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Andrew: How's this cabaret tour going for you?
Geoff: Good! It's a real fun show and I think we're booked till the end of October right now, so it's going good and we're having a good time.

Andrew: Yeah, that's what I was going to say. You added some more dates in October. So it has to be going good then.
Geoff: Yeah, it's going well!

Andrew: But I also saw that you have a 'best of' tour in September. Is that a completely different tour with a different set list and everything?
Geoff: Yeah it is. We're doing some state fair shows around the country.

Andrew: I believe you came up with this cabaret idea, right?
Geoff: Yeah.

Andrew: So, how did you go about convincing the other band members? I mean, were they on board with it immediately?
Geoff: Yeah, we're always looking for different ways of presenting our music and this seemed like kind of a fun way to perform a show and find space to work on the new album as well. We hope to have that out in spring. Our show is typically a serious presentation, visually and musically. We thought it would be nice to do something different and not so serious, so the cabaret idea was born. Everyone liked the idea, got on board and having a great time with it.

Andrew: Were you confident that the Queensryche fans are going to like this show?
Geoff: Oh yeah, I think Queensryche fans are pretty open-minded to lots of different art forms and we like to challenge them as well and give them new interpretations of our music whenever we can.

Andrew: You also did a theatrical production for the Mindcrime II tour and also with this current tour. So would you say that theatre and Queensryche are pretty much inseparable when it comes to tours?
Geoff: Yeah, we like to present ourselves in a number of different ways and the theatricality has always been sort of a part of what we've done and what we like. And yeah, we go hand in hand.

Andrew: I heard that you acted in a movie this year in February and you're doing another one in October. What are these movies all about?
Geoff: Yeah well, I got asked to audition for a film, I guess about a couple of years ago now, and that was a really interesting experience doing a screen test. My first film was shot in January of this year and it hasn't been put out yet. I think it'll be out next January. In the meantime I've got an audition for another film, which is shooting in October. There is one in November I believe as well. So these are the three film projects in the works right now.

Andrew: You're currently working on a new studio album. How's that going and when are you expecting to finish the recording process?
Geoff: It's going well. We hope to have the whole thing out sometime in the Spring for a Spring to Summer tour.

Andrew: When did you start writing songs and getting ideas for it?
Geoff: We're kind of constantly working on projects. So I would say sometime in the last year was when we started doing it. When we hit the road for the American Soldier tour, that's when the writing process started I think. So I guess it was in January or February of this year.

Andrew: When you write music, do you ever keep the theatre aspect in mind, or does that come in after the music is written?
Geoff: Yeah, sometimes it just depends on the piece of music. Not typically when I'm writing it, but when it's finished. That's when I got back to it and come up with ideas on how to present it.

Andrew: Your last two albums of original material have been concept albums. Can you give us any indication that this one will also be a concept album?
Geoff: I don't know yet. We tend to write with themes in mind and this one definitely has a theme to it, whether it's going to be a full blown concept album, I'm not quite sure yet. But it's a cool record so far and I'm really happy with what we've been coming up with, very experimental and very different for us. I guess all of us try to push the boundaries of what we do and try to push the envelope as they say, and bring in new ideas in new musical formats that are challenges for us as musicians. Hopefully that translates to the audience as well.

Andrew: I also heard that your solo album is in the works. What's going on with that?
Geoff: Yeah, that's been in the works for a long time (laughs). The last one I put out was ... gosh ... it was in 2002. We're due to put out another one. But I keep getting drawn into Queensryche and giving my energy there so the solo stuff sticks on the back burner till I get more time to finish it.

Andrew: You also do a wine thing called 'Insania'. How's that going and how much time do you get from the Queensryche stuff to be able to focus on that?
Geoff: I kind of work on that quite a bit actually. It's a very, very satisfying project. We do a red and a white wine. It's been a project for about five years now. We're getting ready to harvest for another release in the spring. I'm excited about this because it's quite different and dealing with nature and the challenges of coming up with these products, finding a good fruit to work with, and yeah so far it's going really well and I'm really happy with it.

Andrew: You participated in the memorial for Ronnie James Dio here in Los Angeles, and also in a couple of other shows. How much did that mean to you?
Geoff: Ronnie was a good friend and as a musician he was very inspirational for Queensryche in the beginnings of our career. Not just musically of course, but also on the touring side of things. He invited us on our first European tour that we did and really, the man took us under his wings, showed us the road, showed us what to do and what not to do, how to be a touring band and gave us a lot of very valuable advice in that regard. I had the pleasure of working with him several times over the years on different projects and it was always a wonderful experience working with him. He was a consummate musician and very dedicated to his art. I was very honored to be asked to be a part of his memorial service and it was very emotional, a lot of his friends who are musicians, getting up and performing and talking about their relationship with him and what he meant to them. He will definitely be missed. He's a legend.

Check out Queensryche's official website.