QUEENSRŸCHE Singer Says Next Album Is 'Very Different From Anything We Have Ever Done Before'

FuryRocks recently conducted an interview with QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

FuryRocks: How did you get interested in winemaking?

Geoff: Touring was my introduction into wines. I've toured 36 counties around the world and had the opportunity to try a lot of different wines. I found that I had a real fascination with wine, the wine-growing areas as well as what makes a good wine. Over the years I started collecting and trying different wines. Out of that, I met a lot of winemakers, attended a number of tastings and barrel tastings. In the process I met a wonderful winemaker, Holly Turner, and her husband Andy. We became friends and over many glasses of wine, they started to ask me, "If I was to make a wine, what would it be like?" In describing that, we got jazzed and decided to make a signature series wine. We tried to find the right combination of ingredients. The combination that really got to me was French-styled Bordeaux. Last year our first vintage, Insania Red (the '07s) came out, and now we're getting ready to release our second red vintage and just last week we released our first white — Insania White!

FuryRocks: What's your role in the winemaking process?

Geoff: It really starts in the vineyards. We meet with vineyard managers and discuss allotment, selection of the grapes, and then put a bid in for the grapes. We harvest them, crush them, and rack all the barrels. I'm pretty hands-on in almost all stages of the process. I even get to wear a lab coat (laughing)! I don't actually make the wine — Holly oversees all that, she's that expert, and I'm barely a novice when it comes to that. I also get really hands-on with the blending and tasting.

FuryRocks: How did the "Queensrÿche Cabaret" go off?

Geoff: It was a lot of fun, we did two sold out shows and the audience really enjoyed it. It was just this past weekend and already the offers have come flooding in to take it around the country. If it was to happen, it would be around the fall as we're currently working on a new QUEENSRŸCHE album. There is a lot to it; it's QUEENSRŸCHE music matched with performance art. There also a storyline that runs through it. The band really lives for art and new ways to make music and new approaches. This is a fresh approach that the fans will enjoy.

FuryRocks: Tell me more about the new QUEENSRŸCHE LP?

Geoff: All I can say about it right now is that it has a very strong social commentary. It's a conceptual LP and musically; very different from anything we have ever done before. It's the record we have always wanted to make and due to circumstances haven't been able to do. Now in our careers we can finally make the record we always wanted to make. It's a completely self-indolent record. If people think we've gone off the deep end on other records, they will really be surprised this time.

Read the entire interview at FuryRocks.