James LaBrie interview (excerpt)

Q: What was the time table you were working on for MullMuzzler?

A: I’d just come off “Touring Into Infinity.” That ended in late September (1998). Then I took off two or three weeks, and then at that point, I just jumped right into it, and started collaborating with the guys from Shadow Gallery, and put in time with Matt and Trent.

Basically, the constructing of the songs lasted until the end of November/beginning of December, at which time I flew down to L.A., and that’s when we started to record all the band tracks. It was first and foremost the drums. Mike Mangini—it was a real treat working with him. He’s incredibly talented, but at the same time, a real gentleman and a real professional. (We’d) met some years before when Dream Theater was out doing a festival tour in Europe. Basically, we were hanging out with Mike and Gary Cherone from Extreme, and we really hit it off really well, so it was just great to call him up. I just said, “Hey, are you interested in doing drums on my solo project?” He was like, “Yeah, man, count me in. Let’s do it.” He was great, as well as everyone else.

Bryan Beller was fantastic as well. He went in and I basically told him, “Lookit. I don’t want 64th notes flying around here. I want a lot of soul; I want a lot of maturity; and I just want a lot of expression and feeling. And he was like, “Cool—let me know if there’s anything you don’t like.” So he went in, and he was amazing. He did exactly what I wanted him to do.

We had the bands done by (the) end of December. I started doing my vocals in Toronto near the end of January, and I did that until March, because it was off and on. I had other commitments, and then Dream Theater, we were starting to write our new album in February, so I had that to contend with as well. It was a little bit of a whirlwind for me for a while. I got that done near March/April, and then Terry (Brown) and I jumped in and did the mix. It was mixed and mastered by May. There was a lot of FedEx-ing and e-mailing back and forth.

Q: How would you say MullMuzzler differs from a DT record?

A: Lyrically, it was pretty much the same. I usually base my inspiration for lyrics for something (off) a few things: my personal relationships—general relationships with people and loved ones; and the other source of inspiration is basically from literature, what I’m reading at the time, or just even newspapers and what I see on TV and movies I’m watching. It’s like everyone else, the way we’re all affected, or sometimes disturbed, by what we come into contact with in our environments. It was pretty much the same. It was just things I had thought of—I always jot things down when I think of them or if I get a cool idea I’ll just jot down a few lines and when I have time I’ll expand on it later. That’s basically what I did with MullMuzzler.

Q: Now that everyone in Dream Theater has completed at least one full album of outside work since Falling Into Infinity, do you worry about there being too many “side projects,” or do you view them as healthy means of expression to show off a side that may have otherwise been restricted?

A: I think it’s another outlet to express ourselves. There’s a lot of things that unfortunately you can’t put all down on one album, but we’re just bursting with ideas, so this was one way to get it out instead of just leaving it in a book or on a tape. You kind of can’t really ignore this and say, “Maybe someday I will get it out”—you just gotta do it, when you’re feeling close to it.

I’ll speak for myself—I think it really helped, and added so much incredible writing to the new Dream Theater album, because we were all, on our down time, very much involved in writing, and recording, and just really keeping in tune, so we were all in great shape, creatively and technically. I think it really, really helped this album come together really nicely. I’ll say easily that it’s our best work.

In Europe, a lot of the media already have it, and they’re flipping out. I’m not trying to come off sounding pretentious, but they’re going as far as to say it’s a masterpiece, and it’s just like the IMAGES AND WORDS days. Everyone’s psyched and excited. It’s like a whole new breath of fresh air. I really think the side projects really did have something to do with this.

Q: Did you ever worry about oversaturating the market?

A: The market is saturated, but the market is very fragmented, unfortunately. If we can put things out which I’m very proud of—I think Liquid Tension is incredible—it’s not like we’re putting out shit. I’m very proud of MullMuzzler. I think it’s a really cool album. I think there’s some similarities and parallels to a Dream Theater album, but I think it more or less stands on its own. To me, first and foremost, it’s very hard rock, with a lot of groove. I think it’s much easier to access, and to internalize, than it is with a Dream Theater album. It’s much more straightforward. I think as long as we keep a lid on it… I think that if we started doing this on a regular basis, and releasing solo things and releasing more than one or two on down time—that it would get a little silly. There would be more room for weakness.

Q: When Kiss did their solo albums, it seemed Ace Frehley discovered a freedom he didn’t find in the band, which in part led to his departure. Did you ever worry that on one of these offshoots, someone might enjoy the freedom a solo effort brings more so than being one of five voices in a group?

A: No. We all are just so completely passionate about Dream Theater, and it’s really evident. When we get together, and we’re out on the road touring, we do have our talks and our times when we’re on the tour bus or backstage at one time or another. One or two guys will be speaking, just saying, “This is the real thing. This is where I really feel at home. This is where I feel that special little chill up the spine.” I’m sure if you were to ask any guy in the band, they would say Dream Theater is the priority.

Q: I know Jordan Rudess was your first choice to replace Kevin Moore in DT, but tell me how his initiation over the last year came about.

A: I think it was slowly. The guys would play the Liquid Tension stuff, and I’d hear it, and I’d say to them, “Guys, this has such chemistry, such a vibe, I get chills just listening to it.” Jordan is just at the top of his field. I mean, that guy is just unbelievable. We’re talking about a guy who was nine years old or seven years old who was in Julliard! I’d say things like this to Mike or John Petrucci. Then they were playing stuff for me from the second Liquid Tension album. I’m looking at them, and I’m freaking out. I’m going, “I can’t believe this. This is incredible.”

We actually took out Rudess/Morgenstein with us when we were in Europe, and I’d be on the side of the stage watching these guys every night. Rod Morgenstein is incredible as well—he just blows my mind. I’d be watching, and John Petrucci would come up beside me and go, “Well?” We’d be joking, and I’d say, “We need him in the band! Get him in the band!” Then we’d look at each other and feel really guilty and go, “We can’t do that! What are we talking about?” You’d feel really guilty.

Eventually, it just came around, and it was just so obvious that where we wanted to go on the next album—the focus and direction of the music—what we thought would be really cool for Dream Theater, we just knew that Jordan was the man. It was so evidently clear with the Liquid Tension stuff that this was the guy. It worked out amazing. Everything we envisioned, it came true with this album.

Q: I’ve read that how the Liquid Tension albums were written and recorded had a big effect on the new Dream Theater.

A: We actually wrote the album right in (the studio). We’d get on to a section, then you’d work it out. A long as it took, you’d spend the time, and then bang, let’s record it. It would go onto 2”, which was very exciting as well. That was a completely new situation for us—I mean, that’s the way they used to do albums back in the ‘70s.

This has been a real special thing, right from the beginning—the writing sessions, the recording process, the whole vibe. Jordan brought in a whole new blood. It was very reminiscent to me of when we were recording IMAGES and AWAKE. There was just a lot of excitement, even though in AWAKE, halfway through was a bit of a downer, because that’s when the Kevin Moore situation came into play. But it was like a bunch of kids walking around the studio, really psyched and excited, and at the same time, kind of stressed, because we knew we had to put together a really cool album.

Q: Is “Metropolis: Part II” included on the disc?

A: I can’t divulge anything more than to tell you it’s a concept album. I think it’s definitely the album we’ve been wanting to make for a long time, and we finally got around to making it. I think the fans are going to be extremely excited about it, and really satisfied. It’s just gonna breathe a whole new life into everything once again. If this album did take off, it’d be exciting for progressive world, because it would support all these other bands whose music has integrity. It’d help bring an underground world a little more notice.

Q: On a random final note, what do you like to listen to that might surprise some fans?

A: Wynton Marsalis, Miles Davis, Nat King Cole, Andrea Bocelli, Jamiroquai, Placido Domingo. And Queen—Freddie Mercury’s one of my favorite vocalists ever. I’ll never listen to country. I couldn’t give two shits about that. And rap—I’m just not into that. All other genres, I’ll give them a listen.

-LaBrie said he won’t tour with MullMuzzler, at least not until he releases a second album, which might call for a “few select shows here and there.” As for Dream Theater, he promises a short two-week US run in December, followed by a massive tour in 2000 that he hopes will include dates in Russia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, New Zealand, Australia, and the Pacific Rim.

“We’d like to play the new album start to finish, with incredible production,” he said. Now *that* would be a scene to remember.