By: Rob Cavuoto
It’s still hard to believe that almost 30 years have past since Queensryche’s first EP with Queen of the Reich and The Lady Wore Black. I can remember like it was yesterday purchasing their EP and being blown away by it originality and amazing guitar work. Fast forward a few decades and Queensryche is still making great music with their 13th release Dedicated to Chaos.
A few months ago I have the opportunity to speak with Michael Wilton (guitarist) about this release. As always after an interview, you wish you would have a few more minutes to ask some additional questions. Luckily for me when Queensryche played in New Jersey for their 30th Anniversary/Dedicated to Chaos Tour I got my second chance to talk with him about his playing, his techniques and how his guitar sound has contributed to Queensryche’s success over the last three decades. Michael is truly passionate about his gear so it was really interesting to gain his insight and perspective!
Michael Wilton Photo: Rob Cavuoto
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Rob Cavuoto: Tell me about the gear you bring on the road?
Michael Wilton: For this tour, which is the 30th Anniversary of the band, we will be playing songs from each of our CDs. For the songs later in our career we incorporated different tunings, so I bring out guitars that can cover the gamut. Some of the songs have drop D tunings so my Floyds are equipped with D-Tuna for songs like “Hit the Black” and “The Hands.” In total, I bring four electrics and one acoustic.
One electric that’s tuned in E flat, two are in A – one of those has a D Tuna. The D Tuna is dive bomb only and the other is a floater. Then I bring out the ESP Potbelly from Japan, which is a dressing room only guitar.
We do a lot of radio performance so I bring an acoustic 1995 Collector Series Ovation. It’s the same one I played on the MTV acoustic performance.
As far as amps, I’m using a rack that I have had since the ‘80s that I refit with different processors, pre-amps, and power-amps. The power amp is a Marshall 90200 – a big hog. I have an Egnatar pre-amp that has different modules that can be pushed and pulled in and out.
You can interchange them on the spot, it’s kind of nice if one goes out you can get it replaced very easily. The brain of my effects is my TC Electronic G Major 2. I have an old Digitech IPS33E. I have a rack mount Wah and a Hush because a lot of these places that we play are really noisy. For back-up I have a Marshall JMP1 pre-amp and a Marshall Valve State Power amp. I need to have everything covered if a tube blows.
Rob: ESP has been your identifiable guitar for a larger part of your career. Why have you chosen them?
Michael Wilton: They were introduced to us when we signed up for Q-Prime Management and the Metallica tour. Metallica’s was using them so Chris DeGarmo (original guitarist) and I jumped on board. That’s back when ESPs was in New York. They have an amazing artist relations department. They really do care.
I had good experiences with the guitars after taking them all over the world without any neck bending and sagging. That can be a pain. My necks are the hard maple so they are pretty stable. You go from Seattle which is very wet to Phoenix which is a dry and it will shift a little bit, so you have to give a quarter of a turn on the truss rod and get them back on track.
Michael Wilton: Photo Rob Cavuoto
Rob: Are there any guitars that don’t go on the road with you?
Michael Wilton: I have a lot of old ESP that sound really good which don’t come with me. I also have some Gibson Les Pauls which are great too. I have a few Strats for different tones. I have all the sounds covered with my ESPs but still like to play those.
Rob: Would you say that you’re a schooled player as far as theory goes?
Michael Wilton: In the formative years yes, back when I went to high school there was a class on classical guitar and learned some rudimentary things. A lot of it was done by ear back then. After high school, I went to the Cornish Institute for a year and a half, where I learned theory and opened my mind to different types of music like jazz improvisation.
Rob: What do you think has been your biggest challenge, both musically and professionally, so far in your career?
Michael Wilton: I think it’s being completely confident in what I’m doing on stage. It’s beyond playing the music, its being in the zone. Days when even the screw ups, are good sounding screw ups.
Rob: But you never screw up, right?
Michael Wilton: I usually don’t [Laughing]. When you get to the point when everything is working and the machine is finely tuned, that’s probably what I have been striving for my whole career. I have hit areas and pockets of it in live playing and in experimentation when recording.
Rob: When you look back on your career from the early days, what’s the most important thing you have learned?
Michael Wilton: I think camaraderie between the guys in the band. When you look back over the years, it’s the opened mindedness and being able to work with four guys, for so long, who are all different. Because Queensyche is the only band I have ever been in, my friends in other bands, tell me how lucky we are that we get along so well yet we are so different. I’m truly thankful.
Rob: So many bands get tired of touring. After 30 years what do you do to keep yourself “fresh?”
Michael Wilton: It’s tough now, were on runs that are six days straight with one day off. It’s grueling and I’m not getting any younger. You really need a lot of rest and cut down of the drinking and partying. On days off I like to clear my mind and go golfing. That balances out so much. Right now we are on the East Coast and it’s hot which makes it tough to get out there and play. I have my guitars and ProTools on my laptop so I get to spend some time in the hotel writing.
Rob: You’ve accomplished so much over the course of your career, what do you think is your greatest musical accomplishment?
Michael Wilton: There are many of them. Having the MTV Moon-man Award on my shelf in my studio is very important. Being Grammy Nominated and attending the award ceremony was an honor. We have also won tons of metal music awards and being given the keys to various cities. There are some great moments of playing at huge festivals and being asked to play at celebrity laden events. It’s was jet set time in our career during the Empire tour. As I look back, those are some amazing achievements.
Rob: Do you have an interesting or funny story about being out on the road?
Michael Wilton: There are so many things that have happened over the years. The one that comes to mind is actually not funny, it involves perseverance. We were on tour in Europe with Metallica in ‘87-‘88 and their fans are extremely loyal and can be brutal. So we were on stage playing and this guy threw a beer stein at me. It hit my guitar, shattered, and broke all the strings. I was at the point in the tour where I was done. I go back to take the guitar off and my tech puts another guitar on me and says “go out there and play!” We stayed up there and took the shit coming at us and eventually won the crowd over.
Michael Wilton: Photo Rob Cavuoto
