Through Her Eyes – An Interview With Rena Petrucci

Before and after the famous Scenes From New York show, we spoke with Rena Petrucci. In this and former conversations in Europe, we learned a lot more about the world just outside Dream Theater, and we got some Dream Theater inside info. We thought that it would be nice to share those feelings with the other fans by doing an interview with Rena. Because Dream Theater didn’t have plans to tour after the NY show, we decided to do the interview by email. After several emails, this is the final result. Enjoy. And a big thank you to Rena Petrucci.

We heard you had your own band Meanstreak, can you tell us something about it?

Marlene (Portnoy) and I formed Meanstreak in 1988 with the intention of playing covers. I had played in a Rush cover band before hooking up with Marlene, but we never really played out, so I consider Meanstreak my first band. Meanstreak played hard rock/metal in the early 90’s. I played guitar, Marlene originally played guitar then switched to bass after Lisa left. Bettina France was the vocalist and Yael played drums.

Was the name Meanstreak made up after the Y&T song with the same name?

It was ripped right off that album.

How successful was Meanstreak ?

We had one full album called Roadkill in 1988 and also appeared on the L’Amour Rocks compilation. Since then we did a lot of demos that we distributed ourselves, and we were the house band on a TV show called “Girls Night Out” on Lifetime Television. We played clubs opening for Anthrax, Overkill, Manowar, Motörhead and others in the early nineties, mostly around NY and Boston. We never played overseas but I wish we did. Our label was Music For Nations, in England, but they never brought us over. As we were together for a long time we needed a change and decided to split up. The club scene and deal shopping can get old after a while. People’s priorities change and speaking for myself, I wanted to have children. I also lost my dad who was a jazz musician and I withdrew from music for a while. The women of Meanstreak are all still friends and keep in close touch, so maybe we will do a reunion one day. We kid about it and say “Who would come to see us?”

How and where did you meet John; was it love at first sight?

I met John at the Concrete Foundations Forum in Los Angeles in 1989. We were both there promoting our bands and Yael, my drummer, was a friend of theirs so we all met for dinner. I fell in love across the table and the rest is history. I think I asked for guitar lessons and he still hasn’t given me any. Mike and Marlene met there too, but didn’t start dating until a while later. We are all from NY. A couple of years later John Myung and Lisa, the original Meanstreak bassist, hooked up on their own.

Did Meanstreak ever play as a support act for Dream Theater?

Actually, Dream Theater once opened for us while practicing for their first tour on “Images And Words”‘. Of course they took the whole place over. I think it was called The Safari Club. I have a video somewhere. We opened for Dream Theater once or twice, but there can be conflicts so we tried to avoid it. (Like Vinnie putting our drummer’s kit outside in the snow. Oops it slipped out.)

Did Dream Theater play on your wedding day?

They didn’t play because we had a DJ, but he played a recording of John singing Perry Como’s “And I Love You So” which was funny.

Are you still playing the guitar and if so does John intervene a lot with your playing, or is it the other way around and do YOU teach John things (behind every man there’s a woman)?

I took private lessons for a while, some classical and some blues/jazz, but I don’t have John’s theory background. I mostly play by ear. I think John picks up a lot of things from everyone. I certainly learned a lot from him. I feel like “why bother” around him most of the time. We always bounce ideas off each other. John writes a lot at home and I love to be an ear for his new material. I always put my 2 cents in. (Which is probably about all it’s worth!) The only thing that bothers me is listening to him practice chromatic finger exercises. He plays all over the house, although we have a small studio/office. I think it’s great for the children to be around music all the time. We even want to do a Christmas album together one day. I play a little classical so we thought it would be fun. He’s so busy. We have to do the instructional video first. Besides that, we both have written a lot of children’s songs since we have 3, so we would like to record these too. Also John has recorded himself reading stories to our children to listen to while he is away. There’s a song at the beginning called “Daddy’s Stories”. He’s so cute.

What do you think of Dream Theater’s music and what is your favorite song and album?

I think Dream Theater is the best band I ever heard and I have trouble listening to some bands because they sound so mediocre to me. I think “Scenes From A Memory” is my favorite album, but I love them all (Except I never really got into “When Dream And Day Unite”. I think it’s the recording that bothers me. I keep hoping they will remix it one day.) Some of my favorite songs are Learning To Live, Metropolis, Erotomania, Peruvian Skies and everything on Scenes From A Memory.

Do you discuss any Dream Theater songs with John before they are released? In other words: are there any influences of you to be heard on a Dream Theater album?

John always asks my opinion and I always give my input at the production level, sounds, background ideas, etc. I think you can hear some Meanstreak sounding riffs here and there or at least I flatter myself. I’ve helped him out of a writer’s block by giving him a new perspective, but he does all right on his own.

What other music do you like and can you give us your favorite top 5 records.

I listen to everything. I like to work out to Primus and I even listen to some dance. I like Rage Against The Machine, Tool, Pink Floyd, Steve Morse Band, Dregs and we can’t forget Liquid Tension Experiment, then I can turn around and listen to Sheryl Crow and Stevie Nicks. I love instrumental music. Classical guitar and Jazz too. Top 5 Records? I can’t commit.

Is your choice of music now any different from before you met John?

We like the same music. That’s a big connection for us. We also dislike the same music, which is funny. Except he liked The Doors when he was little and I didn’t.

Are your children also into music?

The children love Dream Theater. They also like NSync and Britney Spears. John can be seen dancing to “Oops I Did It Again” every now and then. But don’t tell anyone. Our son Reny loves the blues. The twins are 4 and Kiara is 2. They don’t play any instrument themselves yet, but Samantha takes voice lessons. We have instruments all over the house that they play with but not formally. They mostly make a lot of noise now. We would like to start them on piano soon.

Why is it that John’s homepage is actually maintained by you?

He gave me FrontPage for Christmas one year and I took the hint.

Do you answer all the questions and what is the strangest question ever asked?

Yes and I have John answer the technical questions. The strangest quote from the fan mail: “yes I now, this letter looks like if will gone be made to Santa Claus, but I don’t care about it, this travel of you to Mexico put me naked and show me like a little boy.” We’re still not sure what this means...

Does John get a lot of fan mail from girls and do you answer them too?

He does get a lot of fan mail from girls, but most of them are serious musicians asking the same questions as the guys. Every now and then there are love letters and I forward them to John, because I don’t know how to answer them.

Finally: What does John do whenever he is at home and what are your own hobbies?

When John is home, he spends a lot of time with the kids playing soccer, music, watching movies and stuff like that. He likes to inline skate and so do I, we both work out at a gym, and we like to go sight-seeing around NY. He’s also an awesome cook. I study Karate, play guitar, write songs and I spend a lot of time taking care of the little Petrucci’s.

Erik and Iris Hulsegge