By Andrew Bansal
In the last three years, classic metal veterans Queensrÿche have enjoyed a resurgence like no other, rekindling the energy and exuberance with which they started out in the early ’80s and recreating that same impact on audiences worldwide all over again. The introduction of Todd La Torre as the singer has been one of main reasons for the metamorphosis of Queensrÿche, specially as a live band. But they are equally motivated as a creative force as well, following up the 2013 self-titled effort, the first to feature La Torre, with their 15th full-length studio album ‘Condition Hüman’ which was released on October 2nd 2015 via Century Media Records. The band also wrapped up a successful US arena tour as Scorpions’ sole support act, and have now announced the onset of the ‘Condition Hüman’ touring cycle with the first run of US headline dates set for January-February 2016. I recently spoke to Todd La Torre to discuss his journey with the band so far, the new album, the Scorpions tour, his opinion on shows versus festivals, the acoustic set they played at the Rainbow, and the possibility of him giving vocal lessons. Enjoy the conversation below, along with a taste of the new material.
Todd, it’s great to have you on Metal Assault. I’ve been really admiring what Queensrÿche has done in the last few years since you joined the band. First of all, how has this journey been for you? You’ve already become an important band of the band.
It’s been a lot of fun, it’s been a great experience. Everyone in the band is very welcoming to what I have to offer in my ideas, and everyone is just working collectively really well.
Right, and that shows on stage as well. So, playing these old songs which you were obviously not a part of, which ones have you been enjoying the most so far in the set lists?
I like to play ‘Warning’, ‘Whisper’, ‘Queen Of The Reich’, and stuff from the older back catalog is probably my favorite to do.
And are you always ready to play anything that the band decides to include in the set list?
Yes, anything from the debut EP upto ‘Empire’. But we’ve been on tour solid for so long, we just haven’t had a lot of time off in order to rehearse newer songs into the set but we’ll be doing that soon.
Talking of the new album ‘Condition Hüman’, it came out via Century Media in early October. Moving from the 2013 self-titled release which was your debut with the band, what do you feel about the band’s progress on this album?
We definitely had more time to write songs, sit on them for a while and kind of revisit other ideas. We weren’t pressed for time, so I think this record shows more complexity in the songwriting, different song structures, and there’s probably a wider variety of musicality on this one.
I saw you opening for the Scorpions recently and you played one of the ‘Condition Hüman’ songs. I feel that it blends better with the classics and the older material. Did you feel that as well, playing these shows?
I think the new material definitely blends in with the set list that we’re doing. Obviously we try to be mindful of the flow of the set list and the songs, but the material off of this new record doesn’t feel out of place.
Opening for the Scorpions and playing these arena shows, what was that experience like? You play club and theatre shows on your own, but reaching out to a bigger audience and trying to play those areas must have been a different thing altogether.
It was a lot of fun, and the band and the crew were very gracious and very nice to us. It was obviously a great time to play in front of that large a crowd every night with them, specially not at a festival setting. Because when you’re playing festivals, you can play in front of 10,000 to 100,000 people but there’s a million bands on the bill. When it’s just two bands and you’re able to play to 10,000-15,000 people in arenas in the United States every night, that’s a really awesome thing to still do in 2015. It was an honor and a privilege for us to play with them and we had a great time.
I’m glad you brought up the festivals-versus-shows thing, because I feel the same. When it comes to bands that I’m already familiar with, I’d rather see them play their own shows with may be one or two other bands and not millions of bands on a festival. As a fan and a performer, do you prefer the shows as opposed to festivals?
It really just depends. Usually on festivals, there’s a couple or few bands that you really, really want to see and they’re the main reason why you went. But when you’re dealing with two or three bands on a bill, you’re involved in all of those two or three bands in one event and it’s over in a few hours. It’s a different experience when you’re attending or playing a festival. It’s a lot of fun, it’s a different atmosphere because you have all kinds of vendors selling merchandise, and it’s fun to people-watch and check out what they are wearing. It’s a really fun atmosphere in the festival setting, and quite different than two or three bands playing a more intimate show. They are both great in their own ways.
As I mentioned before, Queensrÿche usually headlines mid-sized venues, clubs and theatres, but on the Scorpions tour you played arenas. As a vocalist, how much of a challenge was it to capture the whole arena and reach out to people all the way up in the top seats or in the back?
I think that you can feel the energy in the room. I’ve had experiences where I felt that I had everyone’s engagement in an arena full of 10,000 people, more than I’ve had with 500 people at some club shows where may be they’re just not as animated as fans. There is a certain energy in an arena. The music translates in a different way, it’s really big, and it’s what we all remember great big rock shows being when we were younger. There’s an element of excitement that the arenas give you, so I don’t think it’s that hard to feel like you are very close to that very far back row. And then there are club shows where you are up close and personal, and that’s certainly a different atmosphere and vibe, and those are a lot of fun. Some of the most fun shows I’ve ever had were just very small club shows, but playing the arenas, I felt like everyone was totally engaged with the performance, and I didn’t feel like there was a big detachment from people. Plus, in the arenas the people are right up against the stage, much closer than the festivals where there’s a huge distance between the stage and the barricade. In the arena shows you’ve very close and you can touch people’s hands. At festivals, that’s impossible to do.
On the subject of intimate shows, you did an acoustic set at the Rainbow Bar & Grill in West Hollywood just a day after the Scorpions gig in LA, and I was there. Based on what you said during the set, you didn’t really get time to rehearse the acoustic arrangements at all, but it sounded great. What was that like for you?
Yeah, most of those songs were just the first time we’d ever done them acoustic, like ‘Queen Of The Reich’ and ‘Take Hold Of The Flame’. For me personally, it feels a bit awkward when people are standing so close to you and kind of staring at you. Without the full band, the amplified electric guitars, the drum set and bass, it’s a completely different vibe. With that being said, when it was all done, it was fun. It was something that the band hardly ever does or would do, so I think for the people that came out, it was probably special in that way. Just a couple of acoustic guitars and singing on a mic with no reverb, it doesn’t really get any more stripped-down than that. But we had a lot of fun and it was nice to meet with people, and I think that overall everyone enjoyed their time.
Would you do that kind of thing again, if offered?
It’s not something that I favor, but I’m not saying I wouldn’t do it again. I would do it again, but I prefer Queensrÿche’s music to be represented in its fullest, which requires the drums, bass and everything else.
Fans are bound to compare you to the original singer of the band, which I’m sure you get every day. But, the fact is that most fans have accepted you and a lot of them say that you do sound like him and you’re able to replicate that singing voice. When you hear something like that, do you take that as a negative or a compliment?
It’s always a compliment. His voice back then was basically unparalleled and he had such a unique sound and style. If people want to say that I sound very similar to him, I can only consider that a compliment, to be in the same breath as Geoff Tate in his earlier days.
That’s awesome, man. One thing I wanted to bring up here is, before you joined Queensrÿche, or at least before the band was actively touring, I think you were trying to give some vocal lessons to student singers but then I guess you didn’t really get the time to do that. Do you ever plan to, if given the time?
You know, I did some lessons with a few people but my time just got completely consumed with the band and it was very hard for me to have alone time and dedicate to people to do that. I don’t know whether I would do that again, but what I really was trying to emphasize with offering it was coaching more from the perspective of experience with different scenarios, more than the technical aspects of singing, because I’m not formally educated in the anatomy of the human body and the musculature and the vocal cords. I mean, I know some stuff, but I don’t feel qualified enough to try to teach someone all of the mechanics and nuances and things that go into being a properly trained vocalist. I think that’s best left to someone that is able to break it down on a more scientific level. But for me, everyone is different, and people have questions. May be they’re singers and they just got pro tools and they want to learn how to use it and how to record. I was offering tutorials on how to get started, because people may have all this creativity inside of them but they don’t know how to get it out and to make it real, on a CD or whatever, I was offering those kinds of things. There are a lot of people that give lessons and think that they have all the answers but they really don’t, because they don’t have the experience as professioanl musicians, Like, a boxer can train his craft to younger people because he understands the lifestyle, he’s won fights and he’s been through it. But for people that have never been professional singers in a real full-time capacity, it’s become very commonplace to research information on YouTube and then basically regurgitate the same information that everyone else has. They don’t have any experience to back it up. They sing good in the house. What if you’re performing every single night and you’re in a different state or country, and you’re dealing with the other variables that singers have to go through? I think the best advice for that is, people just have to learn their body and be open-minded enough to experiment with their voice, to see what works for them and what doesn’t. So, my approach was more of advice and coaching, versus just a vocal teacher. I never felt that I knew enough about it to do that. I sing, but I don’t know how to translate extensively how I do what I do. I just do it. There are some people that are just naturally gifted to do certain things and you ask them, “How did you do that?” And they say, “I don’t know. That’s just what I do!” For me, when I think about it, there are certain things like my larynx being in a particular position, how I nose-breathe and use my diaphragm to get more air and control the air-flow that way. I don’t raise my shoulders up and chest out to take this huge breath of air to hit a high note or to carry a note longer. So again, everyone’s different, and something that I would love to get into at some point of my career, is co-producing records with people. I love song structure and songwriting, and I hear a lot of great musicians out there that have all the ingredients, but they’re just putting too many of them in one dish. So, I would love to be able to get involved with a band that has everything there but needs the songs to be produced and shaped better, and tear the songs apart and hone in on making the best songs for the band to record. So that’s something I would love to get involved with on a producing level at some point. That’s what Don Dokken did with XYZ, and when I learned that, I was like wow, here’s a guy that’s putting his stamp on this band. He’s endorsing the band and producing the record. I’m not saying that I’m the greatest thing out there, but I believe that I do have enough experience that I lot of upcoming bands don’t have. I’ve worked with James Barden who’s a wonderful engineer and producer, and I’ve worked with Zeuss who’s great at those things as well, and may be someone will find value in me helping to produce their band to make the best thing that they can. That way, when I’m not touring I can still be involved with music, be creative and earn a supplemental income that way which would be a lot of fun for me.
That’s great to hear. I brought up this question because Jarvis from the band Night Demon told me that he was supposed to take lessons from you …
Oh yeah! That’s right, I was in communication with him, and I think at that time when we were going to start, he was going on tour and he couldn’t. And by the time that all was done for him, my schedule was just slammed. I opened the door to get some things going with some people, and I did with a few people that were ready when I was ready, but obviously they understood that I’m very busy with the band and just touring all the time. It was hard to be able to schedule, but at some point, if we take good enough of a break and time off, I would contact those people back and find out whether they still have anything they want to work on or talk about. It doesn’t have to be just ‘how do I sing a high note’ or ‘how do I do this’, but it would also be like, do you have a song that you’re working on? May be you’re going through a writer’s block. Or, sing me a verse and if you want to know what I think, I can tell you whether you’re singing too monotone, or when you’re phrasing naturally and I hear this style in you, why don’t you capitalize on that more, and may be let’s work on making your own song. And I would never try to claim writers credits with that. If somebody said, I’m working on a song, here’s where I’m at, how can I make this better? Those are the things I really enjoy doing, like I think you should end on this note because it sets up the chorus better here. Or, you’re saying too many words, let’s smooth it out a little bit and make it more digestible for the listener and they’ll like it more. You’re trying to say too many words in a short amount of space, and may be the music calls for it, may be it doesn’t. So, those are the kinds of things I wanted to focus on in coaching. Show me what you’re working on, and I’ll help you work on it, that kind of a thing.
Related links:
Review: Scorpions & Queensrÿche Rock The Forum
Review: Queensrÿche Plays Rare Intimate Acoustic Set
Queensrÿche links: website | facebook | twitter | instagram
Queensrÿche ‘Condition Hüman’ US headline tour dates:
Jan. 07 @ Rockbar – San Jose, CA
Jan. 08 @ House of Blues – Anaheim, CA
Jan. 09 @ Hard Rock Live – Las Vegas, NV
Jan. 10 @ Rialto Theatre – Tucson, AZ
Jan. 12 @ Marquee Theatre – Phoenix, AZ
Jan. 14 @ Alamo City Music Hall – San Antonio, TX
Jan. 15 @ Trees – Dallas, TX
Jan. 16 @ Scout Bar – Houston, TX
Jan. 17 @ Brewster Street Ice House – Corpus Christi, TX
Jan. 21 @ Theatre of Living Arts – Philadelphia, PA
Jan. 22 @ Starland Ballroom – Sayreville, NJ
Jan. 23 @ The Palladium – Boston, MA
Jan. 24 @ Chameleon Club – Lancaster, PA
Jan. 25 @ 9:30 Club – Washington D.C.
Jan. 27 @ Bogart’s – Cincinnati, OH
Jan. 28 @ Limelight – Peoria, IL
Jan. 29 @ St. Croix Casino – Turtle Lake, WI
Jan. 30 @ The Rave – Milwaukee, WI
Jan. 31 @ Concord Music Hall – Chicago, IL
Feb. 02 @ Knuckleheads – Kansas City, MO
Feb. 03 @ Summit Music Hall – Denver, CO
Feb. 04 @ In The Venue – Salt Lake City, UT
Feb. 05 @ Knitting Factory – Reno, NV
If you like what you’ve read, support Metal Assault and buy us a drink: