QUEENSRŸCHE Drummer Talks About Guitarist CHRIS DEGARMO's Current Status In The Band

In a recent interview with Get Ready To ROCK! (conducted shortly before the announcement was made that the band would begin work on the sequel to the classic 1988 concept album, "Operation: Mindcrime") QUEENSRŸCHE drummer Scott Rockenfield spoke about guitarist Chris DeGarmo's current status with the group. "Chris left the band in 1997 to pursue other things in his life," Scott explained. "He didn't want to pursue music much any more. Then, after seven years of us being apart, we started to write music for the 'Tribe' record. Michael, Eddie, Geoff and I had the record written that we wanted to make, and that's when Chris got hold of us. All of us kept in contact with him periodically, and he expressed interest in maybe doing a few songs with us for the record, in the studio. It sounded like a good idea for all of us to kind of get back together and do some songs. That was really all we talked about — doing a few songs. In the studio, that's exactly what happened: we did a few songs together which came out great, they fit the record really well. We co-wrote a couple of songs with him, and after that, he basically said, 'That's all I wanted to do.' I don't think that you'll ever going to see him again. I think that he has pretty much pulled the plug on being a touring musician forever! I don't know if he's ever going to change his mind — he just didn't want to go on the road with us, he doesn't want to leave town."

Asked how QUEENSRŸCHE are going to deal with this issue and if they are going to hire a different guitarist on every album, Scott replied, "That's a really good question. I think that we're just going to keep it open. On this record ['Tribe'] Mike Stone was actually playing with us prior to us going into the studio. We've done a few shows with him filling in, being the guitar player with us, and he actually co-wrote one of the songs on the album. 'Losing Myself' was co-written by Mike Stone and Geoff. He got to be involved, and he's been playing the guitar with us for the whole last tour. I think that either tonight or tomorrow [as of early July 2004] is his 100 show with us. He's done really well, and he also fits really well with what we're doing. He's a great guy for us to get along with. He has become a really close friend, and when the time comes that we will have to make another studio record, it's very possible that Mike will play on the record with us. It's also possible to get a bunch of people to play — I really don't know!"

Read Scott Rockenfield's entire interview with Get Ready To ROCK! at this location.