Former Queensryche singer Geoff Tate says he's looking forward to ending his use of the band name with a certain amount of relief – because it no longer stands for what it once did.
And he admits the “terrible negative things” said by both parties has robbed him of some of his pride in what the band achieved while he was a member.
Tate and his former colleagues settled out of court earlier this year, following their acrimonious split in 2012 and an interim legal judgement that allowed both to work under the title. Once he completes his “farewell” tour he’ll start being billed mainly with his own name, while the band now fronted by Todd La Torre will continue as the only Queensryche.
Tate tells One On One With Mitch Lafon: “It’s kind of an end to the story. I’m very happy about that; very glad that we finally reached a settlement.”
But he adds: “There’s a lot of mixed emotions. I’m glad I’m moving on. I wish things were different – I wish it hadn’t gone to the level it went to with the lawsuits and all that stuff, and all the horrible negative stuff that’s been said.
“That never was what I thought Queensryche was about. When I wrote Operation: Mindcrime people started saying, ‘This is a thinking man’s band’ and I was very pleased with that monicker. That’s what Queensryche meant to me – thinking music.
“Now the name means something different. It means this awful lawsuit, this fight, these terrible, negative things. That’s not my idea of what Queensryche is. So I think it’s a good time to put and end to that.”
Tate is working on an album that he says will “continue the vision” he expressed as Queensryche’s frontman. “I’ve been coming up with material and working on a new vision,” he reports. “It’s a wonderful position to be in – I can do a lot more of what I want to do, without the confines of the name.”
He adds: “I can’t get away from rock; that’s what I’ve always done. My version may differ from other people’s, but that goes with territory.”
Tate’s final Queensryche show takes place in Kansas on August 28. La Torre’s band are also currently on the road across the US.
