Dream Theater – American Blues Influences

Gregorio Martin: Well, if you want, we can start talking about something a bit different from your current occupation. Tell us a little about your experience playing with Kiss.

Derek Sherinian: Oh, okay, okay. Eric Singer, the drummer, and I played in Alice Cooper together and Eric was hired to play with Kiss. They needed an onstage keyboard player, so they called me and I did four months in America with Kiss on the Revenge tour and it was very cool. Got into watch how Gene Simmons operates.

GM: The whole set of lights, tricks, and other paraphernalia is quite far from what Dream Theater bring, right?

DS: Yeahhh!

GM: Could we talk a little about how the yesterday’s show at Esparrago Rock Festival in Granada went?

DS: [Eating some peanuts] Our first time playing in Spanish soil. The crowd was great, very receptive. We’re looking forward to playing our headline set tonight. [Chewing] In Madrid.

GM: Perhaps you’ve been told about how two years ago, on the Awake tour, Dream Theater were going to play here with Fates Warning and, at the very last moment, it was all cancelled.

DS: I heard something about that.

GM: I think the club will be packed with people avid to finally see Dream Theater performing live.

DS: I see. Anyway I mean, I was here after the facts, so I really don’t know what the truth is.

GM: I was told just some moments ago by your tour manager that it was a problem related to agents and dates which were not well planned and stuff.

DS: Probably. That wouldn’t be the first time.

GM: Yesterday in Granada, did you have a chance to visit the famous building of Al Alhambra palace.

DS: Oh, we saw it. The driver passed it. The big castle?

GM: Yes.

DS: I heard it’s amazing! I wish I had the chance to go and see it.

GM: You didn’t have much time.

DS: No, no time. “No tiempo”. [Laughs]

GM: [Laughs] You learnt some Spanish?

DS: [With a perfect pronunciation] “Un poquito”. [ = a little bit] [More laughs]

GM: Okay. After this tour in Madrid you soon will go to Paris to do a big show. You’ll play with bands like Vanden Plas from Germany and Angra from Brazil.

DS: Yes, that’s right.

GM: How was the experience of playing in Brazil last year?

DS: Oh, that was incredible! Great! The fans were very passionate, very much like the fans yesterday in Spain and Italy. It’s the same tilt.

GM: And what do you think about this band in particular, the Brazilian Angra?

DS: I really don’t know anything about them.

GM: Ah really, do you?

DS: Never heard them. I don’t know anything about them.

GM: Aha, I had seen some pictures of James with Andre Matos, Angra’s singer, taken there in Brazil, so I thought you perhaps had met them. Okay, talking a bit about your music, according to rumors, ‘Metropolis Part II’ will be on the next album.

DS: That’s correct.

GM: Well, it was said that you wanted to release it as an EP, because the producer or your label could be against including such a long song.

DS: No, we’ll be able to put that. We’ll be able.

GM: So it’s definitely in your plans for the next album?

DS: Yes.

GM: Any connections with ‘Part I’ you’d like to tell?

DS: Just little pieces that are like intertwined.

GM: I see.

DS: Intertwined. A bit like themes, but it’s very, very progressive. Any people that think that we’ve got more mellow and more commercial with Falling into Infinity, when they hear ‘Metropolis II’ will be...

GM:...surprised?

DS: Yeah.

GM: I wanted to talk a bit about some of your side projects, there are a lot of them.

DS: Aha.

GM: For instance, there’s Liquid Tension Experiment with Portnoy and Petrucci.

DS: Yes. Actually hm... the main project that we only really want to talk about is a side project with John Myung, Rod Morgenstein on drums, and Ty Tabor from King’s X. You got it?

GM: You mean this is the most serious project?

DS: Oh yeah, it’s a serious project. We’re all very excited about this, and will hopefully make money and even go on tour.

GM: Talking about releases, LaBrie’s old band Winter Rose album was released here in Europe. Some people find it strange that it’s pure hard rock with the glam rock feel. How does James feel about this in case you know?

DS: Yes. [Doing a “Pufffff...!”, heavy breathing] Well, it’s as “it is what it is”, you know. I never played in progressive bands before, you know. I was playing in Alice and Kiss. They’re not progressive at all. So, everyone’s got different backgrounds.

GM: I wonder if you have had a chance to listen to any preview tape of the debut Chroma Key album of Kevin Moore, band’s previous keyboardist?

DS: No, I didn’t hear any of this, I don’t know.

GM: I see. And what do you think of Kevin Moore’s contribution on the latest Fates Warning album?

DS: I don’t, I don’t like... [Laughs] I don’t listen to Fates Warning, so I don’t know anything about it.

GM: What kind of music do you usually dig?

DS: I really... I LOVED the new Marilyn Manson album.

GM: Marilyn Manson?

DS: Yeah, Antichrist Superstar. I think that’s the best album of the 90’s. [Curious: I was told later he had stated the same thing to the guys who previously interviewed him.]

GM: Really?

DS: I loved it!

GM: Could you explain a little why?

DS: It has power. I listen to it and it’s... [Looking to the ceiling and opening his arms like doing a gesture of embrace] ...POWER! And that’s what I like.

GM: Don’t you think there’s perhaps also a big part of this band Marilyn Manson, which is made by marketing, got to do with a carefully studied image: the decadence in society message and so forth, the status of the US society, etc.

DS: I liked that, too. [Eating more peanuts] They’re like the whole image: I like the sound, I like the whole... thing.

GM: So you’re personally fond of industrial music?

DS: Hm, not really! I like really Nine Inch Nails. I like Marilyn Manson. I guess this is kind of rest. [Laughs] I like what he does, I like the sounds, it’s fresh.

GM: Experimental?

DS: Experimental. It’s fun. It’s very cool.

GM: I see. It’s not the first time that I hear opinions like yours in the progressive field.

DS: I really will be honest with you, I really don’t like a lot of noise.

GM: I appreciate that you’re honest in this aspect.

DS: Yeah, I mean, like this all bands: Angra...

GM: I see, very technical...

DS: ...Symphony X... I mean in some way all these people are spinning off Dream Theater. Yeah, everybody listens to it. I will be honest with you: if I was not in Dream Theater, I don’t even know if I’d be a fan of them. That’s weird! [Laughs]

GM: That’s pretty interesting I think.

DS: Yeah, I don’t know if I was into it.

GM: Okay, talking more in depth about that, if you try to leave aside for a moment your status as a band member, what would be your impression about Images and Words disc? Perhaps it’s a bit difficult question.

DS: When I first heard it, I can tell you exactly what I thought then. I thought that the musicians were incredible. That the musicianship was incredible. I thought the songs, the songwriting structures, weren’t smooth. I think that the songwriting was very obfuscated. It wasn’t smooth. I connect it: it was obviously that the musicianship was incredible, but that’s the way the songs were done, there were not enough American blues influences.

GM: Aha.

DS: It was very European. Too European sounding I think. And I like America. I like the rock and roll, Van Halen...

GM: It’s something curious now that you mention Van Halen, and I’ll tell you why: for some fans, your addition to the band’s own sound at the creative level sometimes made Dream Theater to sound more like a band such as Van Halen. What do you think, did you hear that before?

DS: Aha. Yes, I think it’s great! It’s spirit. I try to put spirit into the band: all rock and roll, presentations...

GM: Could we talk a little about the problems you had to undergo with your label, before being able to enter the studio for recording the last album? You probably heard that some fans even organized a sort of petition to let you enter the studio trying to push East West Records. Some people, on the other hand, think the label could instigate a change in the sound, more forwardness.

DS: I don’t think so, really, because with Dream Theater, the label, whether they like us or not, they know that we have a fan base of about half a million people that will buy the records. And that’s a tough attempt to make billions of dollars. So they’d like to keep some songs radio friendly. So they pretty much take to Dream Theater and say: “okay, do what you can do”. And they said about Falling Into Infinity: “This is the record that we want to make”.

GM: Talking about that eternal question of virtuosity versus accessibility, there’re more styles present in that album going in different directions and a lot less instrumental parts. Do you think Falling Into Infinity is an album with which you might have won a point in accessibility?

DS: Oh, we did. Because, first of all, there’s a new member, who is on and brought totally other influences. And another thing is that the band is five years older. We’re gonna write different things.

GM: Do you know if your band mates are still in touch with the former vocalist Charlie Dominici?

DS: Hm, I don’t think so.

GM: Aha. Well I didn’t know beforehand I was going to talk to you, I will be honest with you at this, so I had prepared these questions like more oriented to the rest of band members who have been for more years in the band.

DS: Nah, that’s okay, that’s okay.

GM: During this tour, maybe you have been composing or getting new ideas when rehearsing?

DS: Yeah, like we’ve been writing in the band? Yeah, yeah. We have actually.

GM: So, how about the new songs? Can you point out any songs from Falling Into Infinity that would be the most close to the new material?

DS: Hm. I can’t. It’s too hard.

GM: Too hard to compare to...?

DS: Yes, it’s different.

GM: As I said before, for a part of Dream Theater fans, the last album was a bit more generic in terms of sound. Compositions such as ‘Hollow Years’ or, especially, ‘You Not Me’, could seem good attempts targeted at Top 40. Some of your songs are better and no less accessible than some usual pop songs we hear on radio or see on TV every day. Are you happy with the coverage you have been given in MTV and other mainstream stations in the US for instance?

DS: No, we’re definitely not. You got to leave or... First of all, America right now isn’t playing any hard rock music, let alone progressive hard rock so, it’s this rotund.

GM: I personally think there’s still a barrier present there for supporting anything with the “heavy music” label on. The fact that songs such as ‘Take Away My Pain’ are very commercial, did it help someway?

DS: Nope, we did write them hoping that it would, but it didn’t.

GM: So, were you possibly thinking about that when you were writing the album? [“That’s a good one Greg, ha ha!” - Ed.]

DS: [Pause] Hm, I mean. Do you think that...? Look: every band... I know fans that like the idea of the band staying very creative, too stuck or whatever, but we want to be HUGE! You know, we want to play at big stadiums, we want to...

GM:...explode.

DS: We want to EXPLODE man! What’s every band’s feel?

GM: Talking about this, I wanted to comment you the opinion of an unknown musician who plays drums on a semi progressive metal band. I found this reading the Dream Theater mailing list yesterday night. “About writing music”, this guy said “to sell more records, well, isn’t that the point of being on a label? To sell records?!?!? You think bands get signed because of the talent? Fuck, no! It’s all about how many records the company thinks they’ll sell! It sucks, but it’s true. And it’s not ‘selling out’ to want to sell more records, it’s common logic”.

DS: Yeah!!!

GM: “And unless you realize that, you’re gonna hate Falling Into Infinity”. He then went on talking about Falling Into Infinity, saying that, keeping that in mind, “it’s a damn good album”. He wrote how he “had learnt a lot drum wise from it”, etc. Well, I think this is an interesting point of view. Do you think it’s necessary to listen to Falling Into Infinity with that fresh perspective?

DS: Listening to EVERY music should be with fresh perspective. Everyone stayed [Pause] pinpointing that their first album they heard was Images and Words, that they want EVERYTHING to sound like Images and Words. For any band that you’d like, if you hear one album and that’s the way you measure, that’s what your expectations are. That’s not really fair, is it? That’s like if you had a girlfriend when you were 16 years old and she was great at bed, something just incredible. And then, every girl that you meet for the rest of your life, has to measure up till this: [Doing a sign with one hand on his chest] “Oh, but she didn’t do this... like old Betsy Dockin when I was 16!” So, you know what I mean? [Laughs]

GM: Yes. [Laughs] I guess it’s a valid comparison.

DS: That’s not fair man! [More laughs] You got to treat each thing... FRESH.

GM: Aha.

DS: But I’m guilty of it too, I got to be honest. I was a huge Van Halen fan. With David Lee Roth. And when he left and they got Sammy Hagar, I was like... [Putting a face of disapproval]

GM: Yeah, it happened the same to me.

DS: I was like: I didn’t want to listen to it! And now with the new guy, I’m even like: I don’t want to hear it! Because I have...

GM: Sort of prejudices, yeah. So you listened to the new stuff with Gary Cherone already.

DS: Yeah, I don’t like it. I really don’t like it.

GM: I see. They certainly don’t sound the same as with David Lee Roth anymore.

DS: You know. Oh, and now there’s people who listen to Dream Theater now, who favored Images and Words and say “Oh, I don’t like the way Derek plays or his influence in the band, I used to liked Kevin’s”. And then now there’s people who just got into Dream Theater for the first time, after Falling Into Infinity, and they go back and they listen to the old Dream Theater: “I don’t like the style, it’s too European, it’s textures... I like this NEW sound”. So, you know what I mean? You CAN’T PLEASE everybody.

GM: That’s right.

DS: I wish you could, but I don’t think there’s anyone that pleases everybody.

GM: And I think, from the musician’s point of view, it’s better to try stay aside of that when composing: not think “how to please most people possible”.

DS: To please yourself, yes. You got to please yourself. It’s what the artist’s feel is: and that’s why people love Dream Theater, because Dream Theater has always done what they thought. And the audience sees that sincerity, and I think they appreciate it and buy the album. So we feel the songs we are writing after Falling Into Infinity will become better songs.

GM: LaBrie voice has evolved in these last 3 three full-length studio albums. His addition to the band in Images and Words set a ‘before’ and an ‘after’ for Dream Theater in mine and in many fans’ minds. A big step.

DS: Definitely!

GM: On Falling Into Infinity album, the texture of his voice has continued with a not as powerful line as in Images and Words, for instance.

DS: Right.

GM: For some fans, there’s a stagnation in this aspect, in the sense of not exploding all his vocal range. Would you agree on that? Or, for you, an attempt to sing as in Images and Words on a new album, and not to experience different vocal treatments, would be the REAL stagnation?

DS: I don’t think it’s better: “I’d like him to sing up to that height, opera shit”. It’s like 80’s: it’s over.

GM: And about vocal treatments, by electronic means, samplers, or whatever?

DS: Hm, you know: sometimes. But I don’t like that: I just don’t like all the high-screaming vocals.

GM: Yes, but you know James voice has a pretty wide range, and lately sometimes he seems to keep on singing on a more comfortable line instead of using all his vocal capabilities. Even used to do opera coaching.

DS: That’s great: I used to do classical studies, too, but you don’t see me playing Bach! [Laughs] Do you know what I mean? It’s not rock and roll.

GM: Now that you mention it, tell us a bit about your theoretical studies and the background.

DS: I studied classical, jazz. Five years at Berklee. Berklee College of Music.

GM: I see. Same as Petrucci, Myung...?

DS: Earlier though, a year earlier.

GM: I didn’t know that. How did you like the working with Desmond Child on ‘You Not Me’ song?

DS: I didn’t work with him. And I really just played. John Petrucci wrote with him.

GM: We talked earlier about Ty Tabor.

DS: Yeah, what about it?

GM: Apart from Ty who’s immersed in the project, the other member of King’s X, Doug, worked with you adding background vocals on ‘Lines in the Sand’ song. Tell us about this contribution.

DS: Oh, Doug is GREAT! He came in with his vocals. Incredible. Very, very fresh.

GM: He added a bluesy soul shade to it. I personally liked that part.

DS: Yeah, the result was very cool.

GM: What do you think of the Internet?

DS: I think it’s great. I love the Internet. I think that e-mail was the best invent of the world. I love it.

GM: Do you use it a lot then?

DS: Yes, e-mail, I do. In fact my address in case anyone wants to write me is [email protected].

GM: So you use it for a correspondence with other musicians or...

DS: Yeah, I mean: I use it for business mainly.

GM: I see. By the way, the “Del Fulvio Monks” who appeared mentioned inside Falling Into Infinity booklet, who are those “Del Fulvio Monks”?

DS: “Del Fulvio Monks” did all the background vocals.

GM: Who are they?

DS: “Del Fulvio Monks” are me, Mike, and John Petrucci.

GM: Which songs...?

DS: Pretty much all the album. Most of... All over the record.

GM: I see. It said “Del Fulvio Monks appear courtesy of....”

DS: “...MacGyver records” [Laughs]

GM: Like the serial?

DS: Yeah. [Laughs]

[From here on I just ran out of questions that I thought could be suitable to Derek, because as you can probably judge from his answers, he was quite unexpressive and a bit distant to prog metal genre topics]

GM: Okay. So I’d like to know what’s the stuff you’re more comfortable with playing on stage?

DS: I can play, I play ANYTHING. I love the funk style. That’s my favorite, funk style music. [Pause] Definitely.

GM: Do you like the fusion parts, improvisations...?

DS: Yes, absolutely.

GM: This band gives you a lot of possibilities in that aspect, don’t you think?

DS: Yes!

[James LaBrie passes by with disheveled puffed hair showing he has just got up from bed. Utters crow-like scream “Oh! Creeeeeeek!!” at Derek and salutes: “How’re you doin’?”]

GM: Could we talk a little now what part of Europe you’ve been so far?

DS: Oh, we’ve been a lot in Germany, Scandinavia, Italy, France...

GM: What part of the US you come from?

DS: L.A.

GM: Aha. I think it’s quite different from a city like this and this culture.

DS: Oh yes! And faster. “Muy rápido”. [Laughs]

GM: So, as LA born and raised citizen, what does it mean for you personally to visit and get mixed with people of different cultures during these tours. How do you handle it?

DS: Oh this is great! We love travelling and meeting different people, and seeing the different cultures. That’s what makes our job exciting, and not just going to...

GM: Routine?

DS: Exactly. Yeah, it’s great, we love it.

GM: I have no more questions so, if you want we could talk...

DS: [Standing up like his ass was on fire] Thank you! You’re coming tonight? We’ll see you then!

GM: Okay, thank you Derek.