“The Magee Tapes...”

Interview with “Magee” (John McGarry) – Mike’s drum-tech, by Al Muirden

Dateline: April 10th 1998

Location: Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton, UK

I was fortunate enough to grab some time with Magee, prior to soundcheck on a freezing cold afternoon, to try to get an insight into his role as Mike’s drum tech.

How long have you been with the band; how did you get connected to Dream Theater?

Well I was teching for my friend Mike Mangini, who was with Extreme and Steve Vai, and Bill Barclay (DT tour manager) knew our tour manager, and he put a call In to see if he knew of a drum tech. And it just so happened that the day that the Vai tour ended, the next day I flew home to start with these guys.

So you missed the recording of ‘FII’ by a couple of months and also the Liquid Tension session too?

That’s right. In fact I started when the tour started, but I actually couldn’t make the very first show, but it was like a “one off” anyway before they started the tour.

So you had to settle yourself into everything quite quickly?

Yeah, but they’re all great guys!

How about touring – what are your likes and dislikes?

Tough question! It really depends on the day. Some days it may be the third show in a row and you’re tired, ‘cos these guys have a lot of gear! So it’s a lot of work and it just takes its toll on you. One thing that gets to you is dealing with trying to get an interpreter in foreign countries, which can really put a strain on you after you’re tired. But I mean I like touring, I like seeing all of the different places we go to and it’s a great chance to get to travel.

Do you get to see much of the cities when you visit?

Yes, but it depends on days off – a lot of times you just see the back of the truck, the gig and that’s about it. And the front of the venue!

What’s the thing you hate the most about touring – maybe being away from home?

I guess so. I don’t have a girlfriend and I’m not married, I still live at my parents’ house and have all the freedom in the world, but yeah, I guess missing the family and friends.

Had you already been to Europe with Steve Vai?

Yes – this is the fourth time I’ve been to Europe and I’ve been to Japan twice. That’s my favourite place to tour, and the band are so popular over there. Also the local crew guys they have – they’re really on top of it at the shows.

And the venues are generally larger in Japan?

Yes, they do theatres of at least a couple of thousand people.

So what do you do on your days off?

Well, you try to sleep in as much as you can, but all of us crew guys tend to hang out – we’ll go get something to eat, go shopping....

So when you finish this stint here on, what’s the next step?

Well, I get home, and they’re putting a US tour together of a couple of weeks. It’s due to end on May 24th then we’ll have another couple of weeks off until the festivals in Europe – we’re playing with some big names like Van Halen and I know Gary Cherone who was in Extreme, so it’ll be good to see him.

I guess festivals are a whole different ballgame as regards gear and soundchecks?

Yes – that’s where rolling drum risers come in handy! In fact we just did a festival in Spain and you basically get time to set up and you have a half hour to move your gear into place and soundcheck then “bang” you’re off! It’s tough to do!

About rehearsals, do you do like a week in a block and are you there all the time?

Actually, when I first started it was the only rehearsals they did – I was in New York for four days and they did two days on then a day off then another two days, and then the tour started and they haven’t rehearsed since!

Do you have any other favourite bands or drummers?

Steve Smith is my all-time favourite drummer and there’s another guy from Boston, my friend Dave Viscenzo who’s a teacher at Berklee; they’re like my favourite drummers. But band-wise, I’m into a lot of different stuff – lately I can’t really pinpoint what I like – I haven’t bought many new CDs. In fact, the only CDs I’ve bought have been piano music as I love the piano! But I like Vital Information (Steve Smith’s fusion band) and I get into the drummers that put out CDs like Dave Weckl and Vinnie Colaiuta and Terry Bozzio – all good stuff!

When you’re on tour, do you have any other roles in addition to being Mike’s tech?

Well that’s a pretty big job in itself! I now have two drum-kits, and I’m doing some stage management right now, making sure the opening act (Rudess/Morgenstein Project) gets on – that’s another of my favourite drummers (Rod Morgenstein); so I help him out too when I can, if I have some time. But we’re all pretty busy though. I help out Vinnie (Kowalski – DT sound engineer) with mics, but really each guy is pretty much responsible for getting their musician their water and towels. I also have to swing in the microphone for Mike to sing, so I have to know all of the cues and so on. So it all keeps you busy!

So, onto the kit! How long does it take you to set up?

It depends on the room. If I’ve got a big stage and I can have all my cases around me, I guess I could power it up in a little over an hour. But normally I’d say between one and a half and two hours, as I like to take my time and make sure everything’s tight.

Taking it down is obviously a lot quicker?

Yes – I’m usually the last guy to get my cases. I let the other guys move out because their stuff’s all self-contained with stacks and guitar amps – it’s a lot quicker to put them away and move them – then I can bring up my cases, but we’ve got a good system.

How long did it take you to learn the positioning of each part of the kit?

Well the first day in New York, Mike’s old tech Jose, flew in and we set the kit up together, and it’s marked, but we have three of these kits and I built this one (Europe) and the one in Japan. But basically I have a label maker and it’s all labelled up, plus after you’ve been behind it a few times you get the visual of where things go. I mark everything so it’s not too hard – Mike might come in and adjust or tweak something – one thing that takes me a lot of the time are the percussion gadgets!

Have you ever had anything break during a show e.g. heads?

Once or twice, the beater came right out of the kick drum pedal – I don’t even know how that happens, as I tighten everything before the show; so it’s just a fluke when that happens! I’ve never had any heads break – some snares have fallen off at times – the only thing I hate is when Mike spins the cymbals because sometimes it catches the clamp-nut that holds the cymbal onto the stand and it starts undoing itself. If I do have to go out to fix it, Mike’s always joking around hitting me with the sticks in front of everyone!

How often do you change the heads?

We can go every four to five shows – they start getting really dead after that – the snare would be about the same.

Do you carry extra cymbals?

Yes we do carry some, but we’ve been pretty lucky with cymbals – they don’t break too often, they just get beat up from all the water as Mike likes to spray water everywhere and by the time the shows over it’s dried on.

You mentioned that there are identical kits for Europe, Japan and the States – do they have their own cymbals or do you carry them with you?

Actually that’s what I’ve been trying to put together ever since I started – I now have a set for each kit in each place but I like to have some extras for insurance.

When you go back home, where does the European kit get stored?

It stays here in England with a storage company, the tour manager knows some people there....

Do you do all the liaison between the company products that Mike endorses?

Yes. I do all the ordering with Drum Workshop for the pedals, ProMark for the sticks, Sabian and Tama, etc.

As regards the sticks – is the colouring of the lettering different depending on the country?

Yes. Actually that was my idea, to get them green for the European kit – I caught them in time before they went to the paint-shop!

I read that Mike likes to have his monitors up loud?

Actually he’s been wearing earplugs this whole tour, so they’re not too loud. I sit right behind him so the monitors are more in my ears than his! But they’re not piping loud – he likes to hear and feel the kick drums – he has the kick, the snare, the hi-hats, the first four toms, John’s guitar and his own vocal and that’s everything...

It amazes me that Mike has enough to do playing wise let alone sing as well! The small second kit – whose idea was that?

That was Mike’s idea – it’s like a little “unplugged” feel to the set; also in his solo when he brings the tom out – it’s a good way to get the fans interacting...

Finally, tell us what happened at the end of the show in Munster?

Oh yes! At the end of the set, sometimes we switch, I’ll jump up on the drums, the guitar tech will play guitar and the bass tech the bass and so on, and we’ll play the end of “One” by Metallica and Mike will sing! It’s great fun at the very end of the show – I did it with Vai a few times – we played in front of 4,000 people in Argentina, but I’m a lot better since then – I can keep a little beat now!

So that’s it! Thanks to Magee for his time and also to Mike for giving us the OK to talk at what was a busy time of the day! Also thanks to Neil for arranging it all.