CD: You know I wouldn't be surprised about that. He has them laying around his house, you know. He just brings along the ones he wants to use.
SR: I just signed up recently for Screaming in Digital your web talk/chat machine. Do you guys ever get in there and discuss your music with the rabid fans?
CD: Oh, good. Well, we do peruse certainly from time to time. I think possibly one of us has gotten in there once or twice before but it's a forum for the fans and they seem to do just find with us staying out of it. We leave ourselves to doing what we do. We pop in there. We've got some great support in Dan Birchall who runs the site and Kevin Skurlock who has another web site up for us. A number of fans just run little "empires" in our behalf around the country and the world. We've got great fans is all I can say. We're blessed in that respect.
SR: In 1988 when you came out with Mindcrime the same type music was being released by Killing Joke, The Young Gods, KMFDM and others. You were all ahead of your time because it looks like the record labels are just now picking up on the whole rave scene that later branched out into industrial.
CD: (laughing) The rave thing is being pitched now as the sound of the moment it would seem. Time will tell whether it's a blink or it's a lasting moment in music history. I certainly think there are some talented people out there. There is talent in all forms and styles. I don't know what's going to happen with this latest thing. I know that the music industry would love to call it the next big thing.
SR: U2 has changed their sound on this new album. David Bowie is back on his old band wagon with the Eno-type feel on some cuts.
CD: I prefer to think they're leading the band wagon as opposed to their jumping on the band wagon. It will be interesting to see what happens with those groups. I've heard a little bit of Bowie and a little of U2 so I don't have the whole thing absorbed yet.
SR: I'm working on it too. You and Geoff wrote an equal amount of songs on this new album, correct?
CD: Lyrically, yeah. We pretty much have shared the lyric and the music was a combination of us all. I wrote much of it or collaborated on much of it. Eddie our bass player co-wrote two tunes and Michael worked with Geoff on a tune.
SR: I have the advance without artwork and track breakdowns. Is the artwork the picture on the web site? An ear in the jar.
CD: The album cover is on one of the web sites. It's on the Queensryche Campaign site which can be accessed a number of different ways and for sure on the EMI site. Look under the "what's new" category.
SR: Let's talk about the guitar work here. Any new guitars or all the favorites?
CD: Some new old ones and some old new ones so to speak. I used mostly Gibson guitars and Michael and I dipped into a variety of instruments. ES 335, a lot of different Les Pauls. I used an old 61 SG and a couple of Dan Electros and Michael used some Rickenbackers. We used a lot of different guitars and this time instead of using processing to create the guitar sound we actually let the guitar play out its own characteristics. Often times if you just plug them into an amplipher that is complementary to the guitar it lets the guitars own identity come out. That was our approach this time instead of using a lot of rack effects to create things. We just let the guitars show their own identities. I think we actually have a more diverse combination of textures on this album than probably almost anyone we've had in terms of the varieties of guitars. It was fun, it was fun to do. It was exciting.
SR: Staging has always been a wonderful trait of this band. Anything special this year?
CD: We'll start touring in June. We have a great show planned which will be a little less extravagant in terms of the moving sets. Last time we had a very certain thing we were trying to accomplish with the Promised Land tour. This one, in the spirit of the record, will be a little more direct and a little more stripped down; but we'll still have some interesting visual points. We're going to have a really happening show with a focus on quality sound and hopefully a good presentation that people will find inspiring.
SR: June 20, where and what route are you taking to Austin? CD: About that..we're starting up here in the northwest and then weave around the top of the U.S., down the eastern seaboard, wrap around in a circle and then up the middle. Austin I would think would be right in the middle of summer.
SR: You guys have always had the best paraphernalia. I'm wearing my Tri-Ryche pin as I leave for my hairdresser appointment.
CD: I think the fan club has the list of everything we have available. We are going to have a lot of new items with the new imagery that's related to the album.
SR: I'm just a paraphernalia freak.
CD: Sheila, what are all your addresses on the Internet magazines?
SR: Okay, I'm going to take us off line.
CD: I'll certainly talk to the EMI folks about hardradio.
SR: I'm also in touch with your management...just to let them know what's possible for the launching of this new album.
CD: These are all on-line sites right? Cool.
SR: Yep. I'm crazy about this Internet.
CD: It's certainly amazing what's happening with this whole Internet thing.
SR: I'm going to let you go. I've taken up enough of your time today. I'll see you on the road.
CD: Sheila, thank you very much. I hope to see you soon.