 I'm going to move. Here we are, guys. Look at this. Those are some nice digs you guys have happening there. Yeah, look at that. It's all right. First time, I think, on the metal voice, Alan. I mean, Todd has been a regular for a long time. Oh, really? Yeah, we're spoiled today. We're being double teamed here with Michael and Eddie Jackson. Of course, a Queen's right face. That's right. Guys? Michael's just trying to find a better spot here, showing off all the beautiful wood paneling. There we go. OK. Look at that. So, you guys, just everybody knows. Oh, look at that. That's crazy. That's the producer. OK. In Florida. Wow, look at this. Look at that cheese. Wow. Look at that chandelier. What a beautiful background. Yeah, this was his office, apparently. So, guys, just tell us who this house used to belong to, or it was just what celebrity it was. It was Hulk Hogan, famous wrestler. Yeah. He had a reality show on MTV years back, and this is where he lived and filmed a majority of his show. He's in Florida, right? That's right. OK, that's it. He lived in Florida. Clearwater, Florida, right? Yeah. Yeah. Bellair. Wow. Clearwater is a great place. Been there many times. Guys? OK. We'll go back and forth between Eddie and Michael. OK. Tell us what you're doing at this beautiful residence. Tell us what's going on, Michael. Well, we're doing a think tank session recording demos for the new Queensrike album. Right. So we're kind of doing it more as a group, more as brainstorming everybody together. And, you know, as well as getting out of the dreary Seattle weather to come down to Tampa, Florida, it's actually kind of a, it's a throwback to the way, you know, we used to build songs together, you know, back when there was no pro tools. And there was like four track recorders, eight track recorders and things, you know, they still all got together and, and gave everybody your ideas, you know, and, and you brainstorm and, you know, things come up and you try them out and you throw them at the, at the canvas and you see if it sticks. And that's kind of what we're doing now. I mean, it's, it's obviously it's in a digital framework, but, you know, and the ideas are flowing. Oh, good. It's kind of exciting, you know, because it's like, this is back, you know, Eddie and I were probably in our, you know, 20s or something, you know, late 20s and, you know, and then once the digital age came about, it was more of like everybody's, you know, got their own little personal studio and, and, you know, the networking is a little different. It changes, you know, you don't have the human touch, the human contact. And so this is, this is kind of refreshing fun and, you know, we're coming up with some, some really killer stuff. So, and, and, you know, and the fact that Todd, you know, the support back there. Todd knows some people, you know, I didn't, I didn't arrange this place, obviously. So, but anyway, that's what we're doing. Mr. Network himself. One other thing is, one other thing is our last show was a February 27th of last year, 2020. And this is the first time we've actually seen each other in over a year. Wow. Yeah, it was kind of nice getting together and work, you know, and we're, we're just kind of, we just arrived a couple of days ago, but yeah, you know, we're here for just about two weeks. And, you know, kind of like Michael said, we had to run our thinking caps on and start creating some music. So that, that's it going back to where Michael said earlier, you guys are pumping it out. You've got some good vibes happening. Is that because you guys were so pent up and isolated for so long, that the, the, the thoughts and the, the music is just flowing out of you at this point? Right, you know, but it's all kind of a scattered and fragmented. Right. You know, everybody's got ideas. And it's like, now it's like we can converge. And now we can, you know, assimilate and put things together and experiment, you know, on, you know, in real time, with humans. So it's a social interaction. Is it about the cues? And what I mean by the cues is, when artists are together, they hear something and then they build on that cue, like, oh, you'll, a lyrical idea or a riff. And then you kind of build on that. That's what the difference between, you know, phoning it in versus being together in person is it's it's hearing those little certain nuances and creating music that way. That's daddy. Sorry. OK, now, can you repeat that, please? Yeah, maybe I convoluted. I made it too complicated a question. Is it about the sound cues that you get from each other that create that sort of music, you know, versus being at home and dialing it in? I think I think a lot of it is the fact that, you know, compared to everyone emailing ideas, it's just simply a lot of the stuff is, you know, off the top of your head, you know, we have general, you know, ideas already, you know, in place, but a lot of it is just, you know, putting all this together, as opposed to maybe one of us sending a composition and then kind of working on it later. But this is a lot of it is the fact that we have exchanged song ideas with one another for over the last year or so. And getting together as a band is a whole different dynamic, you know, you're just feeding ideas off each other. And, you know, it's like Michael said, it's something how it's the way that we used to write back in the day. Okay, cool. Yeah, so I have some internet problems here, so I got logged off there. But guys, when you, is it when you're back in the basement, writing the original EP by Queens, right? I mean, is that the same sort of vibe? Like, you know, you're a bunch of teenagers, right? You're looking guys there. Who are those guys? Who are those guys? I mean, you know, walk us through that. You're in the basement, writing these songs. We'll go back and forth in time here. But is that the same, is that the same feeling, Michael? Old school. Yeah, but obviously we're, we're like a fine wine now, you know, we've, we've aged and we've, we've done this for so long. There's the anticipation is, is, you know, somewhat known what we're going to do. But back then, you know, we really didn't know what was going to happen. We just kind of believed in what we were doing. We just kind of had the riffs, had these ideas, you know, everybody was, you know, kind of newly friended together and we were bonding. So it was a whole different dynamic, you know, so it was a whole different dynamic that happened back then. We were young. I mean, we were like 18, 19, 20, you know, and do you remember being that young and trying to organize your life and do something like that means something? It was, it's, I was just, I was just trying to collect enough money to buy an album back then. I was like, I was 16. I was like, mom, can I have another dollar? You know, and, and I think, you know, back then, I think, you know, I can speak for most of us, but we were, we were like going to the record store and looking at all the imports and all the import albums we were buying, like the Iron Maiden and the Accept and Tigers of Pantang and all these, these old, these albums that were inspiring us, you know, and in that time in the Seattle scene, it was all like top 40 radio, that kind of stuff, you know, dance, music, whatever. And, you know, we were young. Probably had a little bit of a rebellion in us. So, and, you know, we wanted to make music like they were making music over in Europe. Yeah, so that's how it works. Well, yeah, you guys did. So, you know, I think it's, it's just, you know, there's, there's elements I think that were, that you capture now, but it's, I mean, back then, I mean, it was, this, this is your life and this is, what are you going to do with it? You know, and let's, let's kick ass. Yeah, a lot of that, like Michael said, you know, you, you were young, just getting started, you know, and then now that we've, what over 35 plus years, you know, kind of established ourselves as a band and, you know, this is very refreshing getting together, like we used to back in the day, you know, as a band to, you know, to write compositions and all. Yeah. Yeah, and I mean, going back to the time, like I said, we're jumping all over the place, but I mean, this EP was a great idea. I don't know who's it was, but, you know, like you said, I'm taking credit for it. Yeah. $7.79 plus tax and, you know, if you had 10, you had enough to buy the EP, which a lot of people did. Plus the songs were fantastic. So, I mean, that was a great way to introduce the band. I don't think too many people here in North America were doing that. So is that a manager's decision, record labels, I think it was, you know, it was all like, you know, we were just brainstorming and, you know, how do we get this out here? We basically, we had a four song cassette and the place that we would go get all our import records was, would eventually be the management team that would catapult this and invest in this. And, you know, and we got them to press, I don't know, Ed, was it like 20,000 records or something like that, something like that. And, you know, things started happening. And just because of, you know, pressing that EP, you know, it made its way to Karang magazine and we got featured in the armed and ready section of that magazine and got a, you know, really nice review. They're very kind to us. And, you know, it kind of exploded all of a sudden. You know, we were working day jobs. We were twisting resistors and, you know, doing stuff. And all of a sudden, you know, they had the radio station on. I remember it was KZ OK in Seattle, Washington. And I heard Queen of the Reich. This is like every band's sort of dream, right? Like it's just like every band's dream. You you put out a demo and it just explodes. And that's what happened, right? Yeah. And, you know, it's playing on the radio. I'm trying to tell that to the boss and the other workers in the factory. That's us and they wouldn't believe it. They go, that's not you guys. That's that sounds like a European band, you know, that's not you. And then finally, I think it was the the DJ said, yeah, that's Seattle's very own, you know, Queen's Reich and mentioned our names. And then then the boss said, oh, my gosh. So so what are you guys quitting? No, the one thing the one thing is, you know, starting out as a band, you really have no idea how far that's going to take you, you know, it's such an unknown. But, you know, we've been, you know, very fortunate to continue doing something like this that we really enjoy, you know, and a very strong fan base. And yeah, all I can say is, you know, we're very fortunate to continue, you know, releasing albums, touring the world. And, you know, and we still enjoy today, you know, just as much as we did back when we first started. You know, I just I reached out to go ahead. Just a question about Snyder's book. Just that's a good point, Eddie, because today it's one shot and you're out. Did you have a three three album deal at your first contract or how did it work? Yeah, I think it was like a what was it, Michael? Maybe a six album, five album, maybe six album. Yeah, it was EMI America, which is kind of unheard of today. You know, it's as you know, the music industry has changed. That's where I want to go with this. Exactly what you guys are talking about, you know, Dee Snyder, you know, he compliments you guys and he goes, we're struggling. But these guys, they're they're like out of the gate. They're like exploding and and they had more leverage with the record company. And they had a six album deal and they're touring before they're playing the clubs where we were kind of like struggling. Do you remember being on tour with Twiz's sister and. How did how did you have so much leverage? Is it because it was so much demand? Well, one thing you we didn't realize we were really young, obviously. And we signed this deal. And there's something that's in the deal called tour support. And that was our leverage. But we didn't realize that we had to pay that back. Yeah, yeah, don't be ditched, Bryce. Here's your huge record log. You got minutes, balloons and horses and it's all coming out of your salary. Yeah, so I tell you, touring with Twiz's sister back then was a great opportunity for us. Great guys, really great guys and great band, you know. And yeah, yeah, we were very fortunate to, you know, that was one of our first major tours when we first started. Yeah, yeah. We know and local shows in Seattle with Ronnie James Dio. And there was a band called Zebra, you know, we ended up opening up for them in Seattle. And then we hopped on the Twiz's sister tour. And, you know, that was a great time. Great guys. What a great album. Zebra. The next Led Zeppelin. Everybody was the next Led Zeppelin back then. Oh, man. Yeah, but I remember that tour, the reviews the next morning here in Montreal was, you know, you guys blew Twiz's sister off the stage. I mean, I think Dee even sat down. They made more out of the fact that Dee grabbed the chair and sat down and went performing any longer until the fans got into it. So and that was, like you said, early in your career. It's crazy. It was, you know, and that's like Eddie and I, obviously, you know, back never really played any shows of that magnitude. And I think we did the two shows and in the two paramount theaters, one in Seattle and one in Portland, Oregon. And I think Ed did after that, didn't we like fly to Texas and do some Texas jam with Quiet Riot? Yeah. Yeah. So we went from like a theater of, you know, three thousand, yeah, three thousand to like eight thousand. And for, you know, a 20 year old kid, it was mind blowing being on that stage, seeing so many people. And it's like, wow, this is, you know, you're young and in your 20s. And you're going, this is really cool. You know, I think I'm going to I'm going to say I'm going to read something here. OK. Night Rider, blinded, warning, deliverance. And one one five six before the storm, child of fire, road to madness, walk in the shadows, I dream in infrared, surgical strike, chemical youth, London, screaming and digital, revolution, calling, operation, mind crime, speak, spreading the disease, the needle lies, my empty room, the thin line, empire resistance, hand on heart, one and only. What are those things have all in common? These are some pretty, that's like it's Michael Wilton. And and when you look at, you know, I think you get overshadowed sometimes, Michael, you know, and not to say that everybody else doesn't do anything. I'm just saying, I think you get overshadowed. People say, oh, the garmotate, but my God, I was just reading this today. I couldn't believe how much. Input, you know, you put in the in co-writing all these major songs. Well, we have when we used to write the guitar riffs, you know, Chris and I would come together and I'd say, I have a riff, you know, he has a riff and, you know, we'd kind of combine ideas and, you know, so that that's kind of how it was done in the first few albums. And, you know, it was. As far as, you know, authorship is concerned, we really kind of figured that out later. And but, you know, we were more about coming up with ideas and presenting them, you know, to the guys and and and we always wanted to do it, you know, more in a interesting way. And it it just it just made what we did a little more funner to play. And I think, you know, back in those days, it was, you know, I think everybody was involved in the making of those songs. But, you know, the the seeds, I guess, you know, came from a lot of those ones you mentioned, myself and Chris. So you're very humble. You're very humble and Eddie and now Eddie, I just want to say one thing. I know I just cut off Alan. You know, I think and just tell me if I'm wrong here. You started off as all these songwriters. But, Eddie, where I'm seeing your musicianship and your writing has come into the last three albums, like I just it's off the charts. Your contributions and the great song structures. You want to talk about that a little bit? Well, like like Michael said, at the beginning, you know, it was Michael, Chris and Jeff. That spent a lot of time, actually, weren't you three living in the same house at one time, Michael? Yeah, we had an apartment together. That was one of the first adventures away from home, you know. Yeah. So when the three Michael, Chris and Jeff are living in the same house, it's as you can tell, it's easy to sit down and compose a lot of the music because you've got the two guitar players and the singer. Yeah. But, you know, throughout, you know, through our career and, you know, the more albums that we released, you know, Scotty and I were, you know, we're able to start contributing songs. And but, you know, I don't know. I mean, it I don't know if I really look at, you know, look at it the way that you might have, you know, questioned it. But I just think to me, it's just contributing, you know, and, you know, it's just sometimes it just turns out that way. You know, you might, you know, there might be several songs that that I might have written that are part of the, you know, a part of an album. But again, it's just a matter of everyone contributing. And that's probably the simplest way I can actually answer that. Yeah, but I just applaud you for for really, really even stepping up even more so than before in these years, we'll call it, right? And just some great songs, just some great songs. Well, thank you. Yeah. Alan, I cut you off before. No, no, no, it's fine. You know, and again, you know, going back recently, we did the top albums and going back and listening to the warning. Man, EMI, I don't know if that deep pockets or what. But I mean, you know, we had Abbey Road Studios and it's your first full length album. And the sound on that album is absolutely stunning to this day. Thank you. Yeah. I mean, that was a big step in our career going to England to record that album and, you know, using a great producer named James Guthrie, who was very influential and and a great man named Michael Cayman, you know, who who worked with us. So, yeah, it was an eyeopening experience. And plus, you know, as you know, we're in our young 20s and we're in living in a flat in what was it, Pembridge Crescent in England. Yeah, for three months, you know, but it was crazy. None of us had ever been out of the country before. And that was such a big culture shock for us, you know, arriving in London and what a great time, though. Yeah, we grew up really fast, definitely. Is that that UK Prague, the UK Prague feeling of being in London? And was that sort of, you know, you wanted to sort of bank on? Or just that was kind of more underground. It was more of the, you know, that 80s new wave kind of music, the dance music that was happening in London and like Pet Shop Boys and Boy George and all that kind of stuff. So that the metal, there was an underground metal that was, you know, that was awesome. And they had they had their the great magazines and everything, you know, and the clothing. And it was a great time to be there, you know, for that. And it's like we recorded in, I think, three studios. And, and, you know, one being one and being Abby Road. Yeah, Abby Road, May Inspire Eos and Angel Studios. Yes, that's very inspiring. Right. Yeah. So we were very thankful. That was a great experience. Is there any is there any truth to that? You know, they took the the mix and they mixed it and nobody was happy with the mix at the end of the day. Or or is that just sort of like? No, there was there was a couple of mixes floating around. You know, we had that was a little more political, I guess, with the record label. You know, they wanted that we've really liked James Guthrie's mixes and they wanted it more AOR friendly, I think, you know, in America. So they had another gentleman mix it. So, yeah, there's there's two mixes that were out there. And they they chose the the other guy. That was all part of a learning a learning experience for us as well. You know, we were so new to the business. You know, every band, you know, will experience something like this at one time or another. I think the key word there is business, right? Yeah. Yeah. I know Todd LaTorre's favorite album, The Warning, heads up. Head up. Guys, can we play every song off the album? So, you know, look, me and Alan, we were probably a few years younger than you guys, but we were the buyers of these albums, right? You know, and when it came out, I was like, oh, my God, I guess what's going on here. I bring back so many memories listening to that again. I mean, you know, before the storm just deep, deep tracks, like great album. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. And then we'll just look, we're not going to go through all your catalog here. We're just kind of like doing a couple of highlights. Then, of course, Rage Florida. To me, it's like the masterpiece of all masterpieces. There it is. There's Alan. On vinyl. Yeah, that album, you know, I think. Was when we really started to signify our sort of sound, maybe direction, you know, but that's a very memorable album for me as well. Yeah. Yeah. And we were very, you know, looking for different ways to approach the songs and trying to be a bit more experimental, I think. And, you know, I mean, we were doing, we were bringing in sound effects and things crazy, yelling into the guitars and doing all kinds of interesting things to make it more unique. I remember we were in a parking garage and we recorded trunks slamming on cars and getting the big sound in the parking garage and using that. Well, that's what you hear at the end of the song, Walk in the Shadows. Oh, OK. Is a trunk or a door, a car. Yeah. And it was just a parking garage. The parking garage. And we sampled it and that's what you hear at the end of the song of Walk in the Shadows. And again, having having having that four to five record deal or whatever it was, I mean, this this allow you the chance to breathe and experiment. Whereas if you had a three acre deal, now you're going to have to start delivering and get the sales as the business aspect is probably pushing. I think we were more of, you know, let's let's do this, promote it and and tour. We were a heavy touring band and that's mainly what we were. And we, you know, we got the opportunity to open for some some great bands, some unique bands. And but it kind of, you know, became a cycle, you know, and you'd get to the point where, you know, you'd be writing the next album and you'd sometimes play a couple of new songs and, you know, see how the audience reacts. And then you tour for a year and then another year, you know, and then then you go, it's just, I think with with the record company, it was it was more of just, you know, record and then just promote the hell out of it. I remember seeing you guys open for Ozzy Osbourne that day. Yeah, me too. Yeah. On the ultimate sin. The crazy cookie Iron Man. Yeah, that was it. That was some interesting times. You know, what I guess me and Alan were talking about is like, you know, the image, you know, did they push you guys? And I mean, I know it's been talked about a lot that that that image and overdoing it, right? You know, that sort of gothic style. Was that pushed by the record company? Or was that, you know, that's we get asked that question a lot, but then we ask all the bad, you know, we really, you know, didn't really sort of have any type of direction on what we wanted to look like. You know, we were just focusing on the music, but that album just, you know, I mean, that's as, you know, as simple as I can explain that. I don't know. I mean, it, look, I can show you pictures of me back then. So don't worry. I think, you know, that it was more the management at the time that was really pushing, but the, the whole image conscious thing, you know, it's like, they were, you know, trying to tell us you have to have an image and it's like, okay, well, I'm not sure about this, but we'll try it, you know, and then we realized, you know, the music's the image. Like Eddie said, it was like, you know, the next album, Minecraft, we're right back in the leather, you know, I agree with you because you got people had the hair net boxes in the studio at the same time. And you guys never went there. The music stood by itself. And yeah, I never realized that until Eddie just mentioned it. It's true. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I just, going back to this here, the studio and more nights, we talked about this right before we started chit chatting. What are your fond memories of working, you know, in Montreal? We're in Montreal. So, you know, it's close by. And what are your fond memories of working at List Studio and creating operation, mind crime? You know, good, bad. I'm pretty sure I remember we had, Chris and I had our our Marshall stacks out in the in the room there. And I remember recording a lot of the solos there. And it was to this day, I just I remember doing like the solo and the needle lies right there with the producer, Peter Collins and the engineer Jim Barton, you know, and I'm just noodling, right? They go, Okay, I think we got it. I go, what? You know, remember Paul Northfield? Yeah, he was he was in the mix as well. He was he did one song. He did Empire, right? Yeah. On Empire was was recorded and mixed before we went to Vancouver Studios. And so that was kind of lingering in between, you know, mind crime and Empire. But it was studio. Remember, we went, it was snowing when we were there. Oh, yeah, we tried to ski down that hill there. Yeah, winter, a lot of snow everywhere, you know, but, you know, we didn't it didn't bother us because we spent most of our time indoors, you know, but you know, it's I think it was, it was, you know, just knowing that Rush had recorded there, I think it was like there was a certain vibe, you know, that was exciting for us. And, you know, it was just a great experience, you know, to be there and, you know, created some great music there. You guys big Rush fans? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Who isn't, you know, they're all coming out of the woodworks now. Sure. What was your first Rush show? Oh, geez. It was in the 80s. I think it was farewell to Kings tour. Oh, yeah. Wow. I was there at Signals. That was like my first show. Alan, which one did you see? Signals, yeah. Yeah, first row. It was probably like 15, I think. I missed the 2112 tour by a couple of years because that was like about a year or two before they toured for farewell to Kings, but and I believe what was the following? What was the hemispheres? I think that was a farewell. Yeah, all the Kings. I think I was able to I think I remember seeing that show as well. I don't remember. You guys ever toured with Rush? I can't remember. No, but no, many times live. Yeah, great. It would have been a great package. That would have been fun. I mean, wow, that'd been great. So, okay, we've touched on the past. Moving forward, you know, you guys have some great momentum off the last three albums with Todd. What is Todd's? Todd's a force to be reckoned with. You know, me and Alan talk to Todd all the time. You know, the guys are drummer, the guys are guitarist, the guys like an insane freak of nature vocalist. I mean, this guy's what are your thoughts on Todd leading sort of the charge and helping you guys re re I guess, you know, it's been some while now but what is Todd thoughts on Todd thoughts on Todd. I can't even structure a sentence. Thoughts on Todd. Yeah, well, you know, obviously, it was we took a chance with Todd and it turned out to be great, you know, and and he's he's proven himself and he's he's a man that you know, that is is gung ho on, you know, making music and making things happen. And, you know, true, he cut his teeth on the warning playing drums. So yeah, he's he's an accomplished drummer. And, you know, and I've seen him play guitar as well, you know, and he's he's he can get a get around on the guitar fairly well. But very talented individual. But you know, but I think above all, he's just he's a good guy to be around. You know, he's he's, you know, it's it's when you're when you're touring as much as we do, you know, the personalities have to kind of mend, you know, and he's he's such a good friend, you know, and and as a bandmate as well. So I think that's the main key. So I think that, you know, he's he's in it for, you know, he's gone through a lot of crazy stuff with us already. And he's he's having a great time, I think. And we're just a bunch of guys making great music. And and he's he's just very, very special, I guess. Well, you know, he's like I said, he's very talented. Like Michael said, he's very driven, you know, but just like Michael said, he's a great guy, you know, no ego, you know, and I think what I've noticed that's really important is that he's a total team player. And yeah, so he's still a fan of the music, right? He's I mean, we have him on the show here, he can talk about the the warning or albums out in the 80s. Yeah, well, you know, it helps that he likes the band, you know, past. So it's a So when he came in, it's like, he was it was a decision up front, you're going to be an integral part of the writing process, you're going to be a member of the band, not not kind of like a Judas Priest Ripper Owens, where you stand off to the side and we'll handle everything like we've always done. It, you know, I tell everybody this just kind of organically happened, you know, the chain of events that led up to it. And you know, it was, it was, we never held auditions or anything like that, you know, it was just met this guy. Hey, guys, I got a guy that says he can sing for us. The one thing like you said, yeah, one thing that you mentioned was, you know, he was a fan of the band to begin with. So, you know, when we started rehearsing, he already knew our music, he already knew the lyrics to a majority of the song. So that was, you know, rather beneficial at the time, you know, that's how, you know, it kind of expedited a lot of the things. Yeah, yeah. What do you foresee? Okay, you're an album for now with Todd. It's incredible. What do you foresee going musically? Like, what kind of, are you going to go into another, another sort of direction? Or are you stick to the same old, same old? Where do you foresee going? What is the song kind of like sounding like so far? Well, I don't know. It's kind of it. It is what it is. You know, like, I can't describe it. It's just, it's our ideas. Is that a tough question to sort of at this point, maybe to answer, right? Maybe you're not there yet? I, yeah, I don't know. I have a hard time, you know, telling people what my guitar style is, you know, it's like, I have no idea what I do, technically or whatever. So this is, I think it's just organically happening. And, you know, we've got a lot of ideas. So now it's, it's just, we're just building it, we're just, and that's kind of the joy of doing this as a band as we get to see it happen in real time, and see the songs build in that, you know, from the, from the riff, you know, to the finished song. And it's like, you know, we're in that process right now. So it's kind of hard to say where we're going or what we're doing. But it's our producer Zeus, if this is any indication, he says, it sounds like Queen's Rake. All right. Oh, that's cool. Alan, what'd you want to say there? No, I just, maybe I'll take take your question just to tackle it from a different aspect here, you know, if you look at, like, I mean, that's the one thing about Queen's Rake, right? I mean, you go from the warning to rage for order, and then empire to into the frontier, now frontier, then you got, you know, American soldier, promise land. So you're not you're not scared to change it up. But your last album has been much more focused, I would dare I say old school back to the original sound. So is that all those changes that happened in the past? I mean, American soldier and Jimmy and I debate this all the time. That's that's something that's really, really different, right? So is it maybe is this going to be more continuation of where it's been with Todd, or you're going to change it up like you've done in the past? I think, you know, we're just we're just going with our gut right now. And I it's it's you don't want to take too many drastic chances in this day and age. So I think it's more, like you said, more of a continuation of the verdict maybe in some sense, you know, we're just we're riding that wave, you know, it's been good to us. They broke don't fix it. People are saying Jimmy take some questions because like the texts are coming in and coming in. Sure, it could be a combination of the last three albums we've released, you know, but there you go. There you go. Again, we're just kind of, you know, kind of doing our thing. All right, guys, quick questions. Jason wants to know favorite venues you played at Eddie or Michael? I don't Madison Madison Square Garden with Iron Maiden. Yes, that was fun beat that. You know, you know, I tough question for me. I mean, just about any venue, you know, I mean, you know, we're a touring band, you know, and I'll perform anywheres. Yeah, we've played some pretty crappy places. Which places? Yeah, some, some, I'd rather say like Madison Square Garden than, you know, here's a Joshua. Will the band ever try to acquire the rights to issue live in Tokyo as a standalone CD? Maybe I'm not sure if it was or wasn't ever released as a CD. I don't think it was. To my knowledge. Yes, unless there's bootlegs out there, you know, that that's a logistic question. I don't, that's a business oriented thing. So I don't know. I don't have the answers for that. Alan. No, I mean, you know, we were talking about Todd earlier, and I was able to see you guys over for the Scorpions a couple of years ago, well, more than a couple of it. And you know, you know, we had all the drama and everything and the launching with Todd and the new albums and everybody. Man, when you guys hit that stage, it's like, ah, okay, now I get it. When he does Queen of the Right there, you're like, okay, you know, this, this makes sense. Now this is, man, then you guys were just a fiery beast playing. It was just pure power. So I mean, just I'm glad to hear that we're going to see more of that probably coming in on the next album. So. Alright, David wants to know your influences. Eddie, Michael, who are your influences growing up, I guess, back in the day? I have so many. But just to name a couple of them, I was, you know, a big fan of Alice Cooper, Grand Funk Railroad, some of the earlier rush, you know, when at the time when I was introduced to to rush was I think it was 2112. But, you know, yes, to Sabbath Van Halen, you know, just to name a few, there's just so many bands out there that I enjoy listening to. Yeah, when I was a kid, I was listening to Jimmy Hendrix, the Beatles, you know, that kind of 60 stuff that records that my, my dad had. So I was listening to that kind of stuff. And then as I got into school, you know, we're listening to, you know, Led Zeppelin. So Jimmy Page was a big influence. And then Richie Blackmore was influenced because we were listening to Deep Purple all the time. And, you know, and then then it was kind of like Ed said, the Prague thing, you know, we've got into Yes, Pink Floyd and the whole, you know, very melodic guitar playing. And then, you know, high school was more of the like UFO and Michael Schenker and, you know, and then Van Halen, you know, the, the crazy, you know, fast playing stuff, you know, and, and so, you know, all those kind of played a big part, you know, in the guitar arena, I guess for me. But, you know, I don't know if you guys do, but I still kind of listen to that old stuff still. You know, so do I. Well, listen, you know, we're fans first. Yes. Okay. And it's, it's, I don't go a day without at least listening to those bands back in the day, like Michael said, the Beatles, I'm a big fan of, you know, to Alice Cooper to, you know, there was a band called Angel that I kind of got into a while. Pat Travers, you know, I mean, it's just, I'll go back and digress and listen to a lot of those old classic albums, you know, just I'm a fan first, like I said, Frank Marino. Oh, yeah, saw him live open up for the for Aerosmith. Oh, yeah, Frank Marino. Yeah. Mahogany Ratch. Mahogany Ratch. Yeah, I saw him open up. What was that? I think that was draw the line to her for Aerosmith and Mahogany Ratch opened up for him. Oh, Frank Marine is amazing. Yeah, Frank Marino. You know, who also is a really good band I was into was, there's a band Canadian man called what was it? Riot? No, they weren't Canadian, though. Canadian. They weren't Canadian. They weren't Canadian. They're from New York. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah, the Canadian label signed him early on. Yes. Oh, really? I didn't know that Canadian connection. It was a Canadian connection there. Okay. Oh, yeah. Yeah, right. Absolutely. Oh, yeah. Yeah, the that album was a big influence. I love that. Todd Todd's favorite band growing up. Oh, what genre? All right, you're 16 years old. You're in high school. You got you got enough money for one album. You go down to the record store. What are you getting? You know, seven son of a seven sons. What am I all time? Yeah, that's what I remember. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, I'm just saying, hey, I'm going to go back downstairs. So I'll talk to you guys later. I'm glad that you're going to wrap up soon. Here's some more questions, guys, if you're okay with them. A lot of people asking, and I'm just trying to keep up here. And if I going this way, it's because I'm looking at the questions. John saying, Michael and Eddie, what's your favorite Queens right song? If you had to pick one, you could only pick one. Yeah. And then we'll ask Todd the same question. That's and for so many songs we've written, you know, it's hard. It's hard. It's really tough to answer that question. I don't know. I guess depending on the day or the mood you're in or the mood you're in. What am I? It's NM 156. That's song. What a great song. Yeah. Good song. Good song. It's amazing how that music, Michael, you said that was on a 16 or a 24 track you recorded. The warning 16. Oh, crazy. Yeah, crazy. Yeah, because we had was on a 24 track. Yes. Yeah, we had to we had to bake, bake those tapes and preserve them and import them into Pro Tools because the tapes were getting so old, you know, and they were, you know, I guess they start sticking together, right? Yeah. And so, and, and, you know, you open up Rage for Order, it's like, wow, 24 tracks. And then you look at you look at warning, and it's like, wow, 16 tracks. And that's, that's when you start listening and you see like, if an instrument is is is not performing at that time, you know, like a sound effect would be placed on that same track. And then, and then it'd go back to the guitar part or whatever, you know, it was, it was, you know, in those days, it was still kind of the bouncing of tracks and making room for other tracks kind of a thing. Do you guys still talk to DeGarmo? That's from Ferry Dave. Ferry, Ferry, Tacks Dave. Do you start any connection? We keep in contact, you know, right for a long time. Yeah, we're friends and I golf with him once in a while, you know. Okay. Yeah, it's about he's still a great friend of ours, you know, in fact, he called me and wished me a birthday in January, but you know, Michael and I, every once in a while, will, you know, play around a golf with him, you know, get together, you know, for a short while and just hang, you know, but he's very busy, you know, with his schedule. But yeah, I mean, we still keep in touch. That's good. That's a great guy. Yeah, good. Somebody said, Art says, what about a crazy touring story? But I mean, that could go on forever, right? Well, they did open for Aussie. Were you, will you do a CD release show in Seattle when the new record is finished? I guess that's really so far away. That's Mike, what he wants to ask. That's like, that's, that's a possibility, you know, the yeah, sure. I don't know. All right. So what's the Seattle scene like now in the, you know, in just these times compared to what was back in the early 90s? Seattle has been a mecca for all types of music, you know, and as far as anything new, I'm kind of oblivious, I guess to to that. But you know, it's, we've been in a pandemic, so there's been no bands playing. So it's like, you know, you don't really know who's still around or who's doing it. To add to Alan's question, actually, I remember, you know, you guys from Seattle, and then this whole grunge thing happened. I mean, how did it like, were you at odds with the grunge movement at the time? You know, coming out of Seattle and sort of like, I guess, metal kind of being pushed aside. I don't know. I just well, you know, being in the music business, you're aware of, you know, any new trends, you know, any new styles of bands coming out. But, you know, we just kind of stick to doing our own thing, you know, but, you know, we're a fan of a lot of those bands, you know, especially out of Seattle, you know, but, you know, we've always just, you know, kind of continue doing our own thing. We don't let anything else kind of influence us, you know. But, you know, I don't know. I mean, it was a, it was, I tell you, that's that era certainly got Seattle on the map, you know, and a lot of great bands when that whole scene, you know, happened. And a lot of those bands are still active today, which is great. Yeah, cool. The funniest member, Brett wants to know the funniest band member. Who's the funniest band member? I guess I was going to say they are. Eddie. Eddie? Eddie's the funniest guy in the band? He's got lots of good jokes. Well, it'll be pretty funny as well. He's on the spot now. We put him on the spot. He's going to start doing some knock-knock jokes. All right, that's pretty much it. Guys, this was like a super. Thank you so much for taking your time or, you know, looking forward to you guys going back on tour. Oh, is there a show date? Like, I mean, I think I saw somewhere on Facebook there was a... Yeah, I believe we have a show on May 21st, I believe, in Idaho. And there's a string of shows throughout the year, but it's kind of an unknown still, because we actually, a lot of the shows that were scheduled last year that were postponed and rescheduled for this year, those shows starting in January through April, those shows that were scheduled from last year for this year have been rescheduled for later on this year, or maybe even 2022. So it's hard to say what shows are going to happen and what aren't. It's kind of out of our control, but, you know, like I was saying earlier, it's been over a year and three months since we've performed a show, but we're looking forward to it, you know, if it does happen. Yeah, I was going to go see you guys in Vegas, but I guess that got postponed, so... Yeah, that's been rescheduled as well, like a lot of other other shows, too. So we'll see what happens. You know, there's a KISS cruise coming up in October, November, and again, as of right now, we have to assume that these shows are going to happen, but until we hear otherwise. Have you guys been vaccinated? I have been. Michael and I have been. Oh, the doses are one? Sorry? Two or one? Fully-vaxxed, both of them. Oh, jeez. Oh, wow. Yeah, I've been fully vaccinated. Wow. We haven't even gotten our first dose here. You know, it's, I'm not one to say anything more than just, you know, to each his own, you know. Yeah, I agree. You know, it just, it's unfortunate, though, how much, how long this pandemic has been lingering, you know, and it's affected so many people in many ways. I just, you know, I'm kind of burned out on it, to be honest with you. I just, so done with COVID. You know, I just, you know, I'm sure millions of people are thinking the same, but hopefully we'll get back to some normalcy here soon. Well, we're starting with the three of you in the same place in Florida, starting with new music. So that's a, that's a great start for encouraging for everybody. So. Oh yeah. Yeah. And you know what Gabriel said, Jimmy, don't forget that metal church came out of Seattle area, right? Outside of Seattle. That's right. It's like, great band and, you know, another thrash, though, Godfathers of thrash back in the day, right? Todd, tell Todd, thank you very much for, you know, putting us all together, much appreciated. Certainly will. Eddie, Michael, this was a pleasure. Yeah. Let's do it again when you have, you know, more music done and you want to promote that album or tour or whatever it is. We appreciate it a lot. Thank you so much. Absolutely. Hey, thanks for having me. Yeah, definitely. Thanks for the support. Stay well and good luck with the music. Oh yeah. Stay safe out there. Thanks. All right. Have a great day guys.