QUEENSRŸCHE Bassist On Split With GEOFF TATE: 'It Was A Decision That Needed To Be Made'

Goldenplec recently conducted an interview with QUEENSRŸCHE bassist Eddie Jackson and guitarist Parker Lundgren. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On the band's split with singer Geoff Tate and addition of Todd La Torre (formerly of CRIMSON FLORY):

Eddie: "The intention was to carry on, regardless. It was a decision that needed to be made. We have been doing this for quite a while and we developed a nice following and have been in the business for quite a few years. This is in our blood, and regardless of the situation, we would still be doing what we're doing today."

Parker: "There was question of what would happen in the future, but it coincided time-wise with the side project we had with Todd. There was no doubt if we would continue on or not."

On the fact that there are currently two versions of QUEENSRŸCHE releasing albums and touring:

Eddie: "There was confusion when we put together tours, because we've one QUEENSRŸCHE over here [Europe] and another QUEENSRŸCHE over there [United States], so there was some confusion with fans, and promoters. In fact, there were times where, on the marquee, it would display our name, with Geoff's photo, with his band and vice versa. He's promoting his show, and there was our photo up there. We knew that was going to happen."

On how Todd La Torre was able to step in and replace Geoff:

Eddie: "Geoff was recording a solo record at the time. So there was a lot of downtime, so we decided, 'Why don't the three of us put together a little side project, and have Todd sing?' Nothing related to QUEENSRŸCHE, but that's when all this came about. It just kind of fell into place. Once we needed to make the decisions that needed to be made, Todd just happened to be the person that would be the best fit at the time, and still is today."

Parker: "There's a lot of speculation, if he was going to be able to fill Geoff's shoes and everything, so for the first few shows, it was just us trying to prove ourselves, and Todd to prove himself. At the beginning it was Todd trying to sing the original albums, and now he's come into his own and put his own touches to them."

On QUEENSRŸCHE's new self-titled album:

Eddie: "It's doing great worldwide and in this day and age, it's very respectable with the amount of sales, but the album is still active, there's still a demand for it. We're actually in the process of releasing a video 'Spore/Midnight Lullaby/A World Without', something like a ten-minute movie. That's going to be coming out in the next month or two, then it will be time to move on to the next phase."

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