Interview With Jordan Rudess

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Also at The Rave in Milwaukee, Jordan Rudess was gracious enough to talk with me for a few minutes before the show. What followed was a bit more insight into the newest member of Dream Theater – reasons behind decisions he’s made, musical contributions, and his family life.

NS: First of all its nice to meet you finally.

JR: It’s nice to meet you too.

NS: I’ve heard a lot of your stuff, and I just think you’re amazing. I’m really glad you’re in Dream Theater.

JR: Thank you. I appreciate it.

NS: What’s it like being in Dream Theater?

JR: It’s loud. (laughs) No, it’s great. I think it’s a great band. I just feel like all of the pieces of the puzzle have come together. Obviously I’ve worked with John and Mike before in Liquid Tension, and I auditioned for Dream Theater many years ago, about six years ago at this point. But finally when they asked me to join the group again just over a year ago, it felt like it was so right at this point. We decided to make it happen.

NS: What changed to make it right?

JR: Everything changed, really. Years ago when I was first offered the job, I had just had a one year old. Matter of fact, the birthday was the one performance I did with them six years ago. So I wasn’t really anxious to go on what seemed like about a year-long tour. I also started working with a company called Kurzweil, which makes the synthesizers that I use. That relationship just began. I felt that if I left to go on the road, I couldn’t see that happen. So as nice as it was to get the offer and as exciting as it was, I felt it was something I had to pass up at that point. And also what really made the decision firm was that I had also gotten an offer from the band that’s opening up for us tonight, the Dregs. So all in all, I felt that it was a little bit sad that I had to say no, but at least I’ll do something that’s cool, and that’s that. So it worked out that I stayed in touch, and here I am today.

NS: What experience most prepared you for Dream Theater?

JR: It was a really gradual kind of thing. Even things like going on the road with my group Rudess Morgenstein Project with Rod Morgenstein and driving all around Europe and opening for them, I got to see firsthand what the Dream Theater audiences were like, the kind of places they played, the kind of response they had. I got to go on the road. The lifestyle that I had at that point – we were driving in cars all around Europe. Those guys weren’t on a bus. So in some ways it was less comfortable, but in other ways it was more pleasurable to take our time driving from country to country and stop whenever and wherever we wanted to. But at least I got to see the way that whole thing worked. That prepared me as well as my years of practicing piano.

NS: Why did you make the jump from classical piano to keyboards? When did that happen?

JR: I had been studying classical piano from the time I was nine years old at Julliard, which is one of the really big music schools in New York City. I was really just a straight-laced, focused kid just practicing piano all the time and playing a lot of concerts and being groomed to be a classical pianist. I think in everyone’s mind they were sure that’s what was going to happen. But around 16-17, kids at school would play me different kinds of music – Genesis, Yes, Gentle Giant – and it really caught my ear. And somebody made the mistake of bringing over one of those Moog synthesizers to my house with all the knobs on it, I think it was the Sonic 5. They brought it in and sat it down in my room, and it really had a big effect on me just being able to change the sound – not only just playing the keyboard but also to play with the sound. And I thought that was unbelievable. So I started to make a whole collection on my wall of different pictures of synthesizers. My whole bedroom was covered with Moog, Mini Moog, this and that, and then the guys who were playing them like Keith Emmerson and Rick Wakeman. It was a big transition. Still I was at Julliard, but l was feeling like I wanted to leave at this point. And it was right around the time that I had to make the break. Julliard is broken into two divisions. You have the pre-college division where the younger people go that are talented, and they go once or twice a week. Then you have the college division, which is a full running college. Even though I was in the pre-college division, you still had to audition for the college level. So I had to re-audition. So I did that even though I didn’t really want to at the time. I got in with a scholarship, and I got a great teacher, and my parents and teachers were all very happy. I stayed there for about a year and a half, and then I could take it no more. And I left.

NS: How is your family adjusting to the new change of being in Dream Theater and is it different than the Dregs?

JR: Well, the Dregs were much less demanding as far as time goes, just a few weeks here and there on the road. Dream Theater is now a lot of traveling. It’s not a great thing for any band to be separated like that, but the thing that makes it work at least so far is that it’s very successful. It feels really right. The band is doing well. We made a good record, we’re out there playing, and it’s something to be proud of. My wife is very proud of it. I mean, this is what I do. There’s nothing else that I do, so you kind of have to. She’s a smart person, so she handles it well.

NS: I was just curious, how old are your kids? You have two?

JR: Kids are three and six.

NS: Do you have any desire to write lyrics for Dream Theater?

JR: I really do like to write. I haven’t written lyrics in a while. But for my first solo album, I wrote all the lyrics.

NS: Listen, right?

JR: Yeah. I think one day I will. But I didn’t write any for this last album mostly because the guys had a firm grasp of what they wanted to do conceptually before I came into the picture. And I felt there were so many responsibilities on my part, so much to learn just like keeping my eyes open and joining the group and making it happen. And I definitely wanted to and did contribute a lot of the musical ideas.

...and that’s where my tape recorder stopped! From my notes, he said that the band as a collective has so much talent that he feels he should pull back and contribute just a part to the whole band. I asked whether he’d want to sing backup vocals since he sang on the 1993 release Listen. He gave a similar answer, saying that he took less responsibility for this record and maybe he’ll sing backup vocals next time.

To conclude the interview, I asked about his practice habits. When he was a kid, he spent 4-5 years practicing a day mostly technique exercises. But now like Mike, he practices on tabletops whenever he can. Again, thanks to Jordan for granting me a wonderful interview.

Nicole Stachowicz