Originally published in Guitar World magazine · September 1999
The Guitar World Inquirer With John Petrucci
By Alan Paul
InterviewJohn Petrucci2 min read
Alan Paul: You just released Liquid Tension Experiment 2 (Magna Carta) and are finishing up a new Dream Theater record. Three-fourths of Liquid Tension are in Dream Theater, so how do the two bands differ?
John Petrucci: It’s an entirely different vibe and process. We cut Liquid Tension in a week on ADATs, compared to spending 12 weeks on the new Dream Theater record, which is recorded onto analog, allowing us to capture much truer sounds. I’m really excited about the DT album, which should be out in October, but Liquid Tension has been a great experience for me. When Dream Theater started out, we were incredibly enthusiastic and just wanted to play as much as we could. Over the years, we became more professional, more comfortable as a group and much better at writing melodies and songwriting in general. But some of the spontaneous, play-as-much-as-you-can passion disappeared a bit. As soon as we started working on the first Liquid Tension album, I felt that spirit again, and I brought it back to Dream Theater, rededicated to playing fast and furious while remaining musical.
AP: You emerged as a fully formed guitar hero. In what ways has your playing grown?
JP: I’m not fighting with the instrument anymore. I don’t work too much on technique, as I did for so many years. Mastering technique has always driven me, but what counts is how you apply that stuff, and I think I’ve become more musical there. I’m more able to be expressive because I’m better at all the elements of electric guitar playing which make people sound different from one another: bending, sliding, slurring, vibrato. I’m more in touch with that side of playing and better able to put all the technique to use without having to focus on it.
AP: What would you say was your best gig ever?
JP: Dream Theater recently played in Athens, Greece, for the first time. We were on top of a mountain on a beautiful, sunny day with 4,000 people spread out in front of us. The whole arena was carved out of rock. You look over the side of the stage and see where the rock was carved out for the Acropolis. It was just wonderful and surreal, and in situations like that, you quit worrying about what you’re playing and get lost in the moment. The mind shuts down and the fingers do their thing.
AP: What’s the one piece of gear you couldn’t live without?
JP: My Mesa/Boogie Mark II head. No matter what I try, I always come back to it.