ION INDIE MAGAZINE March 2016, Volume 22 | Page 40

Interview and Photography by Gary Carota • Gary Carota Images
Over the past 30 years, the band QUEENSRŸCHE has built a dedicated legion of fans, while circling the globe touring with
fellow rock giants like Iron Maiden, Guns ‘n’ Roses, Metallica, Judas Priest, Def Leppard and the Scorpions. In recent years,
with the addition of new front man, TODD LA TORRE, they’ve consistently delivered high-energy live shows and festival
performances, combining the hungry fire of a brand new band, with the seasoned experience you'd expect to see from veteran
rockers. With 11 Gold and Platinum albums spanning over 3 decades, and several Top 10 hard rock hits, the band is currently
riding a resurgence, with a brand new album and full-scale nationwide tour, drawing audiences combined of "old school"
rock fans, and a new wave of followers.
Their current "Condition Human" 2016 Tour, recently touched down in Charlotte, NC, and ION Indie Magazine with wellknown radio personality MELANY MYERS, had a chance to sit down with MICHAEL WILTON before the show to talk about what's
new with the band. Although Todd La Torre was present for this interview, as is his practice, he prefers not to talk before a show
and save his voice for the performance.
ION: Your brand new album, "Condition Human", is getting high praise from everywhere and is actually up for “Album of the
Year” from several music publications. How did the new album come about?
MW: While touring the past year or so, doing a lot of our older stuff, we had started to compile a "mish-mosh" of demos, guitar
riffs, and new songs. Feeling like the timing was right for us, we decided to play some of this stuff for our artist rep at Century
Media Records. They gave us a few names, and we went with this guy "Zeus"--who we knew had a great rep doing “grindcore”
and “heavier stuff”--to do sort of a pre-mix for us…and thus the new album was born. After talking with him, and listening to
what he had come up with, we ultimately came up with a new album that drew from our earlier days as a band, but also evolved
us with a fresh sound that could carry us into 2016. We're a band that never likes to copy what we've already done, so it was
important for us to create something new, while sticking to our roots. We think the new album does that.
ION: In the past 30 years, the music industry--how we get and listen to our music--and the 'state of rock' in general has
changed dramatically. Back in the day, the radio was your main source for hearing new music. NOW, there are so many ways
people can access music...radio, satellite radio, ITunes, the internet, etc. Do you think this has helped or hurt the state of rock
music and music in general?
MW: For the listener, you have so many different choices today, and how do you know where they're listening? For us, back in
the day, you had the radio and MTV, and that's where most bands concentrated on making sure your music was being heard
and seen. Now the choices are so vast, that really, in order to have a chance or even survive in today's music market, every
band has to have someone, or even a team of people, who do nothing but track numbers, the internet, social media, etc. It's
the best way to try and market your music to the right audience. It seems with every year that passes, it's more about the
business, and less about the music.