Queensrÿche vocalist Todd La Torre and guitarist Michael Wilton sat down with SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” on April 16 to give fans a progress report on the band’s next studio album, the follow-up to 2022’s Digital Noise Alliance.
La Torre laid out where things stand (transcribed by Blabbermouth): “There’s a ton of songs that I have to write lyrics and melodies for, which I’ve been doing some of that at home, tracking ideas, showing the guys some stuff. So we’ve got songs in demo form. Really good stuff, really exciting stuff that I’m looking forward to digging in when we get home. But, yeah, [we’re] just working on a new record.”
He went on to address the challenge of writing while keeping a full touring schedule: “You know how it goes — [we’re doing lots of] fly dates [in between working on new music]. The days when you could take a year off and just focus on an album, those don’t exist anymore. So you’re trying to write in these little pockets of time and then have a home life and decompress your ears and chill out for a little bit. I can’t believe we’re already this far into the year. But, yeah, [we’re] just working on a new record. [We have] lots of fly dates [scheduled for later this year] and a European tour.”
Wilton backed that up, pointing to the relentless live calendar as the main obstacle: “We are so busy. And Todd said it right. It’s, like, every week you’ve got a show, you’ve got a show. You don’t have the time off — especially for Todd. In the ’80s and early ’90s and stuff, you had breaks of time where the vocalists could rest his voice. And it’s hard because hard rock bands, metal bands, whatever, these days, and the situation with the media and everything, you have to tour to stay alive… And so that being said, you’re always touring. We’re trying to write a record.”
“Plus, you have to coordinate with who’s recording the record, because [the producer is] busy, because all the other bands are in the same situation as we are. They’re touring and taking a week, 10 days off, and recording and then going back out on the road. So it’s a bit challenging. But this year we’re not doing any major USA ground tours. So we’re really concentrating on the record and then going to Europe.”
The band is once again working with producer Chris “Zeuss” Harris, who handled Condition Hüman (2015), The Verdict (2019), and Digital Noise Alliance. Wilton confirmed this back in January in a conversation with Mark Strigl.
On the musical direction of the new material, Wilton had this to say: “Well, we’re pushing the envelope. We don’t get a lot of standard radio play, so we’re just going for it. We’re keeping the progressive element, the melodic element, the heavy metal element. So it’s gonna be a killer album. But we’re trying to make it a little bit different than the previous one. So, fingers crossed.”
As for where they are in the process, Wilton said the band is somewhere between pre-production and actual recording: “Well, it’s a bit of both. We’re at a point where we know our sounds, so if it’s kept in the arrangement of the song, then you’re halfway there. But yeah, Queensrÿche likes to come up with, in the writing process at least, 15 to 20 songs. So that’s kind of where we are right now. We’re probably on the 13th idea right now. So we’re kicking ass.”
Wilton also spoke about the collaborative dynamic with fellow guitarist Mike Stone: “We’re both in the room with Zeuss, our producer. And if I have a song, I play my idea. We document it, get it recorded, and then I go, ‘Mike, it needs another part on top,’ and he comes up with something, and it complements, and then we just work together and just build the song. It’s great because you can bounce ideas off each other, and it’s not just one person saying, ‘It’s my way or the highway.’ It’s about getting the vibe and getting the right flavors of the music, and I’ll tell you what: Mike Stone does a great job. He can understand what I’m playing, and he knows that what we call Rÿche-ian sound.”
The post QUEENSRŸCHE’s MICHAEL WILTON & TODD LATORRE Talk Progress & Musical Direction Of New Album: “We’re Pushing The Envelope, Keeping The Melodic, Progressive & Heavy Metal Elements” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.
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