When I talked to Eddie Jackson back in 2001, for the release of Live Evolution, he gave me so much material that 80% of this has never been seen before!
I had so much material that I had to break it up into four parts!Β In case you missed them:
Queensryche Unedited! – Eddie Jackson Part I
Queensryche Unedited! – Eddie Jackson Part II
Part III is below.Β Stay tuned for the fourth and final part!Β
EDDIE JACKSON INTERVIEW, OCT 30 2001Β (Unedited –Β Part 3)
Picking up where we left off:Β Discussing unused song ideas.
Q β Who remembers these ideas when it comes down to jamming for a new album?Β Is it something that youβd dig up on old tapes, or you just say, βRemember this old bit?β and you play it?
E β Stuff like that just happens.Β What we normally try to do is just create something fresh.Β But itβs always fun to go back and take a listen to something that youβve worked with in the past, on the last release or the release before.Β Because thereβs always some ideas there that you can possibly use.
Q β Thereβs certainly enough stuff out there to collect with the Japanese bonus tracks and stuff.
E β Yeah, I mean, Promised Land had βChasing Blue Skiesβ.Β That was on the Promised Land CD that was released in Japan.Β [note: it was actually Hear In The Now Frontier that had that song]Β And it also had βSomeone Else?β but with the full band version.
Q β And some of those made it on to the Greatest Hits.
E β I think so.
Q β What about solo projects?Β Have you ever pondered that?
E β Oh yeah, oh yeah.Β I mean, Geoff βs [Tate, vocals] working on a little solo project for himself.Β Scotty [Rockenfield, drums] and Kelly put together something.Β Michaelβs kinda working on that.Β Iβve always wanted to do something like that, kind of like step away from Queensryche for the day and then do something on my own.Β Iβm always coming up with ideas and I eventually would like to put something together like that.
Q β Do you have any ideas for a direction?Β Obviously it would have to be different from Queensryche.
E β Yeah, you know, my listening taste of music is so eclectic.Β Itβs like from Abba to Zappa.Β I love pop rock, I love hard rock, I love jazz.Β I think one of the last albums that I actually bought was the Rob Zombie Hellbilly Deluxe.Β That was one of the last albums, I mean it grew on me like fungus!Β Itβs just got some angst and attitude.Β Stylistically that would be a fun little approach.Β You never know, itβs always up in the air when that time comes.Β You could always think about, βAlright, this is a direction Iβd like to approach,β but when that day comes,Β you could always have a different idea.
Q β One thing you notice when you listen to the new live album, is from about Empire onwards, there are a lot of strong grooves happening, especially on Q2K.Β A lot of the older stuff is faster, more riff-oriented.Β Which of the two do you prefer to play live?
E β When it comes to the era?
Q β Just which style of songs do you prefer, the faster or the groovier?
E β Oh jeez Iβll play anything!Β Iβm serious!Β I mean I love a lot of the groove.Β Yeah, I mean, heck, Iβll play just about anything, just about any type of a groove, you know.Β I mean thatβs what makes it interesting.Β You got a band like AC/DC.Β They are one of the few bands that can get away with writing 3 chord progression songs with the same 4/4 beat and still create something thatβs very good!Β But theyβre one of the few bands that can get away with that.Β I dunno what it is about them. Sure, thereβs other bands that might have released one album, and then a next one and itβs kind of similar, might have a lot of the same grooves and stuffβ¦sometimes it doesnβt work for them.Β Iβm always into the idea of creating something different.Β But you can only go so far because everythingβs pretty much been done, I feel.Β I think you have to continue to be creative with what you have to work with.Β You know, youβre obviously gonna hear a song thatβs gonna sound like somebody else.Β Thereβs something about that song, you know, βGod, that chorus sounds just like band that was out in the 80βs,β or βthat intro sounds just like this band that just came out last year,β you know.Β What can you do?Β You try to be creative. Itβs really difficult to be original anymore.Β Especially now.Β I dunno, thereβs a lot of musicians out there that are very talented, and thereβs a lot of bands that have been very successful doing what theyβre doing. Β You just have to credit them with their talents and whatnot.Β Itβs tough to be extremely original nowadays.
Q β You notice a lot of bands today resorting to electronic sounds to make something new.Β Moby, or whoever.Β Do you ever see Queensryche experimenting with something like that?
E β Like more instrumental?Β
Q β Yeah, I guess on Rage For Order you guys experimented a lot with electronic sounds.
E β Oh yeah, I mean we actually created some of those sounds ourselves!Β Yeah, you know at the very end of βWalk In The Shadowsβ?Β That big ambient reverberated sound?Β At the very end, βWalk in the shadowsβ¦walk with me!Β POW!βΒ Thatβs a door slamming in a parking garage!Β
Q β Itβs always something you donβt expect!
E β Exactly!Β Nobody else knows that unless youβve been told about it.Β Thatβs why that album to me is the most memorable one.Β We ended up putting something together, like I was explaining to you in regards to coming up with our own sound.Β Our own little ideas.Β I donβt know what triggered us into doing that, but I think we were just trying to pull out all the stops when it came to producing the album.Β For the production side.
Q β I find that album, even though sonically theyβre nothing alike, to be akin to Promised Land just for sonic experimentation.
E β Oh yeah!Β From banging on top of these big garbage cansβ¦Β What else did we do?
Q β Thereβs some really neat electronic vocal effects on Geoffβs voice on βDamagedβ.Β “The broken parts, of my machinery…”Β And then it sounds like an electronic overload or something.
E β And believe it or not, those were effects that I donβt think we could ever do again.Β Seriously, becauseβ¦βWell, that was cool, did you record it?βΒ He goes, βYeah.βΒ βWell letβs try it again!βΒ And we could not recreate that!Β It was weird!Β So again it was like one of those one-offs.Β Thatβs why the tape is always rolling because you never know what you can come up with, and you can use.
Q β The band was experimenting a bit with different instrumentsβ¦sax, cello, and piano, on that album.Β Do you play any different instruments?
E β Iβll tinker around with a little bit of keyboard, a little guitar here.Β Iβll tell you what I really love the most, itβs really kinda rivaling playing bass.Β Itβs singing.Β
Q β Oh really?Β Well youβve always sung backups live.
E β Yeah, I love singing!Β And Iβve noticed since Chris has left, Iβve had to cover a lot of his parts, and Iβm telling you theyβre up there sometimes.Β But still, itβs something that you donβt really think about.Β Through all these tours that weβve been performing on, Iβve never realized how much he actually sang.Β Because youβre so busy playing your bass and singing your parts.Β But youβre aware that heβs singing his parts too, but since Iβve covered his vocal partsβ¦gee whiz!Β Iβm like, holy cow, Iβve gotta sit down and remember all this!Β But yeah, itβs pretty interesting you know, but I just canβt believe how much he actually sang.Β
Q β I notice the Q2K materialβ¦itβs funny that you say youβre singing more, but I think the live versions have stronger harmonies.Β Do you hear that as well?
E β I think maybe a lot of that could be for the fact that the harmonies are riding a bit hotter than on the album.Β The harmonies are probably still there on the album, but they might have been recorded a little hotter on the live mix.Β
Q β I just thought they stuck out a bit and I thought, βHmm, well somebodyβs singing more!β
E β Yeah, well, thatβs Kelly and I.Β And for the fact that I love singing, I have no complaints with what was thrown at me with regard to all the backing vocals and whatnot.Β I mean heck, Iβll sing anything.Β
Q β Do you see yourself singing lead on a Queensryche song?Β I think Chris sang a lead on Hear In The Now.
E β You know, I donβt know.Β Thatβs never crossed my mind, but again you just never know!Β With Queensryche, heck, you just never know, weβre always branching off into some sort of new territory whether itβs sonically speaking, producing, writing or whatever.Β I guess at times you could say itβs a conscious effort, but thereβs times where you know, youβre aware, and you just try to create something for that moment.Β At least for myself, I donβt normally like to look back and listen to what weβve done in the past.Β Because then you start getting influenced by it, you know?Β And thereβs gonna be ideas that might sound like something in the past.Β Thereβs nothing wrong with that, butβ¦
Q β But when an interviewer asks you, βHey do you remember that electronic part in Damagedβ and you havenβt heard the album in 5 or 6 yearsβ¦!
E β Believe it or not, youβll be surprised, especially when you hear a lot of these songs that we had recording for this Live Evolution, itβs amazing how much more you remember.Β When you play βLondonβ, or βScreaming In Digitalβ, or βSuite: Sister Maryβ.Β All of a sudden you just start reminiscing, and you just start thinking back at the time when it was recorded.Β I mean we were in Philadelphia, Rage For Order we were up in Canadaβ¦
Q β Where were you in Canada?
E β Up in Mushroom Studios, was it?Β Up in Vancouver?Β Weβve recorded in many studios.Β We recorded in that one, was it in Montreal?
Q β Yeah I read about that, in the dead of winter.
E β Yeah, O:MC.Β Operation:Mindcrime.
Q β I think the most interesting location youβve recorded in was the cottage for Promised Land.
E β Oh geez, talk about tranquility and isolated!Β It was this small little island up north up by the San Juan Islands.Β Yeah, youβre right.Β We got away from everybody.Β Fortunately it was only like a 3, 4 hour drive, but still, just within those 3 or 4 hours you go from a live environment to a very tranquil and quiet environment.Β There were times at night when we would take a break, we were recording until 12, or 3 in the morning, however long it took us to record whichever song.Β But weβd be taking a break outside and you can hear the whales!Β It was pretty wild.Β There was a couple of little wildcats out there.Β We definitely didnβt leave any food outside!
Q β I think itβs safe to say that the environment must have impacted on the sound of that album.Β It sounds like it was recorded in a cottage, in the woods.
E β Do you think the influence was there?Β Do you think there was a lot of influence?
Q β I think so.
E β Well, there was this doctor, and I canβt remember his name, but he owned this cabin.Β It was actually sort of aβ¦not a bed and breakfast, but like a summer retreat sort of thing.Β He would hire the cabin out for people that would wanna head out to San Juans and stay there for the weekend, or for the week, or for the two weeks, orΒ month, whatever.Β So what we did is we just basically told him, βListen, weβre a bandβ¦β And that right there obviouslyβ¦βWait a sec!Β Before you even continue!βΒ That kinda scared him a bit.Β But no no, weβre not type kind of a band.Β We respect our environment we donβt start thrashing things for no apparent reason.Β But if the shitter stopped working in the middle of the night, then youβre going to hear from us!Β We kind of worked out a deal, and we were there for a few months, and we ended up just hiring outβ¦we moved in to both units.Β So it was a massive cabin, it was pretty cool.Β We were just living and breathing that album there.
More:
Eddie Jackson Interview Part IV
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