“If they were around in 1983, they would have been very popular. They have an unashamed appreciation for what came before them”: How K.K. Downing ended up working with fast-rising British metal stars Tailgunner

A portrait of K.K. Downing and Tailgunner under deep blue and pink stagelights.

When ex-Judas Priest veteran K.K. Downing first saw Tailgunner in action, they had a wow factor he hadn’t heard in years.

“They have an unashamed appreciation for what came before them,” Downing says. “There was the original New Wave of British Heavy Metal – bands like Priest, Maiden, Saxon, Def Leppard, Venom and Diamond Head – but after punk, things changed. Tailgunner definitely have that NWOBHM sound; if they were around in 1983, they would have been very popular.”