Revitalized and refreshed,
the band from seattle charts
new territory, continuing is
glorious resurgence!
OKAY, so I am a homer...It’s pretty obvious coming from an entity named after the 1986 classic “Rage For Order”.
This was a seminal moment for all of us to have the opportunity to sit down with the creators of the inspiration
for our very existence. Everything you ever heard about them is true, insightful, classy, kind, down-to-earth and
geniuses when its comes to their craft. Through all of the struggles this band has been through they soldier on
and sound better than ever. YES, the REAL QUEENRYCHE STOOD UP and THEY ARE BACK!!!!
Queensryche is:
Todd LaTorre - Lead Vocals
Michael Wilton - Guitar
Scott Rockenfield - Drums
Eddie Jackson - Bass
Parker Lundgren - Guitar
On this recent tour you were
the first band to play Vegas
after the shooting, what was
that like?
MICHAEL: When you have something that’s
been scheduled for so long, and an incident
happens like that, the whole perspective
changes. You want to be respectful but you
have to go there as business as well. But it was
...wow! Devastation. It was mind blowing. You
turn on the television and that’s all that was on
the news.
The music director from the hotel came into
our dressing room thanking and praising us for
doing the show.
How has this whole tour been?
MICHAEL: It’s been great. This is kind of a
fly date tour, although we did do a European
tour. 2016 we did a pretty intense tour with
over 100 shows. We were supposed to get right
back in the studio but it’s just taking awhile.
We’re older and our heads have to clear.
Now we have just been taking our time and
making sure the songs are all getting into
shape. And we are having fun playing on the
weekends as well. It’s a balancing act but it’s
such a tricky industry now. You don’t want to
put records out too fast and you don’t want to
tour so much that you are playing the same
places over and over again. So you have to
keep a balance. Obviously, you want people
wanting you but in this day and age it’s a bit
tougher to keep it all going.
What are your thoughts
on the industry as a whole
and then I want to break
that down compared to
the 80’s and how it was
run back then?
MICHAEL: Well there are two things. In
the 80’s it was a different thing, you know?
We didn’t have smart phones. We didn’t
have the internet. We didn’t have a lot of
things. Ticket prices were $10. Now, you
have the internet. For musicians, it’s dif-
ferent because back then people bought
records or they bought CD’s. So that, in a
sense, is like a business person’s 401K. You
take that away from a person, it becomes a
little challenging. It becomes a little tough.
The game has changed. So when you take
that factor out of it, everybody is streaming
your music. They are streaming movies,
you know? You’re getting paid pennies so
you can buy a coffee at Starbucks. Bands
now have to rethink their business model
and why they’re doing what they’re doing.
There’s ways to do it. It’s just a lot harder
on the marketing because there is so much
competition now. You really have to have
your act together and you have to have
a good plan. For us, we have to have re-
ally good management. And social media
is such the key these days. People are so
busy so you have to catch their attention
for at least five seconds otherwise they go
on to something else. And for young kids,
that’s especially true because that’s how
they’ve been brought up. They have instant
access to everything with the internet. They
can get anything they want. Do you want
to learn an Eddie Van Halen solo? Don’t
pay the music teacher. Go on YouTube and
learn it for free. It’s just a changing envi-
ronment. Entertainment is something that
we think people will always want but it’s a
matter of how do you connect with them.
That’s the key. That’s the magic ticket.
I understand there is a new album in the works.
Have you guys cut tracks already?
MICHAEL: Um...we’ve cut demos. We are a bunch of guys with a lot of creative
aspirations and we don’t want a lot of outside influence. We just want what’s flowing
from our brains.
No matter how zany it is or how crazy it can be. That’s the magic of being in a band.
There are so many different perspectives, creativity and someone’s point of view of
what their song wants. Then to see it morph into something completely different;
that’s what’s cool about being in a band. When you have so many different cosmic en-
ergies clashing and you actually create something from that really means something.
Continued on next page: TAKE ME THERE NOW!
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Queensryche Site
Buy Ryche Music
Inset Photos :
(top left) KA Photography
(bottom left and top right)
C/O Queesryche file photos
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