QUEENSRŸCHE Singer: 'We Define What Metal Is'

David E. Gehlke of Blistering.com recently conducted an interview with QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

Blistering.com: The new album, what's the progress on it?

Tate: It's good. We hope to have it wrapped up by the end of January, then release it in the spring. We have a new record label that we signed to [the Loud & Proud imprint of Roadrunner]. We're in a very creative state of mind.

Blistering.com: Direction-wise, where are you going?

Tate: That's always a touchy subject. [laughs] Everybody hears things different and hears a song in their own way. For me, it's a real departure in songwriting with this one. Eddie [Jackson, bass] and Scott [Rockenfield, drums], our rhythm section have written a lot of material on this album and there's a lot of rhythm going on. It's a very modern-sounding record because of that and we're experimenting with we're playing guitar, trying to steer clear of the whole "bonehead" metal guitar style of playing [makes "chumping" noise]. That's kinda Neanderthal and not where we're at. We're playing the guitar in different ways, voicing it in new ways. If we've done that guitar style before, we're backing away from it and trying something new.

Blistering.com: Doing vocals over this must be tricky then, right?

Tate: That's the interesting thing, too, when you have a lot of interesting rhythms to sing to, it inspires you to move in different directions vocally. That's something I've been enjoying a lot with this record. I've been singing in different ways.

Blistering.com: So no classic Geoff Tate highs?

Tate: [sarcastically] Oh, yeah, there's lots of that!

Blistering.com: Your career has become so diversified, yet at the core, QUEENSRŸCHE is still a metal band. Is there ever any inclination to go back to your roots and cater to your fanbase that no doubt, wants to hear more metal out of you?

Tate: Honestly, the way I feel about it, is that we define what metal is. We do. Bands that play music define what metal is, fans don't. They just listen to it. I don't mean that to sound arrogant, but that "box" that we call metal, it has a lot of parameters to it. It doesn't have to be one way and there's a lot of bands that play one way and that's all they can do. What we like to do, is stretch out. We're influenced by a lot of different types of music and if you were to look at each of our record collections, we have every record ever made. So much influence from different styles of music and time periods and we like to work those influences into what we do. We try to take what people call "metal" and we take it and push the envelope on it, and redefine it. That's our goal; not to do what we've done on the previous record or do what other bands are dong. The worst thing you could say to anyone in this band is, "Oh, so you guys are a metal band." Or "You're a rock band," or "You're a progressive metal band." We're not that — we're QUEENSRŸCHE. We don't want to be categorized in some little box and have to wear the outfit and be in that box.

Read the entire interview at Blistering.com.