Jordan Rudess article-interview (excerpt)

We start talking about the record company, whether they oblige Jordan to go for the strictly instrumental format and whether at all he tries out stuff on his solo album that might be used for Dream Theater or vice versa? “Magna Carta let me do whatever I found was cool. I have so much to say from an instrumental point of view that I do not need vocals. Furthermore the logistics consumed so much energy already that I didn’t want to be involved in drafting in extra singers as well. I’m a musician, so all the time that’s spent doing other things instead of composing is indeed wasted! My main aim is always to explore new sounds and these are indeed often tried out on solo projects. However once these sounds have been established, I integrate them in the music of Dream Theater. Solo for me is a mechanism to continue explorations. You’ll hear some of the new sounds on the new Dream Theater album for sure.”

Having had two other keyboard players in Dream Theater before him[, Kevin Moore and Derek Sherinian], does Jordan dissect their musical evolution, their solo output and does he evaluate their departure from the Dream Theater flagship? “Yes I do because I find both their careers and decisions interesting. In the case of Kevin Moore he was an important key figure in the band, breaking new ground, yet as a solo musician he decided to take on a completely new direction [Chroma Key]. In fact, he decided to divorce from prog rock altogether, which is an odd decision and a mystery to me. But then again, it’s his decision, and as long as he feels good about it, then who am I to argue with that? In Derek’s case he said he wanted to leave the band in order to concentrate on more rock oriented music, yet the moment he leaves DT he starts doing this prog fusion thing with Planet X, which again leaves me with a big mystery. In the end, I feel they both are very skilled musicians who each brought in their distinctive sound to Dream Theater, paving the way for greater and bigger things. It’s an honour for me to continue this great tradition.”