Geoff Tate is best known as the former frontman for Queensryche and the mastermind behind one of the biggest and best concept albums in rock and roll “Operation: Mindcrime.” After a long and drawn out legal battle with his former bandmates over use of the Queensryche name, Geoff has moved on with a brand new project fittingly called Operation:Mindcrime.
For this project, Geoff has collaborated with some of the best of the best in rock and released a brand new album, “The Key.” I recently had the chance to chat with Geoff about this exciting new project and get all the details. Please join us and find out the latest on Operation:Mindcrime and “The Key.”
KE: Hi Geoff, Welcome to BackstageAxxess.com and thank you for taking the time to talk with us today.
GT: Oh, it’s my pleasure.
KE: You have an exciting new project right now called Operation:Mindcrime so let’s talk about that. You’re referring to this not as a band in the traditional sense but a musical project. Would you explain that?
GT: Well, you kind of explained it. (Laughter) It’s kind of an open ended project with different musicians, performers, and songwriters getting together and writing a project and making an album, that kind of thing.
KE: You have so many different talented musicians involved in this project. How did you get this group together?
GT: I just called everybody, simple as that. (Laughter)
KE: OK, Let’s talk about the debut album “The Key.” What was the writing process like?
GT: I wrote a story and took the story and broke it down into an outline and started working with composing music to go along with the outline really, music that would help tell the story and that’s kind of the way I always work really. I generally start with a theme or a story line idea and compose music to it.
KE: “The Key” is the first part of a trilogy. Are you already working on parts two and three?
GT: Yeah, the three records tell one story and they come out 9 or 12 months apart. The second one is almost finished. We’re at the mix stage right now and the third album is mostly written, just have the last few songs on that.
KE: “The Key” is really based on an interesting concept, this whole idea of a technology being developed that could change basically everything. What was your inspiration for this idea?
GT: Well honestly, it was a hiking trip I took last year. My wife and I went to Spain. We hiked the Camino de Santiago Pilgrim trail that goes around 500 miles across northern Spain. I came up with the idea for the story on the trip and started immediately working on the idea. I’ve been wanting to make a kind of a large scale conceptual project for awhile and I liked the idea of doing it in the trilogy, the three records telling one story. So when I came up with the story line I thought, oh, this is the perfect kind of story for something like this.
KE: The name of this project, Operation:Mindcrime, is also the name of the famous Queensryche concept album. What made you decide this was the right name for the project?
GT: Well I needed a name for it. I needed something that I thought was identifiable to fans of my music, something they could latch onto. Also, I wanted a name or a phrase that would set the tone for the kind of music I’m doing now and concentrating on, which is conceptual work. Mindcrime is known as a concept album so I thought it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch. So it kind of accomplishes both tasks really.
KE: Yes, right. Is there a tour in the works for this record?
GT: Yeah. We have tour dates starting in Europe on November 13th which is not far away actually.
KE: With so many people involved in the project, how will touring work? Will you have a touring lineup?
GT: Yeah. I think the beauty of this kind of system is that everybody involved gets to participate in some manner and that way they also get to partake in whatever other projects their involved with as well. We have kind of a core group of myself and Kelly Gray and Randy Gane and Scott Moughton. Our rhythm section will be changing out on the tour depending on the dates and that kind of thing.
KE: Are you planning on playing this album from start to finish?
GT: Yes, I am actually.
KE: Cool, any Queensryche songs as well?
GT: Yeah, yeah. I’m kind of dipping into my past catalog of work which is quite extensive. Looking through it all, I’ve got a lot of stuff to choose from (laughter). I’m probably gonna sandwich the new album in between some past songs that I’ve written.
KE: What about your sax? Will you be taking it out on tour and maybe playing some of those great sax parts in “On Que?”
GT: Yeah, I will.
KE: Are you doing anything special vocal wise to prepare for the tour?
GT: Just my usual routine of singing everyday, rehearsing with the band. That’s kind of what I do.
KE: Everyone who listens to “The Key” is going to have their own take on it. What is the one thing you hope listeners take away from it?
GT: Well, I hope they have a curiosity as to what comes next (laughter). I think that’s the major thing I want to leave them with. What’s next? What’s the next album going to be like?
KE: There are so many influences and different styles in your albums. Who were some of your biggest influences when crafting this one?
GT: Probably, I grew up in that wonderful time of the 1960s and ’70s where there was lots of music out there and lots of freedom with musicians to create, you know, music without the confines of genres that came later. I grew up with concept records. The Beatles of course and Pink Floyd, Genesis, Yes, bands like that were real influential to me. So there’s probably some elements of those in what I do mixed with my own personal musicality that I developed over the years.
KE: Does a conceptual album really free you up then creatively to kind of just go wild with it?
GT: Yeah, definitely. Conceptual writing is actually quite a challenge and I really like the challenge to try and tell the story with the music as opposed to an album of stand alone songs which I like doing too. I’ve done both in my career and kind of flip flopped back and forth. I prefer the conceptual style of writing. I like to tell stories. I like to tell long, involved stories so it works out well for me you know.
KE: Absolutely. Are you doing any videos for the trilogy and what about the possibility of one collection that would tie everything together?
GT: Perhaps, yeah. That’s definitely a possibility.
KE: That would be fantastic. Thanks so much for taking the time out to chat with me today Geoff. Best of luck with the record and the upcoming tour.
GT: Great, well thank you for the interview Kris. I appreciate it.
We would like to thank Jeff Albright from The Albright Entertainment Group for setting up the interview with Geoff. For more information on Operation:Mindcrime including the new CD “The Key,” please go to: Operation:Mindcrime.
