QUEENSRŸCHE's Scott Rockenfield On Band's Split With GEOFF TATE - "For The Last Few Years, We Just Haven’t Been On The Same Page As Far As What Style Of Music We Should Be Doing As A Band"
March 11, 2013, 11 years ago
Legendary Rock Interviews' John Parks has issued a new interview with QUEENSRŸCHE drummer Scott Rockenfield, in which he talks about the band’s creative partnership, past, present and future. An excerpt follows:
Q: When I interviewed Geoff (Tate) recently he responded that he didn’t really understand you guys saying there were creative differences and thought that it all came down to money. As you see it, was part of the issue always that you had been wanting to focus more on the classic material in the live shows?
A: "Absolutely, look, there were a lot of reasons why things started to go bad in the last year and we had to make the transition to Todd. To answer both of those questions and to set the record straight, yes there were some financial situations that needed to be addressed. That’s kind of a part of doing business. We own three corporations collectively together and we had to address certain things going forward because that’s what good business people do. They look at what’s coming in versus what’s going out and we wanted to address a lot of the “what’s going out” part in order to assess the foundation so that we could move forward in the coming years. That was it and unfortunately those things started to open up a can of worms but that didn’t mean that we couldn’t continue to address those things in order to do good business. That was what Michael, Eddie and I wanted to do as the major shareholders of the corporations and then on top of that were the creative and musical issues which were a big issue as well. We wanted to address those issues and get back to looking at what was more important for Queensryche as a band. What’s the focus of what we do and what our fans enjoy and all of that and most of that involved playing the older material that we haven’t performed for such a long time and we wanted to do that. The same thing held true when it came to making records for the last few years, we just haven’t been on the same page as far as what style of music we should be doing as a band. Michael, Eddie and I have always wanted to do what we feel we’re best at and so far the response has been great. The fans are loving it, the new record is all tailored towards that sound, it’s a big heavy rock record with great songs and great lyric content and I think that’s the main focus of Queensryche.
Read the complete interview at this location.
Queensrÿche recently signed a new deal with Century Media for the release of their upcoming studio album, which is slated for release on June 10th, 2013 in Europe (June 11th in North America). The album marks the debut album from the lineup comprised of Todd La Torre (vocals), Michael Wilton (guitars), Parker Lundgren (guitars), Eddie Jackson (bass) and Scott Rockenfield (drums).
The band have posted celebratory photos of the band officially completing guitars and bass on the upcoming album. Check them out below:
Queensrÿche are currently focused on its Return To History tour, which began March 5th, and completing the new album. "Recording is finished. It's that final stage where we mix and we master . . . It's been quite crazy so we're winding down so we can focus on the final section of the record, which is the artwork and the name and everything else," Rockenfield says. The band has reteamed with producer James "Jimbo" Barton, who also guided Queensrÿche in the studio for its albums Operation: Mindcrime, Empire and Promised Land, for its latest project.
Queensrÿche album teaser:
Guitarist GLEN DROVER (ex-MEGADETH, ex-KING DIAMOND) made an appearance with Queensrÿche at the band's Toronto, Ontario show at the Phoenix Concert Theatre last Thursday, March 7th, for a version of the classic 'Take Hold Of The Flame'.
Check out a photo of the jam below:
Check out a new gallery here.
Says the band: "Great show in Toronto last night and a special thanks to Glen Drover for coming out and joining us on stage - it was a blast!!"
Fan-filmed footage can be seen below:
Queensrÿche's Return To History date include:
March
12 - Nashville, TN - Wildhorse Saloon14 - Biloxi, MS - Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
15 - Tampa, FL - Ritz Ybor
16 - Fort Lauderdale, FL - Monsters Of Rock Cruise
22 - Orlando, FL - House Of Blues
23 - Raleigh, NC - Longbranch
30 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Casino
April
6 - Regina, SK - Casino Regina Show Lounge11 - Stockholm, Sweden - Sweden Rock Cruise
13 - Oulu, Finland - Club Teatria
14 - Mons, Belgium - Power Prog & Metal Festival @ Lotto Mons Expo
15 - London, UK - O2 Academy
17 - Nottingham, UK - Rock City
18 - Manchester, UK - The Ritz
19 - Dublin, Ireland - The Academy Dublin
20 - Duisburg, Germany - Gluckaufhalle
21 - Ludwigsburg, Germany - Rockfabrik
23 - Aaburg, Switzerland - Moonwalker
24 - Munchen, Germany - Theaterfabrik
26 - Eindhoven, Netherlands - Effennar
July
18 - Oshkosh, WI - Rock USA Festival19 - Springville, IN - ABATE of Indiana “Boogie”
20 - Erie, PA - Roar on the Shore Biker Rally
August
2 - Sturgis, SD - The Sturgis Buffalo Chip
