QUEENSRŸCHE Guitarist Says SOULBENDER Project Is A 'Permanent Thing'

Chris Czynszak of NashvilleRock.net recently conducted an interview with QUEENSRŸCHE/SOULBENDER guitarist Michael Wilton. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

NashvilleRock.net: Since Chris DeGarmo's departure, and the transplanting of Kelly Gray and, most recently, Mike Stone as second guitarists, you seem to have taken over a "lead guitarist" role rather than the twin attack that fans grew accustomed to with Chris and yourself. Has this affected the song writing in the group?

Michael Wilton: "Not really. The equation has changed and it’s taken awhile but I've shown (Mike) Stone how to do the double-solos so we’re doing more of those. I'll be writing more double solos for the next album."

NashvilleRock.net: You guys toured over the summer with JUDAS PRIEST. How was that experience and do you have any entertaining stories to share?

Michael Wilton: "Well, JUDAS PRIEST, I grew up listening to them. It was an amazing tour for me. I loved hanging out with the guys. K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton are really cool. We had some great moments and memories and had a lot of fun on the tour."

NashvilleRock.net: You guys seemed to be unfairly lumped into the "hair band" scene back in the '80s by the mainstream media even though your music had much more depth. What do you think was the cause of this?

Michael Wilton: "Well, in the '80s we were a bit more progressive and then due to the success of 'Mindcrime' and 'Empire', which was in the 90s, [we got] lumped into the '80s for some reason. I think it's just way for people to put us in a box and to market 'Silent Lucidity' on different compilation albums."

NashvilleRock.net: Your new band, SOULBENDER, has released its debut album. What has the reaction been so far to the music and is this a permanent band or just a "one-off" project?

Michael Wilton: "It's a permanent thing and the reaction can be assessed by reading the comments left on the SOULBENDER site on MySpace or CDBaby.com via the official SOULBENDER web site. Every show that we’ve done in the Northwest has been sold out and people have been hammering us to get another record out. We're in the midst of getting something going with another record label to do a tour of more than just the Northwest. SOULBENDER is really a very progressive, hard rock band with very intense musicians. A couple of them are prodigies and it's really been a lot of fun to do."

Read the entire interview at NashvilleRock.net.