2008) - since you never officially left, they just asked Leah Kennedy
you back?
I was hired back to perform with them during
those years and in 2006 I sang on their Operation
MindCrime II release which also turned into a full
blown tour from 2006 - 2008. I still occasionally do
shows with them if I am in town. It all depends.
That experience, however, burned your inner musician, started a fever to get back and record your
OWN music, yes?
Yes. It was in 2008 that I decided to start writing my newest metal release, "Resurrect Me" and specifically sought out guitar players to write with. I
wanted that heavy guitar sound on the new record and
what better way to get that sound than to write with
guitar players, right? I guess you could say I've come
full circle.
Your press/bio mentions 2004 album ?A Retrospective" in the list, but doesn't say much about it…tell
?
us about that?
"A Retrospective" was a collection of songs I
wrote the years before 2003. The EP was a limited
pressing and designed to sell as a reintroduction to
the Queensryche fans when I returned to work for
them in 2003/2004. It will never be reprinted.
How did you get to team up with Benjamin Anderson, tell us how that started?
Ben has been a dear friend for many years. He
was one of the original members of Rorschach Test
and is now the founding member for Missionary Position as well as keyboard player for The Walking Pa-
pers. I had mentioned to him one day that I wanted
to start writing for a solo CD and he told me he would
love to get together and see what we came up with
artistically. “Stories from a Blue Room” was born.
You're still on tour with QR, and yet your album
?Stories from a Blue Room? comes out in 2006, how
were you able to make that happen?
The downside of releasing “Blue Room” was it
got buried under Operation MindCrime II because it
came out the same year. I was contracted to tour with
Queensryche promoting MindCrime II and because of
that was never really able to get behind the promotion
of “Blue Room”. I was able to sell it on tour which
helped but that was the extent of it.
I imagine that QR didn't see that as any distraction
for you and the band, since Michael Wilton took
part in it, yes? :)
Yes, Whip did a great solo! Doing my solo
work has never been an issue with Queensryche or a
distraction for them. In fact, my solo work might
have made things more interesting for the fans.
Were you able to do any of your own shows to support the release, since it came during your second
tour with QR?
Unfortunately, because I was so busy with the
Queensryche's Operation MindCrime 1 & 2 tour, I