Having the band restarted back in 2012, Queensrÿche, on the occasion of last year's "Condition Hüman" and not only, have been interviewed by Rock Overdose. So, here is what Michael Wilton and Todd Latorre said.
Rock Overdose: Do you believe that what the band needed was a “restart” back in 2011-2012?
Todd: Well, I think that the general consensus of the band and the fans would agree that band definitely had a sense of a rebirth once the new lineup was formed. I think that was the feeling once we did our first rehearsal. In hindsight, I do feel that a change was needed. To represent the material in standard tuning was a big improvement along with playing some songs that were not revisited in decades like Child of Fire, Prophecy, and Roads to Madness in it’s entirety for example. We are playing the material very true to form and aren’t taking any shortcuts. People deserver to hear the music properly, and we strive to achieve that in every sense.
Rock Overdose: Todd La Torre helped the band recording an amazing “debut” album in 2013 and continued with “Condition Human” which was such a good LP too. Tell us about the feedback you get.
Michael: The Queensryche Fans are totally behind us. Every show is a proven factor to all the fans and to the fans that have not seen the band for over a decade or even longer. The chemistry of the band is on fire. The 2 albums with Todd have shaken the QR world. Our record company Century Media has optioned on all 3 albums in its contract with us, that has not happened in quite a long time for the band. We have charted in countries that have not seen a Queensryche release in over a decade or longer. As for our media stature we have been doing hundreds of interviews with each release and each tour. And as for performing live, promoters keep calling because of the interest with the Condition Human tour. So that all said Queensryche is on a steady climb back into the mainstream industry.
Rock Overdose: Were you on Tour in order to promote your new record?
Todd: We have been touring since January 1st, 2016 in support of the new album. That will be ongoing throughout the entire year and beyond. We feel this album has songs that are worthy of remaining in our set even once we end up having more records released in the upcoming years. In the same way there are songs from the back catalogue that remain, we feel there will be continued interest in hearing songs live from Condition Human.
Rock Overdose: Are “Arrow Of Time”, “Guardian” and “Hellfire” fan’s grand favourites?
Todd: Thus far, we have received amazing feedback from those three songs!! They each have their own life and all highlight different elements that are unique. We feel that these songs, along with the entire new album, represent the evolution of Queensryche.
Rock Overdose: Do you believe that fans are still trully interested in Queensryche’s music?
Todd: Based on live show attendance and our record sales, surely for this day and age, I would say yes. We have a younger audience as well learning about the band, so that in and of itself is a great testimony that the new material is resonating with newcomers to the band as well as the longtime fans. In addition, the audience always seems to truly value and appreciate our live set list, hearing songs that are part of their life and memories. We have had amazing new opportunities presented to Queensryche that either are directly correlated to the new energy and excitement in and around the bands music and live presentation as well as still feeling very connected to the songs and legacy of Queensryche.
Rock Overdose: “Condition Human” was a realy good record, however “Queensryche” has some tracks such as “Vindication”, “Spore”, “Redemption” and “In This Light” which could be classics. Do you agree?
Todd: Thank you for the kind words, saying that those songs could be deemed as classics. Those are great songs in their own right, and only time will determine if those truly will be considered classics. They are pure Queensryche, so it’s really just up to the audience and their own interpretation of the music as to whether or not something is classis I guess. The beauty and mystery of music is the fact that it is subjective. We just write music from the heart and what the fans due with it is out of our hands.
Rock Overdose: Is Todd’s voice the ideal one for Queensryche?
Michael: Todd is a perfect fit for the band, his dynamic vocal range and over all energy has give the band the spark they need to get out of a dizzying downward spiral. Being a band member takes on quite a responsability and chemistry is key, that being said Todds personality fuses with the band so the communication is wide open and everyone pleased to write with a musician that can relate with.
Rock Overdose: Are you planning live appearencess in Europe? Is Greece included?
Todd: We will be returning to Europe in mid August for an approximate three week run. Unfortunately at this time, Greece is not in the itinerary. I can tell you we really want to play Greece. It all boils to down to having promoters reaching out to us, making financial sense for both parties, and logistics. It’s a very complex thing to be able to play any territory. In short, Queensryche would love to play Greece and we hope that comes to fruition in the near future, but we are only one part of the equation.
Rock Overdose: 2016 is the 30th Anniversarry for “Rage For Order”. Do you have something special for the fans such as a great re-issue and some live shows celebrating it?
Michael: Rage for Order was a special album for the band as it was a time when the creative element was really beginnig to blossom for the band. So of course we have been performing songs from that album because they are great to play live. As for the re-issue question, there has been talk about it. I know the fans would love to have a live cd or dvd with Todds voice. We will just have to wait and see with what transpires.
Rock Overdose: Do you work on new songs or not? Do you have unreleased material from the past?
Todd: We do work on music from different eras and in different stages. Many songs, whether full musical pieces or just short ideas are stored on hard drives, and we will revisit those ideas to see if something feels worthy of continuing. Some song ideas may have one small piece that will become the building block of something entirely new. Yes, there are of course many songs that the world has never heard. There are always songs that are possibly not voted on as the best when it comes to what makes the record, so naturally there are many songs that exist that have never been released.
For Rock Overdose,
Michael Tsolakos
Comments
