Through His Words – Interview with John Petrucci

On November 12th I was given the opportunity to have a brief conversation with john Petrucci just before the gig the band would give in Ancienne Belgique in Bruxelles, Belgium. Because the topic was supposed to be a little more from a guitarist’s point of view, Roots asked me to do the interview.

MH: You weren’t that young when you started playing guitar. What was the road that led you to Berklee (the highly-recommended college for music where John P., John M. and Mike met each other, MH) like?

JP: Well, I was about twelve years old when I started playing, and during high school I was primarily self-taught. I played in a lot of school bands, and there I developed myself by listening to Randy Rhoads, Yes, Alex Lifeson and Yngwie.

MH: Was it obvious at that time that you were better than anyone else around you?

JP: It was more like I was very determined to become a rock guitarist. No one else felt the urge as much as I did.

MH: After Berklee you turned out to be an idol for some, a role model to others. How do you deal with that?

JP: It’s very different. It’s far away from reality, going from city to city and still not seeing very much, living on the bus or in the hotel. Everybody takes care of things for you, so you get a little spoiled. It’s just very different. You’ve got to try to stay healthy, it’s easy to get sick, but then again, what we do is very easy: just playing and that is great. I love playing guitar, writing music, and anyone who can do that has probably something to say. For me it’s just totally flattering. Sometimes it feels a little strange, ‘cause you’re still the same guy as the one who is in his bedroom practicing, and then all of a sudden people are buying your records, so that’s kinda weird.

MH: Oh, were you like one of those kids standing in front of the mirror with a tennis racket in his hands?

JP: Haha, no, not like that, but I could have been.

MH: OK, I happen to be the proud owner of one of these JPM 90th anniversary models, and as far as I can feel it, that one is even better than the common JPM series. Are the ones you personally use being modified for you?

JP: No, the only thing is that Mark, my technician, sometimes sands the neck down a little bit so that it is a little more smooth. Other than that it’s just stock. The anniversary model has an ebony fretboard and a maple top, and it might be that they put some more care into making it. Other than that it should feel the same. But it’s a really great guitar! I used it to record the Liquid Tension Experiment II.

MH: What about the acoustic guitar you use on stage?

JP: That is an Ibanez S-classic, I think it’s called. It has nylon strings and a piezo pickup, so plug in and you get the natural sound of the strings. You can put it through an amp as I do, and it just has a great sound.

MH: Is it a hollow body, and is it for sale?

JP: No, it’s a solid body guitar, and I think you can buy it, yeah.

MH: What influenced you to start using a 7-string guitar? Steve Vai, I suppose?

JP: Oh definitely Steve Vai. Of course the 7-string guitar is around for quite a while with the jazz-guys, but in rock at that time, Steve was the only one using it. Very different from today with bands like Korn, Limp Bizkit and Fear Factory. So I asked Ibanez to build one with exactly the same wood, pickups, etc. as the normal JPM’s. It just has a bigger neck with an extra .56 D’Addario. That’s it!

MH: During the show yesterday (I was at the DT show in Zwolle, Netherlands on November 11th, MH) you only played “Just Let Me Breathe” on your 7-string?

JP: Well, I don’t use it that much. On “Awake” it was on The Mirror, Lie and Caught In A Web. On “A Change Of Seasons” I used it on the whole thing. On “Falling Into Infinity” it was only on “Just Let Me Breathe,” and on the new album I only use it for The Dance Of Eternity.

MH: How come that live you play that solo (Just Let Me Breathe) together with the keyboard player, while on the album it’s separated between the left (guitar) and right channels (keyboards)?

JP: Well, actually the way we play it live is the way it was written. I guess that on the album it was just like a mix thing. The reason that we do that on the album is first of all because you can hear the difference between the players, and second it gives a really cool stereo effect.

MH: What kind of amplification you use both on stage as in the studio?

JP: In the studio I basically use one head, usually a Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+. It goes directly into a 4x12 Boogie cabinet, we mike it up, and that’s dry!

MH: Close miking, I guess?

JP: I don’t know how Doug (Oberkircher, engineer on SFAM, MH) did it. I believe he put three different mikes on it. It depends on the engineer. It’s all close miking, however – nothing far away. I like the sound of the speaker right into the mike. On stage I have five different amps in my rack: there is a Rectifier, the Mark IIC+, a Mark IV, a Formula and a TriAxis. The TriAxis has an infinite amount of channels because it’s midi. The Formula has three. I mostly use that for clean sounds, though. The Mark IV has three, and I usually just use the lead channel and also the rhythm2, which I use for less distorted sounds. The Mark IIC+ has two channels. I just use the lead channel – that’s my main crunch sound. From the Rectifier I kinda use everything. I have six 4x12 Boogie cabinets on stage. The bottom ones deliver the same sound as the top ones, so for PA sake they just mike up the bottom ones. The two on the left have the left effects, the ones in the center deliver the dry sound, and the ones on the right have the right effects.

MH: Doesn’t it bother your ears, those speakers blowing right into them?

JP: No, I actually like it, that’s one of those things. I like to get a sound that sounds good to my ears, not too hard, not too bright, you know, I should hear it right. That doesn’t work when it’s coming at my legs. Sometimes it’s easier when it wouldn’t blow into your ears, but then the sound might be different from what is being miked, and I don’t want that.

MH: How do you control all that? We never see the foot switch you use on stage.

JP: It was designed for me by Bob Bradshaw (who provides systems for many great guitarists, MH), and my rack system was developed by Mark Snyder, who has been a really good friend of mine for a long time. He builds all my systems. It’s incredibly meticulous. It’s incredibly clean. He does a great job. Besides that there is an Ernie Ball volume pedal, a wah pedal, a midi pedal and a pedal that controls the delay level.

MH: When do you use the volume pedal instead of the knob on your guitar?

JP: The knob I use where I want the guitar to be dynamically lower. It turns the gain down so I can play more bluesy stuff. I can do more dynamics, I can play softer. If I want the overall volume to be turned lower or off, I use the volume pedal.

MH: So the pedal is not between guitar and amp?

JP: Yeah, that’s exactly right, it’s after the pre-amp.

MH: And what is the main effect module?

JP: I have a TC Electronics 2290, which is a big part of my sound. I usually use it for choruses, but as in Lifting Shadows, I also use it for the delay. I have a Lexicon PCM 80 for delay and a Lexicon PCM 70 for reverb. I also had a Korg delay that died on the first gig of this tour. It was a really, really cool delay so I’m very upset.

MH: Yesterday I noticed an Eventide GTR4000 Harmonizer in your rack. When do you use that?

JP: It’s the newest piece that I still have to get used to. What I’m eventually going to use it for are octaves, whammy pedal stuff, harmonies like third and sixth diatonic harmonies, and other types of effects like phasers.

MH: What about the Queen-thing on Fatal Tragedy (after 2:10, MH)? You didn’t use your GTR4000 yesterday in Zwolle for that.

JP: No, I haven’t had the time to program it yet. I was trying to do it today, but I’m sure it’s gonna be on this tour though. I finally put an octave in there today. You know, as in the melody in Home (after 2:05,MH), you should be able to hear it tonight, there is an octave below.

MH: Speaking of which, listening to the album I suspected you to have detuned your low E-string to D on Home. Yesterday I noticed that was actually the case. Is that a definite farewell for the 7-string or is it just for ease of use?

JP: I just wanted to do a song in D. I probably could have played it on the 7-string but it wouldn’t have sounded the same. I wanted to have that open D-string sound.

MH: Who did the sitar sounds on the album during Home?

JP: That’s all been done by Jordan. It’s a good sample, don’t you think?

MH: Yeah, definitely. Did you ever try using the sitar-guitar or maybe even a real Indian sitar?

JP: I did try that sitar-guitar once, but I never had the opportunity to play a real sitar.

MH: Also on the new album you frequently use an open B or E string. Do you compose your music around it or is it just like, when it fits in it’s cool?

JP: If they fit I use them. That’s like an influence of Alex Lifeson. I’ve got that from him. He always got that B or E string ringing out as in The Spirit Of Radio, Tom Sawyer or Limelight. It’s a real big sound.

MH: In Fatal Tragedy when James starts singing “I try to get more answers,” you start playing this progression, kind of similar to Pull Me Under (2nd time “This world is spinning around me”, MH). What do you base that upon?

JP: The idea is to play a rhythmic phrase behind it. It’s like an ostinato. It has a similar feel. Each riff is pretty close to the one before. You just change certain notes to fit the chords, and it has this rhythmic drive in it.

MH: The Zappa kind of things in Beyond This Life – how did you come to think of that? Yesterday I spoke to Jordan, and he told me he actually composed this! You must be drunk to come up with something like that!

JP: It’s funny, you know, there is a side of us that is very funny: if one of us starts playing something really wacky on their instruments, it makes people laugh, you know, what the hell was that? And that’s where the creative process begins. Our minds start working. “Wouldn’t it be great to try this and that and wouldn’t it be cool to play these things together?” It’s funny and challenging. And how we do it? It’s a combination of tonality and rhythm, you know, the poly-rhythm and syncopations are a big part of it.

MH: Are there any restrictions to how weird it can get?

JP: Probably not. It’s very liberal, and at least tonally it doesn’t make that much sense.

MH: Who came up with the idea of the ragtime part in The Dance Of Eternity?

JP: Jordan. He’s out of his mind, he’s crazy but he’s very funny.

MH: The thing you play right after that, what is that based upon?

JP: Yeah, it’s based upon the chord-progression in Finally Free (singing the part after 4:01, MH). It’s that same progression. In a different key though, but it’s the same progression.

MH: Sometimes it sounds like you come together in the studio and say to each other, “Why don’t we skip that beat, or extend that bar?” Is that actually what’s happening?

JP: It’s a little of both: sometimes we write naturally in a way, in a stream of consciousness where parts are not repeating, but sometimes we write something really straight ahead and we say, “Maybe we can change a bit here and there and make it a little more original.” When I write a solo, I listen to the melodic element, where does the solo come from and where does it go, and I listen to the excitement factor. I try to make them go into the direction that the climax is. I try to keep it original. When it comes to techniques, do a little new each time. And I decide if it is OK. It’s my solo! But still we collaborate while writing. Also in colour schemes, if we want a chord to sound very distinctive, even when it contains added no res like 9th, 11th or 13th, we have to agree on who plays what. While when you need a really dirty sound, I add it all to make my guitar sound really messy.

MH: Both on ACOS and on SFAM there are fragments where we can hear a click track. Is it there on purpose or is it a mistake?

JP: Oh, wow, you heard that? Tell me where you heard it!

MH: On ACOS it’s the bass part after 19:27 and on SFAM it’s in Beyond This Life after 2:59 where you let your bass line descend right opposite the melody line.

JP: Yeah, that’s it! Actually, from John Myung I don’t know if it was on purpose, but for me, it was a mistake. We did the mix and when I took it home it was like... oh my God! We didn’t have time to change it.

MH: Do you always use a click track in the studio?

JP: Yes, things just come out better.

MH: Do you have something like a favourite scale?

JP: Not really, I like Dorian, I like Lydian, I like Lydian flat 7th. You know, as in Just Let Me Breathe the solo... yeah, that is Lydian flat 7th.

MH: For some strange reason, for me it’s a lot easier to start that solo with an upstroke. Do you think the downstroke should always be on the beat?

JP: It doesn’t have to be. As I mention in my instruction video, you have to be able to play them both ways, whether it’s inside out or outside in. When it doesn’t feel right, you should practice until it works both ways.

MH: Ok, one final question before you should prepare for tonight’s show: is there going to be a tab book from SFAM? I think it would please many of us guitarists!

JP: Yes, absolutely! In fact, Warner Brothers asked me to send them the tapes of the guitar tracks to be able to transcribe them more accurately. So I have that and I will send it to them. Then I’ll approve it so it could be there very quick.

MH: Well, thank you very much for the interview. It’s been great talking to you. Have a good show.

JP: Thanks, my pleasure.

Maarten Heeringa