Classic Judas Priest guitarist KK Downing said on the Focus on Metal Podcast that drummer Scott Travis was the only member of the fold who had contacted him since he left the band back in 2011. Asked if he was surprised to hear from Scott, KK replied (via Blabbermouth):
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“No, not really. I was surprised that the other guys didn’t [get in touch]. But Scott did acknowledge [my departure] and wished me well and said some nice things, and that was good.”
The guitarist added he thought he was friends with all the other members of the group before his departure, singling out bassist Ian Hill the one he’s “particularly” disappointed in. Downing said:
“We went to the infant school, junior school, secondary school… Ian was just like a brother [to me]. And that’s why I was kind of shocked, really, that certain announcements were made just that far left that came from Ian. And the relationship just soured in general. I don’t know what prompted that, really; I really don’t.
“Rob [Halford], Ian and Scott knew that I was suffering [toward the end of my tenure with Priest], and we all were – it really was getting to be hard work; the rigors of touring and recording and playing shows weren’t enjoyable so much for me.
“But people do things different ways, and I just felt that we just weren’t… I knew we were all getting older, but that’s when we have to try harder, I think, and I didn’t really see that.
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“I felt that I was trying as much as I possibly could to do what I’ve always done before… It’s probably just one of those things – people getting older, slowing down, Glenn [Tipton] liking to drink beer before [the show] and on stage, and everything slowed down -the performance slowed down.
“And it wasn’t really as tight musically as it could have been. I was just getting a bit nervy, really, going out there every night.”