Mike Portnoy, John Petrucci interview

Vanessa Warwick: We last spoke to you in April of this year, and aside from the live album, which we’ll talk about in a moment, what have you guys been up to?

Mike Portnoy: After we were here in April, we went back through the states, did a summer tour playing theaters and outdoor festivals, went to Japan at the end of the summer – which was very nice – and shot some live footage for an upcoming home video. Now here we are – a second European tour and we’re out here freezing our asses off! [laughs]

VW: Why do you think it is that Dream Theater has gone down so well in Europe? Can you put your finger on it? Do you think it’s just a bit kind of the right sound at the right time for Europe?

John Petrucci: That’s a really hard question. I mean judging from the audiences, they seem to know all the words and really be passionate about the music, and I think we are, too. There’s probably a certain amount of honesty that comes across; they pick it up here in Europe.

VW: Do you think also that maybe you’re filling a niche in the market at the moment, because there’s not too many bands doing the type of sound that you have?

MP: Yeah, I think so. I mean, there’s a little bit of everything out there, but so much stuff right now is quote-unquote trendy and we’re definitely not a trendy band. We pretty much break away from the cookie cutter, so I think people appreciate that.

JP: We’re anti-trend.

VW: I think you’re above trends myself. Well let’s get on to the live album: Live at the Marquee. Why did you decide to record the album at that famous club?

JP: Well we played so many places in Europe, but I don’t know. Mike, why the Marquee?

MP: I was asked this earlier and I didn’t know! [laughs]

VW: Because you played two shows there, didn’t you? The first one was really sold out, the second one added on at the end; that went really well as well, didn’t it?

MP: I think maybe it was the last night on the European tour, so maybe just because we were pretty polished at that point.

JP: Plus it’s like London and it’s the Marquee and it’s cool. And of course, like we said, we’re trendy; we like to do hip things! [lots of laughs]

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VW: Now we’ll talk a little bit more about your current activities, because these guys are out on the road, a very extensive European tour with Damn the Machine. You’ve been to so many different countries, I was wondering, in the future, do you think that seeing all these countries and seeing different cultures and everything, do you think that’s going to affect your songwriting for the next record?

JP: Absolutely! We’re a reactionary band. The way we write is we take everything that happens around us and we kind of philosophize about it and document it in music. So definitely, from the bad food to the good people... [laughs] Actually I ate some wailing meals yesterday, I pigged out. [laughs]

VW: We mentioned earlier the forthcoming live video which you could tell us a little bit about. Where was that filmed?

MP: It was filmed in August in Tokyo, and it was a great performance; we were very happy that that particular evening was filmed, because there was a lot of energy at night. The video is 90 minutes long and it consists of over an hour’s worth of live footage, the three promotional videos we made for the record, as well as various home video stuff shot throughout the tour, shot in the studio recording the record. So it’s a little bit of everything, and it should be out sometime in November.

VW: I know earlier you were saying that some people may have an opinion that you’re very serious, very musician orientated, but is there still a lot of fun and a lot of humor going on between the band members?

JP: [joking] A lot of camaraderie, if I may. [laughs] I mean, we’re into playing and we love music and everything, but we’ve known each other for so long, and we’re pretty outside...

MP: The theme of this European tour has been Beavis and Butt-head. [MP and JP give their best Beavis and Butt-head impersonation]

VW: Beavis and Butt-head are keeping Dream Theater entertained. That shows what a sad bunch of people they must be on tour! [laughs] We better just quickly round up here... Are you already thinking about the next record, writing stuff on the road?

JP: We’ve been thinking about it for the last year! [laughs]

MP: It’s been haunting us.

VW: Have you done anything about it?

MP: It’s hard because the way we write is collectively, as a band. It’s hard to have that sort of writing environment on tour all year round, but everybody individually has worked on ideas, and as a band we have lots of bits and pieces that we put together; a lot of it is actually in our set on this tour. When we get off tour it’ll be time, probably in January, to start getting together and writing. So we’ll spend a couple months writing and hopefully have a new album out by next summer.