Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon from Canada’s The Metal Voice (https://www.facebook.com/themetalvoice) recently spoke to Geoff Tate (Ex Queensryche) who's current musical project called Operation Mindcrime will be releasing a concept album called The Key on September 18, 2015 on Frontiers, the first of three album installments.
Tate spoke about, the concept behind The Key, as well as the recording highs and lows of Queensryche's critically acclaimed albums The Warning and Operation Mindcrime and the closing of the infamous Le Studio Morin Heights where Operation Mindcrime was inspired and recorded.
When asked about Operation Mindcrime’s new concept album The Key
"When you write a concept record it definitely gives you the opportunity to do some different things that you normal wouldn’t do with a record of standalone songs because you are telling a story. So stories aren’t static they are very dynamic, there is lots of different moods you can explore within any given story. I like variance and variety. I go into it with single purpose of writing an entertaining story that is interesting and the challenge of matching music to that story so the listeners are transported on a musical route."
When asked about being learning experiences in the early days in Queensryche from other bands such as Twisted Sister and Ronnie James Dio
"I wasn’t really aware of Twisted Sister at the time, so it was kind of an eye opening experience sharing the stage with these very tall New York guys who wore really elaborate makeup and hair, costumes and it was kind of an eye opening experience. They had a really cool presentation and I learned a lot from them as far as stage craft and just the way they handled themselves."
"And some people that you meet on the way are very open to sharing their philosophy and there mindset their way of doing things, Ronnie Dio for example is a guy that was very helpful in the beginning stages of the Queensryche career, giving us advice helping us out he was a very giving person."
When asked the bands mindset during the recording of Queensrcyhe first Full length album The Warning: "It was a real disappointment to everybody in the band at the time, cause of course it was taken out of our hands and mixed by somebody who didn’t care about it and and didn’t want the input of the band and it was quite a shocking experience."
When asked what Geoff Tate spoken word was in the middle of the song Roads to Madness off the Warning Album: "It’s kind of strange I wrote what I was saying on a scrap of paper in the studio and then walked away from the microphone and never picked up the paper again, so it’s lost."
On how the city Montreal, Canada inspired the story and characters of Operation Mindcrime
"Montreal Canada is a wonderful city very inspirational a lot of the Mindcrime story was written in Montreal. The story line came from my time I spent in Montreal. I used to go to this little club on St-Denis called Le Saint-Sulpice. At the time it was a dark dingy little place, the clientele was a mix of all these different kinds of people and that’s where I met some of the people that became characters in my story. And that’s where I used to spend all my time. Dr X character came from a guy that I met at Le Saint-Sulpice. Sister Mary was a composite of couple of different characters I met one was in Montreal the other was in Amsterdam."
When asked if the whole album The Key will be played during the tour: "I plan on playing the entire album and then probably book ending the new album with songs from my past."
