Originally published in Hard Roxx magazine · May 1999
Interview With Derek Sherinian
InterviewDerek Sherinian4 min read
Image & Words by Nikki Brooks
Few keyboard players can have struck a chord like Derek Sherinian over the past five years. After a stint in Alice Cooper’s band (“my first real gig”) and a film appearance in Wayne’s World (he had almost waist length hair at the time!) he got the ‘part’ in Dream Theater when their original keyboard man, Kevin Moore, left after the recording of the ‘Awake’ album. Considered by some to be just ‘a hard rock keyboard player’ or ‘a session man’, Derek has proved them all wrong by holding onto his coveted position in the band for almost five years AND by his full Dream Theater writing debut on their last studio album ‘Falling Into Infinity’.
He has also worked on a side project, the first Platypus album ‘When Pus Comes To Shove’, where he teamed up with John Myung of Dream Theater (bass), Ty Tabor of Kings X (guitar/vocals) and Rod Morgenstein of Dixie Dregs/Rudess Morgenstein (drums). Although in a more rock/blues vein, this album features an outstanding progressive track from Derek called ‘Platt Opus’ (reviewed by Dave Cockett in issue 39). There is also plenty of his trademark jazz/fusion and classical piano playing and the ever present Hammond organ with the Lesley amp (very Deep Purple in places). “We wrote and recorded Platypus in two weeks!! That was in complete contrast to recording with Dream Theater where we took a year to write the songs and several months to record them” says Derek. “Platypus will begin writing their new album on 14 May 1999 and we plan to finish recording by the end of June, with a release in early 2000.” Platypus II for the New Millennium? Derek has stated for the record that Dream Theater bassist John Myung is still part of the band.
It was while recording his forthcoming solo album ‘Planet X’ that Derek got the telephone call telling him he was out of Dream Theater. “The other four guys from the band rang me to say they were going to hire Jordan Rudess. One minute I was in the band and the next minute I wasn’t! The music business is constantly changing and I have no hard feelings towards them. My experience with Dream Theater has been very positive and I have met a lot of very cool fans on tour. At the moment I’m concentrating all my energies on my solo album! I have just built a 24-track ADAT studio at my house, where I have ADATs and all my Korg gear, like the Trinity Z1, TR racks and SGX pro. I have one live rig I take out on tour and one studio rig.”
Derek agreed with my comment that his leaving Dream Theater will just give rise to more good music for us all to listen to by saying: “The solo album is completely instrumental and very progressive, a cross between Mahavishnu Orchestra, Van Halen (with David Lee Roth), Black Sabbath and Return to Forever. I’m very excited about it. The musicians involved are Tony Franklin (bass), Virgil Donati (drums) and Brett Garsed (guitar). I have always been a big fan of Tony’s and Mike Varney of Magna Carta hooked me up with Virgil, who is an amazing drummer. We sat in a dingy rehearsal hall for two months and wrote Planet X together.” Donati was actually part of a Dream Theater tribute band in Australia called ‘Theater of Dreams’. The album was engineered and co-produced by Tom Fletcher and will be released by Magna Carta on Tuesday 13 July 1999.
Derek started taking classical piano lessons at five years old and piano was his first instrument. “Guitar is my other instrument – but I also play the field!!!!!” He later studied at Berklee as a teenager. Influenced by guitar more than keyboards (except for his hero Elton John), he cites Eddie Van Halen’s playing and his original style as a big influence. “I have a lot of guitar-isms in the way I play keys, like how a guitar player would approach the music.” He used various guitar samples and sounds in Dream Theater, especially where doubling up solos and other parts with guitarist John Petrucci was required.
Just after this copy of Hard RoxX is published, Derek Sherinian’s solo project ‘Planet X’ will be making its live debut (5 May 1999) at The Baked Potato, in Hollywood, California. “The stage will look like my keyboard riser, and the music will be all instrumental, hardcore, progressive fusion. The line-up will be the same as on the album, except that Ricc Fierabracci will play bass.” What no world tour? “I am looking forward to seeing the fans in the future in whatever capacity with Alice Cooper and Platypus. Planet X will play some Los Angeles venues, then I’ll be doing Platypus II and some writing and touring with Alice when he does a new album.” What of the Nicky Lemons album ‘Ugly Americans’ with its amusing song titles like ‘Monkey’s Ass’ and ‘I Don’t Like You’? Derek laughs “ Sorry no Nicky Lemons album – not this year – maybe next year........”