MICHAEL WILTON: QUEENSRŸCHE ‘Is A Band Again’

On QUEENSRŸCHE‘s rebirth following the addition of singer Todd La Torre in 2012:

Wilton: “Todd is just such a mindblowing vocalist; he is so talented, and the way that he seamlessly intergrates into the music is just… it’s a miracle. How I met this guy, I don’t know, but it’s worked out so great. And he’s such a gracious person; he’s not ego-driven, he’s not controlling, and he gets along with the band. And that’s the key issue: it’s a band again. And people feel that in the live performances; they feel that everybody is playing together, and there’s just so much energy. Everybody says, ‘It’s like the good old days.’ I think with Todd and Parker [Lundgren, guitar] in the band, they bring a different audience to the shows, and it’s great. We get a lot of younger kids and younger people that are curious and excited about the music. A lot of the fans only know us from the last couple of albums, and we’ve got the people that have been around since the early ’80s coming to the shows again, and they’re curious and really excited to see the passion in the band again. It’s all really good. And everybody equally is doing their part. Like I said, it’s a band again.”

On whether there was a moment during the whole ordeal with former QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate when he felt it was all over for the band:

Wilton: “Well, I knew the vision where the band needed to go, and it was just convincing everybody and seeing this and not giving in. And, you know, if I would have given in, I would have never forgiven myself. We knew we were right. We’re the original guys, the guys that started this whole thing. And it’s something that, for me, when you’re focused, you have a direction, you have a goal, and things are happening positively at a rapid rate, you know you’re going in the right direction. And things just did. And I just knew it was right. I mean, face it, things weren’t that good. The band was whistling through the graveyard. [Laughs And now we’re back in the musicians community and we’re playing festivals now that we never played before, and it’s great. You know what’s great is all the musicians that we play with, like all the musicians at these festivals — vocalists especially — they’re just, like, ‘Wow! Your band is night and day.’ Singers are coming up to Todd and just going, ‘Holy cow! Unbelievable! Unbelievable!’ Just praise from all our music fans. And, for us, it’s one show at a time. We’re always proving to somebody. And we don’t mind; it’s what’s expected.”