Kevin Moore, James LaBrie interview

Vanessa Warwick: Dream Theater’s major label debut album Images And Words features only eight songs but encompasses nearly one hour’s worth of music. Overall, the album takes a somewhat autobiographical look back at the frustrations of the past, but the band believe they are all the stronger for the experience.

James LaBrie: From any album, from wherever you are at that point in life, you have that strong need to convey what you’re feeling and something that you’re experiencing at that time in your life. You’re constantly growing or experiencing life, so in a lot of cases, whatever you’re writing about lyrically or feeling is going to come across in that album. So it is somewhat like a time capsule.

VW: The band are not apologetic about all the traditional songwriting rules that were broken in putting Images And Words together. Their songwriting process allowed the players to work spontaneously off each other’s ideas and themes.

Kevin Moore: There are a couple other songs where just one person comes in with an idea and then it just gets worked through by the band, but essentially it was just one person’s idea. But most of the writing is done at rehearsal, just from jamming, and we come up with ideas that way and we just go from one idea into somebody else’s idea, etc. That’s why the songs are so long usually. It never ends – too many ideas. Yeah, that’s how it usually goes.

VW: Dream Theater never intentionally set out to write a ten-minute song, but they also believe that the expression of ideas shouldn’t be limited by sticking to the rules of song structure.

JL: It just happens to be that we write from the heart. I mean, it’s not like we’re saying, “Well geez, if we do that, we might be going too far over the line there”, or “Hey, we want to make this to the radio, maybe we should write this way”. I think it’s just whatever we’re feeling, and we write true to ourselves to begin with. But you are always thinking, “OK, how are people going to perceive this and that?” so that is a constant thought. But at the same time, I think we’re just being true to ourselves when we’re writing, and then whatever comes out and however long it takes to get that message across – it... I mean, that’s why we have the long songs and shorter songs, because each song is different, [whatever] it takes to complete the message. There’s no set time – “Hey, we went over the four-minute mark, geez, that’s no good, that’s not going to work”. It’s like, however long it takes.

KM: But see, I think we’re only limited by what the song calls for. Like, if it’s a more accessible song, to put in a complex passage doesn’t make sense. But if it makes sense to do it, then we just do it.

JL: That’s right.

VW: A track like the epic ‘Learning To Live’ clocks in at twelve minutes and encompasses everything from metal to jazz. The band realize that this may challenge the listener a little bit more than the average run-of-the-mill rock song.

JL: It takes a little bit more attention to listen to it. It’s not just something you’re going to sit down and just tap your – well, you can tap your foot to it, but I’m just saying it’s not just something you sit down and leisurely listen to. If you want to get the full effect, you want to sit down and listen to it attentively. So it’s different in that way.

KM: I think with any band, I think it’s a question of whether it grabs you or not as a listener. It’s not something you should or shouldn’t get into just because it’s complex or something like that.

JL: It’s up to the individual. That’s what it comes down to.

VW: Dream Theater have often been compared to the likes of Rush and Queensrÿche, but the band are quick to point out that there’s a lot more to their sound than the progressive metal tag might imply.

JL: People always try and label you – “Oh, you sound very much like Queensrÿche or Rush” – just because they want to familiarize themselves with that style. “Oh, they sound something like that. OK, now I know what it’s all about.” It doesn’t really have anything to do with the fact that you do exactly what they do, or all the things that you include in your music are exactly what they do. I think ourselves, like Queensrÿche, we both have a distinctive sound that separates us both, and it has to do with Rush. And we all have our distinctive sound, which is cool.

KM: In each of those instances, actually, those aren’t our peers – Rush and Queensrÿche is one of our big influences, really. So, I mean, hopefully we’ve taken it in our own direction – used that and taken it in our own direction.

VW: The band are looking forward to the challenge of playing in Europe. Although playing live is a relatively new experience to them, they have no doubts about reproducing the album in the live environment.

JL: I mean, that’s very important for us – to reproduce live what we’ve put down on the album, but we make sure that we can do and we do it live. And I think a lot of people come out wondering if we can do that live, or they’re curious. But that’s what we go – we give the people exactly what they hear on album, and we give them a little bit more, ‘cause you have the energy factor there. It’s not just like putting the disc in. It’s a lot more energetic.

VW: With the future looking bright for Dream Theater on an international level, the band’s philosophy should serve them well during the years to come.

JL: I’d say my philosophy is just stay true to ourselves, keep writing, keep growing, and just be focused and directional, and just keep doing what we’re doing and keep having fun. Once it starts to become a burden or it’s not fun anymore, then obviously we’ve come to an end. But thinking positively, I don’t think that’s going to happen for a long time. Hopefully it’ll never happen.