GEOFF TATE To QUEENSRŸCHE Fans: 'Just Hang In There'

This past Friday, June 15, Jolene of the Seattle station KISW 99.9 FM conducted an interview with QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below.

When asked if he had a message for QUEENSRŸCHE fans who are "perplexed over the status of the band right now," Geoff said, "Just hang in there. Everything's moving along and everything's looking good. And I'm very happy to be playing my hometown tonight; I'm very excited about it."

Interview (audio):

RISING WEST, the new band featuring Michael Wilton, Eddie Jackson, Scott Rockenfield and Parker Lundgren of QUEENSRŸCHE, along with powerhouse vocalist Todd La Torre of CRIMSON GLORY, played its first two shows ever on Friday, June 8 and Saturday, June 9 at the Hard Rock Café in Seattle, Washington. The band performed rare and classic hits from the first five QUEENSRŸCHE albums — from the 1983 EP through 1990's "Empire" — as well as a cover version of the IRON MAIDEN staple "Wrathchild".

Geoff Tate entered the studio on February 29 to begin recording his second solo album, tentatively due in October.

Tate released his first solo CD in 2002 on Sanctuary Records. Self-titled, the LP was a huge departure from the work he had previously done with QUEENSRŸCHE.

When asked about the sound of his new solo album, Tate told AnthologySD.com, "Well, it's very different from my last one, for sure. It's a new bunch of people I've been working with to write and record it, so that changes things. When you're working with different people, it really changes the record. This one is really hard rock. The last one was really all over the place with different styles of music and everything, but this one really keeps with the hard rock style. It does it in kind of a different way — more of my way or what I would envision. I guess it's experimental in some ways, while in others it's very traditional. What I tried to do was take traditional rock instrumentation and apply it in kind of a different song structure. That's what I would best describe it as. [laughs]"

Regarding his current solo tour, Tate told the Lincoln Journal Star, "QUEENSRŸCHE is not doing much together this year. I wanted to keep touring and I wanted to move in a different direction. It's kind of a singer's dream, really. You're not competing with the other instruments, especially the drum kit. The whole idea was hatched after a dinner party at my house one night."