MICHAEL WILTON Explains What Keeps QUEENSRŸCHE Motivated To Continue Releasing New Music

In a new interview with The Prog Report, QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist Michael Wilton was asked what keeps him and his bandmates motivated to continue making new albums every two or three years. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, you have adverse conditions in the music industry right now. And it's constantly evolving. And the pandemic kind of decimated the industry for a while. To keep your business going… This is the other side of the industry that people don't really hear about, is all the business dealings. And how can you make ends meet? Are we just touring and being paid to travel and play for free? So I think there's just that drive that we have. And let's face it — we have an amazing, loyal fan base. In this day and age, they're hungry for entertainment and they're hungry to go out and support music. So I think, for us, there's the business side — we've gotta make it work for everybody — but also the way that you promote your music is touring. So you've gotta figure it out."

QUEENSRŸCHE's sixteenth studio album, "Digital Noise Alliance", was released on October 7 via Century Media. The record was once again helmed by Chris "Zeuss" Harris, who previously worked with QUEENSRŸCHE on 2015's "Condition Hüman" and 2019's "The Verdict" LPs.

Wilton told Metal Edge magazine about "Digital Noise Alliance": "It's an album that kind of stretches and encompasses the whole music genre of QUEENSRŸCHE. It's got some very melodic moments, it's progressive, it's heavy metal and it's very album-oriented visual music that is going to be just a good all-around QUEENSRŸCHE album."

Regarding the songwriting process for "Digital Noise Alliance", Wilton said: "I was living in Seattle at the time, and when you're isolated like that, it does weird things to your head space. I talked to Todd [La Torre, vocals] and mentioned that in all that time I had been writing lots of little riffs on the guitar. So, I went and visited Todd in Florida in late January of 2021. I had no idea he had also invited producer Zeuss to come down from Massachusetts, as I hadn't brought along any guitars with me. I was just going to go hang out with Todd in Florida. But we then made a conscious decision between all of us that this album's process would not be songs being e-mailed to each, waiting for their approval back. This was going to a process where on-the-spot riffage, experimentation, improvisation and seeing what sticks was the way we wanted it made. So, I'd come up with a riff and Zeuss would record it and Casey [Grillo, drums] would get on the electronic drums and put a drum beat to it, and we'd file it and move onto the next riff and so on. Then we would sit back and listen and if everybody was vibing on what we did during that day, we'd listen to all the parts and imagine where they would sit within a song structure and then kind of put them together from there. Eventually we had about 22 song ideas, and we had to wither that down to about 11 or 12 tunes."

As for the lyrical themes covered on "Digital Noise Alliance", Michael said: "A lot of the songs are our perspective on the current unrest in the world, especially in the United States, and whatever the music dictated to us for the lyrics. Todd writes great lyrics, as does Eddie [Jackson, bass], and I wrote some lyrics, too. I think as I said earlier, it's a full, all-encompassing QUEENSRŸCHE record that I think everyone is going to really enjoy."

In October 2021, Wilton confirmed that returning guitarist Mike Stone would contribute guitar solos to the band's new studio album.

Since late May 2021, Stone has been handling second-guitar duties in QUEENSRŸCHE, which announced in July 2021 that longtime guitarist Parker Lundgren was exiting the group to focus on "other business ventures."

Stone originally joined QUEENSRŸCHE for the 2003 album "Tribe" and stayed with the band for six years before leaving the group.

For the past five and a half years, Grillo has been filling in for QUEENSRŸCHE's original drummer Scott Rockenfield, who stepped away from the band's touring activities in early 2017 to spend time with his young son.

In October 2021, Rockenfield filed a lawsuit against the band's fellow original members Wilton and Jackson, alleging, among other things, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and wrongful discharge.