CHICAGO INNERVIEW
Queensryche : Bridging Cultural, Generational, Musical Divided
By Melanie Falina
YTSEJAM.COM
Ytsejam interviews Queensryche
By Steve Cunningham
QUEENSRYCHE
The Art Of Conversation with Geoff Tate
By Mitch Lafon
Queensryche was once the critic’s choice for band on the cutting edge,
but in recent years the band has been taking the brunt of critic’s acid
tongues. Still, Geoff Tate refuses to be an apologist for the band or
their music. Out promoting the band’s latest release, The Art Of Live
DVD, Tate takes on all subjects and delves into the band’s sound,
guitarists, musical choice, and world politics.
He starts off by explaining the band’s decision to release the DVD in
black and white, “I’ve always been a fan of black & white photography
and I’ve always wanted to present Queensryche in black & white. I think
it’s got an edginess to it and I think the B&W presentation accentuates
that feel of the music.”
The band’s last DVD was also a live show, but Tate is quick to point out
the difference, “Live Evolution was all-encompassing. Queensryche
playing songs from all of our records, but this project is a hands on
behind-the-scenes look at the band. The way we see ourselves rather than
how the audience sees us.”
The DVD also captures new guitarist Mike Stone at work whom Tate happily
compares to the departed lugubrious Kelly Gray, “it’s night and day, at
least, personality wise. Stone is a wonderful man. He’s very creative,
very jovial and in love with life. Kelly was very talented, but his
personality was dark and gloomy. He tended to add to the stress. They’re
just two completely different personalities. It’s very important for a
band to have the right chemistry because it influences the music.”
However, the singer is uncertain about Mike’s tenure in the band. “You
never know,” he offers. “When Chris left the band we decided that we
weren’t ever going to be in a position where we were dependent on
another guitar player. We were going to experience the variety of
collaboration with other musicians and the affect of that other
personality on Queensryche’s music.”
Those new personalities certainly have affected the group’s music with
most critics and fans damning the band for not having made Operation:
Mindcrime part II, but Geoff is unswayed by the perceived discontent. “I
define the sound of a band not by molten guitar or the drum sound or the
vocals,” begins the singer. “I define it by their musical phrasing,
their chord choices, and their melody choices. That’s what makes a
signature band. Queensryche is very identifiable. We experiment with our
music because we are musicians. We try to grow musically. We’re always
reaching and trying to expand our scope. There’s no reason to write
Operation: Mindcrime again. We’ve done that. Every record we do is a
snapshot of where we’re at musically and in our growth as people. That’s
the beautiful thing about Queensryche. We write from our perspective.
We’ve been around twenty-four years and when you drop in on a
Queensryche record you can tell exactly where we’re at. What we’re
thinking about. What’s important to us.”
With that said talk shifts to the making of a new album. “We’re all
writing,” says Tate, “but there’s no schedule. There might be an album
at Christmas or in the spring [2005], but we haven’t come to the
conclusion that we have a full album yet.” So, how would Geoff describe
the new material? “I don’t know,” he says candidly, “but it’s a
continuation of the progression of Queensryche. It’s experimental and
weird.”
Fans can also look forward to a new solo album from the frontman. “I’ve
got a lot of stuff written,” he offers. “It’ll be different from the
first one, but again it’ll be very different and experimental. It’ll
push out in directions away from Queensryche.” However, Geoff offers no
set time frame for its release other than, “it’ll come out at some point
in the next two years.”
As for the future of the band, Geoff cannot imagine ever breaking-up,
“Queensryche has been all encompassing most of my life. I can’t picture
a life without it. We make records, we tour, we write songs and we live
our lives. That’s our lifestyle and it’s a great lifestyle. I can’t see
us not doing it… ever!”
Before wrapping-up, the talk turns back to the DVD and the duet with
Dream Theatre on the Who’s ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’. “We began playing
that song because of the Iraq War and the George Bush administration. We
felt strongly about it because it’s a protest song. Iraq is a complete
disaster and it’s a no win situation. The Bush administration is corrupt
and conniving. They’ve lied so many times to the people of the United
States and the world. I know they’re in Iraq for the oil, but the social
issues in those fundamentalist countries are so awful. I don’t believe
in fundamentalism of any sort. The whole fundamentalist perspective is
wrong. It needs to be taken out and obliterated. What they’re doing to
people especially women; the rape, the murder and the torture is
completely ridiculous. It’s pre-historic and against everything that, as
an American, I believe in. From that stance, we have an obligation to go
in and liberate the women of these countries.”
In closing, Geoff reveals that, “we’re working on a late summer package
tour [for North America],” and adds that “for a band that’s twenty-four
years old we can call ourselves whatever we want. We’ve earned that
right. We can play metal, we can play hard rock, we can play folk and
acoustic, we can do progressive. Put us with any band and we’ll play our
asses off and play well. It’s other people’s obsession with
categorization. I don’t want to define myself. I hate categories. It
makes you sound like a product like Coca-Cola where there’s no soul. A
manufactured thing …”
For more on the new DVD and tour dates visit:
www.queensrcyhe.com
QUEENSRYCHE GETS POLITICAL ON TOUR
Entertainment - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By John Benson
CLEVELAND (Billboard) - The current political climate spurred veteran
metal band Queensryche to dedicate much of its upcoming tour to material
from its 1988 concept album, "Operation: Mindcrime," and its 2003 studio
set, "Tribe."
"The albums were actually written in two different time periods that
have a lot of similarities," singer Geoff Tate (news) told Billboard.com.
"For instance, we have this really ultra, kind of right-wing government
in charge right now and the 'Mindcrime' era was this ultra right-wing
Reagan era. We were at war and now we are at war again. We are in kind
of the same situation again with a lot of unfinished business."
Business for Queensryche also involves the April 20 DVD release "The Art
of Live," which was shot in black and white and documents the band's
2003 tour in support of "Tribe." While Queensryche's impending trek is
ostensibly in support of the DVD, Tate discounted the notion of adhering
to conventional music industry marketing principles. "At this point in
our career, we don't think in those terms anymore, of promoting a
product," he said. "We just go out and tour."
Queensryche's tour begins April 15 at Detroit's State Theater. Its
lineup includes touring guitarist Mike Stone, who replaces original
member Chris DeGarmo (news), as well as singer Pamela Moore, who played
the role of Sister Mary on "Operation: Mindcrime."
For a band that is often pigeonholed into the late '80s hair-metal scene
and perhaps was left in the dust of the grunge era, Tate believes
Queensryche's credibility remains intact.
"It just depends on what you want to do with your life," he said. "We
never looked at our career or our music as a sporting event. We're not
out there competing with another band or anybody musically or
monetarily. We're just writing music, playing music and traveling around
and playing our music for people. And it is really a simple concept."
Reuters/Billboard