Queensrÿche frontman Todd La Torre is featured in a new 80's Heavy Metal Recycle Bin interview. He opens up to us on his career with Queensrÿche, his need to be perfect, his respect, and love for the band and their music. Check out Part 1 below. 

La Torre: "I'm in a unique position because I have a viewpoint from both sides; as the fan on th eother side of the barricade, and as the performer in the band on the stage. That being said, it's an extension of who I am, it's my passion, but I never let it define me where I'm 'just that.' I've had my own business and my own career before any of this happened. For the guys in the band, thesy found success at a very early age and this is all they've ever done. For them, it's how they've earned a living pretty much their whole lives. For me it wasn't that way, but it's been a very humbling experience. In some ways I'm the same Todd that I was before. In other ways I'm more reclusive because I feel like a regular guy."

The fan-filmed clip below is footage from Queensrÿche's first live show in 15 months, which took place on May 21st at the Shoshone-Bannock Casino in Fort Hall, Idaho. It features former guitarist Mike Stone, who was with the band from 2003 - 2009, filling in for Parker Lundgren.

Back in April, Queensrÿche members Michael Wilton, Eddie Jackson and Todd La Torre took part in a live chat with The Metal Voice discussing the band's current activities and taking a look back on the band's career. Check out the interview below.

The band is currently in Florida working on demos for a new album.

Wilton: "We're doing a think-tank session, recording demos for the new Queensryche album. We're kind of doing it more as a group, brainstorming everybody together, as well as getting out of the dreary Seattle weather to come down to Tampa, Florida. It's a throwback to the way we used to build songs together back when there was no Pro-Tools, and there was a four-track recorders, eight-track recorders. You still all got together and gave everybody your ideas, you brainstorm and things come up, nd you throw them at the canvas and you see if it sticks. The ideas are flowing. It's kind of exciting."

"I can't describe it (the new material). I have a hard time telling people what my guitar style is. This is just organically happening and we've got a lot of ideas. We're just building it, and that's the joy of doing this as a band; we get to see it happen in real time. We're in that process right now so it's kinda hard to say where we're going or what we're doing. Our producer Zeuss, if this is any indication, says it sounds like Queensrÿche."