John Petrucci interview (excerpt)

David Mead: So how did the band come together?

John Petrucci: We grew up together. We’re all from Long Island, New York, except our singer, who’s from Toronto. But three of us grew up, went to the same high school and graduated together. Then we met our drummer when we went to Berklee in Boston.

DM: We hear a lot about Berklee over here. What was your impression?

JP: It was great! We went right out of high school, and it was great for a couple of reasons: one was the environment – there were musicians from all around the world really intent on studying music and making it a part of their lives – and the school has a lot of resources. And so, if you’re really determined and apply yourself, you can get a lot out of it. We were there for two semesters – only one year. We were playing so much we couldn’t do both so we dropped out, and that’s when it all started.

DM: Was Dream Theater a going concern at this point?

JP: Not exactly. At that time we were just putting things together. We were under a different name – Majesty – and we had our first singer. We weren’t signed or anything, but eventually it all came together.

DM: Does the band share the same influences?

JP: I think our influences range from a couple of different extremes. One of them, which is probably obvious to most people, is the progressive influence of bands like Rush, Yes and Genesis. For some reason all of us are into that, but also we have a heavy influence: Metallica and Anthrax and all that type of stuff. We also have a pop influence: Peter Gabriel, U2, Journey, Billy Joel and stuff like that. So it’s kind of a combination of those three elements that we all have a common leaning towards. Those influences vary even today as we grow. Everybody’s listening to different types of music and gaining other influences, but those are the early ones.

DM: A lot of your songs have extended arrangements. Does that make for a tough slog in rehearsals?

JP: Yeah, it’s fun. We just like being creative and challenging ourselves. Sometimes you can’t say what you want to say in three minutes, but then sometimes you can, so we have things that are really short as well. On our first tour, we were playing small clubs, and it developed to the point where we were selling out clubs and moving on to theatres, and it’s been really encouraging to see the development of a fan base. People seem to be passionate about our music. There’ll be packs of people coming to a lot of shows in the same area and they’re into it – they know all the words. In Europe people aren’t afraid to sing, and it’s like we have a choir singing along with us. It’s really encouraging!

DM: It’s interesting to note that the majority of your fans were not born when ‘prog rock’ was popular the first time around.

JP: I think it’s the medium we’re presenting it in. I mean, the whole thing with the progressive music of the ‘70s that attracts all of us is that its musicians were trying to be creative and just do something a little bit different and experiment. There are a wide range of styles present in our music because there’s no limit, no labels – you can do whatever you want! You can get into new age or thrash or...

DM: Who would you say was your principal influence as a guitar player?

JP: As a guitar player I’m really into Steve Morse and the Dixie Dregs. I was into a lot of different guitar player from Al Di Meola to Stevie Ray Vaughan, but Steve Morse is the one guy who I followed. I really respect his philosophies about music and guitar and I’m blown away by his guitar playing, technically and emotionally, every time I see him. He’s the one guy who really introduced discipline into my playing.

DM: As the whole band was taught formally, does that help working with complex arrangements?

JP: Yeah, absolutely. A lot of the time we write the way any other band would write; just in a rehearsal, playing off one another. But it does help if there’s a complex arrangement, whether rhythmically or melodically, and you can write it out and give it to the other guy. Or if the keyboard player is going to double something I’m going to do, I can just write it out instead of sitting there and going through it note by note.