the business would be like that at times...there's people like that, but it's not. There's not a line of women, there's not drugs...

SC: It's work.

TO: It's work, that's exactly, and that's probably why I'm still here, and I sing better than I did when I started.

SC: You're still living in Ohio. In... I've got two different towns here, I've got Kenmore and I've got Akron, I'm not sure which one.

TO: It's Arkron. Kenmore's just a little town in it, but it's Akron.

SC: OK. Cost of living in Akron isn't exactly astronomical. Is playing in Iced Earth enough to sustain an existence without holding down a day job, or do you need to go work a day job when you're not playing with Iced Earth. (By the way, that's a perfectly legitimate question. Plenty of guys in hard rock/metal bands have to work day jobs to pay the bills. Chances are the guy you saw in a club shredding away the other night has to go home and drive a truck or work in a music store to keep his bills paid)

TO: No I don't. I'm better off in Iced Earth than I was in Priest.

SC: No shit?

TO: Yeah.

SC: So you were just a hired gun in Priest?

TO: No, I mean you gotta figure you got a big machine that has a lot of expenses, so no no...we all got equal, but unfortunately, you get paid from a record label to make an album and every single penny is spent making it. Nobody gets any, so...and then you have your attorneys and your accountants and your management...and everything in this machine that you have to pay out. I mean, I got paid decent in Priest, I got paid good in Priest, and there's no doubt about it.

SC: You're not going to see Tim Owens hauling garbage anytime soon.

TO: I hope not... No, I'll never have to do that. And that's because of Priest. I mean, they've set me up...

SC: Very well?

TO: They set me up for the rest of my life. They gave the world the opportunity to see me sing. So now I'm set, 'cause I can do other things.

SC: and you're married...you have a baby...you also have a teenage daughter?

TO: I do. I have a fifteen year-old daughter from a previous marriage...

SC: Let's say for the sake of discussion that your pride and joy brings home a young man one day who is covered in tattoos, has piercings, and wears leather, and she tells you she's in love. Considering your chosen career path, and what you know of yourself from your teenage years, what's your reaction going to be?

TO: Well if he's going to be like me, I'd be pretty happy with it, because I was a pretty normal guy who didn't do much... I would trust her decisions though, I mean, that's the whole thing. I trust my daughter's decision. He'd just better be able to golf, so other than that... I'm not going to look at him and think anything. I think that's the fun thing, you can do whatever you want. You know, I got tattoos and piercings, but most people don't know it because I can wear a short-sleeved shirt and cover them up. So I can look as normal with my glasses on...as normal as anybody. I would never go by...her bringing someone home...by what he looks like.

SC: Does being the singer in Iced Earth carry any weight with your family, or are you still just the pain in the ass who tells 'em to take the garbage out?

TO: I'm still a pain in the ass...I think it holds a little bit when she goes to school and people say to her, "You know, hey I was a Judas Priest fan" or "I got the new Iced Earth record" or something, so she still likes that

SC: Hypothetical Situation: In 2006, you get a call from Glenn Tipton, who informs you that he and Rob got into a huge fight and Halford has once again left Judas Priest. He asks you to rejoin the band for a six month long tour, gives you a nice salary, but you're only going play classic Priest material, nothing from Jugulator or Demolition. Do you take him up on the offer, or....?

TO: Depends on how much money...(laughs). I would never re-join Judas Priest, ever.

SC: No?

TO: You know, that's a different scenario though. If they would ever call me, and say "you wanna do a tour?" but they would HAVE to play Jugulator and Demolition...There's no way they'd do it WITH me without doing them. I mean, it all depends on what I was doing. I would never quit Iced Earth, and I never would re-join Judas Priest. but if they did say "listen, we're gonna do a couple month tour, and you wanna do a tour with us, just being the guest Ripper here", then I'd probably do that if it fit in my schedule. But I would never re-join them.

SC: No?

I've read up on your solo material. You've described it as GODSMACK meets PANTERA meets Priest, and that you wrote with a well-known artist. Who are you working with, and when is this coming out?

TO: Well, I haven't really worked with any well-known artists, so that's kind of odd...

SC: Really?

TO: Yeah, so there you go. There's a messed up one. It's been just me writing it.

SC: Nice to know the internet is as reliable as ever.

TO: You know if I had to describe it actually, It would probably be more of a BLACK SABBATH/Priest-ish, kind of a...It's hard to describe.


Saaay, I know them. Wait, no I don't

SC: When do you get time to work on it? Is it something we might see...

TO: I'm going in tonight to record an acoustic song, and then I'll probably start... I mean, this is all my demo tape...and I'll probably do the demo tape and then go into the studio and do the drums next week...and I'll get the demo tape done. It is hard to juggle, doing it right now. It's good classic-type metal, and classic type vocals, driven by the choruses, that people can sing with, and it's real basic songs because I wrote all the material. nothing real fancy. I just kind of wrote it, so I don't really know...it's hard to describe your own stuff, I mean, it's my own stuff....and it's weird, because I was never influenced by Sabbath at all. I never listened to 'em all that much, except for with Ronnie James Dio. It's just, to me, I would have to say there might be some guitar riffs that kind of have that or something. It's just, you know...hard to describe.

SC: Now, God forbid something happens to your voice, like a mountain lion attacks you and rips your throat out... Is Tim Owens going to be hurtin'? What are your career options at that point? (Truthfully, I should have worded this one better. 'Is he gonna be HURTING? Of fucking course he is if a mountain lion eats his throat...What an idiot I am)

TO: I would be hurting, yeah (Duh... see? I'm a dope.) I better get a good insurance policy, I guess. Yeah, I mean if that would happen, I would probably have to do death metal...

SC: God Forbid if something happened and you couldn't sing anymore, is that complete devastation of your life, or do you have something else you'd like to do?

TO: Oh I would find something else to do. It would be devastating of course, but I would find something else to do. I'd just have to figure what it's going to be.

And thank the lord this interview is done, because my fingers are fucking swollen from transcribing this beast. Tim was a real chum for putting up with my shit for a half-hour, and for that...we shall give him the obligatory plug-ola...

CHECK OUT THE OFFICIAL ICED EARTH HOMEPAGE

Go pick up a copy of The Glorious Burden... Iced Earth's latest disc, and Tim's FIRST as their new lead singer.

Alrigty...time to ice down my hands...