Interview with John and Mike

Aerial Theater, Houston, Texas

July 6, 2001 was a typical, hot summer afternoon in Houston, Texas, and G3 was finally here. Both John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy sat down together for an interview, which is quite rare. They shared their feelings on the G3 tour, insight into the making of the new Dream Theater album, and the latest scoop on all of the upcoming CD and DVD releases from Dream Theater.

I’d like to give special thanks to Alan Muirden from the UK for submitting several of the questions in this interview. I’m sorry things didn’t work out for us to conduct a dual interview.

Nicole Stachowicz: Thank you both for sitting down and talking with me. How’s the tour coming along?

John Petrucci: Very good. I’d like to play more. I only get 40 minutes, but it’s a good 40 minutes. But the jam is really cool.

NS: How did this come about that you were invited to play with G3?

JP: Rumor has it that it was Joe’s idea, and they got in touch with my manager. At first I was very reluctant, because I really didn’t have any music and we were recording. But then I got to thinking about it, and I didn’t really want to pass it up.

NS: And how did you ask Mike to drum, or did he just volunteer?

JP: Actually, Mike was the first person who came to my mind because I knew it was going to have to be a trio, and I knew the kind of music that I was going to write. It was going to be heavy progressive. Obviously we’ve been together writing and recording, so we’re in close contact. And Mike’s an awesome drummer. I knew it would be great. And actually also it’s a real comfort zone for me, too, because I’ve never played in a trio before. I’ve never had to front without vocals or anything. And I figured if I had someone I was comfortable with, that would help.

Mike Portnoy: The truth is that it was the only way he was going to be able to get out of the studio. (laughter) He knew that if he invited me, he’d have no problems leaving the studio. Actually, in all seriousness, I was very surprised that John asked me, and I was very, very honored. It meant a lot to me. He very easily could have wanted to have the spotlight all to himself without any Dream Theater members. So I was actually surprised that he asked me. I was totally flattered. And it says a lot for our relationship. Thank you. (John and Mike hugged. Laughter.)

NS: How sweet. (smile) How did you ask Dave LaRue to play bass?

JP: Well, we toured with the Dregs, and I talked to Dave a few times about playing together. So we talked about it before, but we never really had a project to do. It was like, light bulb – this would be great. The other reason is that he’s really used to playing in a trio with the Steve Morse Band. So he knows how to really fill out all the space that’s not happening because you don’t have a keyboard player. I knew he was good at doing that. And also, I know he’s a good soloist, and I don’t want to hog up all the time doing guitar solos.

NS: Are we hearing original material, or is some of this reused, or is some of this from the new album?

JP: Nothing is from the new album. Three of the songs are brand new that I wrote literally in my spare morning time during the recording of the new Dream Theater record. One of them is a version of a song I wrote a long time ago that Mike dug out of the archives. I guess I was playing it in 1994 as a guitar solo spot mostly in Europe. It’s a ballad called Lost Without You that I used to do with Derek. It’s more of a Zeppelin-ey version. And the fifth song is Paradigm Shift with a little Erotomania stuck in.

NS: How many days did you have to rehearse for these shows?

JP: Two.

NS: Two?!?

MP: We finished the writing of the music for the Dream Theater album on a Friday, I finished my drum tracks on a Friday, then we took the weekend off, and then Monday and Tuesday we were into rehearsals for this. And then we began the tour. So there was no rest at all. In fact, on the other end of the tour, it’s the same thing. The day the tour ends, the next day, me and John fly right back to BearTracks to resume with the record.

JP: Quite honestly, it was a pretty big monkey wrench in the middle of our recording sessions, and actually everybody’s really cool about the whole thing and really supportive of me, saying this is a good opportunity. Obviously Mike’s with me, and he’s supportive but even John and Jordan. James isn’t really around too much, but John and Jordan are like, “Go for it man.”

NS: What guitars are you using?

JP: I’m using my new Ernie Ball Music Man signature guitars – 7 and 6 (string).

NS: How soon will the John Petrucci models of the new Ernie Ball guitars be available?

JP: You know what, they actually are available. People already have them. They took orders as far back as the NAMM show in January. They started shipping in June, so people already have them.

*** Can be cut ***

MP: Doesn’t she remind you of my sister?

JP: Yeah. She does. (laughter) Definitely.

*** End of section that can be cut ***

(Sorry Nicole, we forgot to cut it,... yeah right!!!:-))

NS: Mike, what drum setup are you using? I notice you’re using the kit from Japan.

MP: The drums are made up of my Japanese Red Monster kit, but obviously it’s a scaled down version of those drums. And actually, the kick drum was especially made by Tama for this tour. Basically, it’s the right setup of my new setup, my Siamese Monster thing. I wanted to use the right side so I would get comfortable with that setup, so this tour was a good opportunity for me to continue getting comfortable to that configuration. Basically I took the Japanese drums and built this setup for the tour. Tama had to specifically make that bass drum because it’s a 20-inch kick, and the normal drums I have in Japan are 24-inch kicks.

NS: And you’re using a single bass with double pedals?

MP: Yeah. And I’m using my 12 inch Melody Master snare, which is the smaller of the two. It’s a very different setup. The toms are going kind of backwards. I have that gong bass drum instead of a floor tom.

NS: Is this tour being taped for a CD, video, or DVD?

JP: It’s being recorded in basically all different types of forms, but not for any release as far as I know. For me it’s weird, because the music is new, and people are hearing it for the first time. So the potential for it to get out before I actually record it is really high. What I’d like to do is record it properly and release it eventually.

NS: Is that a possibility?

JP: Yeah. One of the funny things is that you don’t think you have enough time to do anything, then all of a sudden you have a mission, something to do. It could happen now.

NS: Speaking of new albums, how far have you gotten in recording the new album?

MP: We finished the music literally the day we finished up the sessions to leave for the G3 tour. We started in March and completed in June. And that was all the music, which is six tracks. All of my drums are done, and all of these guys, instruments are done on five out of six tracks. So all we have left to do is – we have three weeks that we continue at the end of this tour – the end of July and the first two weeks in August. At that point, these guys will finish up their overdubs of the sixth song, and we’ll do the vocals. Then we take another break for me to go away for a clinic tour, and then we mix in September. So we’re getting close, and it’s great. I’m totally psyched about it.

NS: Obviously with only six songs, one of them has got to be pretty long, or a couple of them are pretty long?

MP: All of them are very long.

JP: It’s cool. It’s more of the same in that it’s the same kind of formula where we didn’t go in with anything, and we’re writing and recording as we go. It’s very, very cool.

MP: The same freedom we had with Scenes From a Memory we have this time. The label has yet to hear a single note. They’re letting us just do our own thing. That’s what we want. And there’s no producer – well, we’re producing – but there’s no outsiders to restrict us. And we have complete, 100% freedom. We’re just making a very progressive, dark, heavy, and experimental album.

NS: Who’s writing the lyrics?

JP: Me and Mike and James. I think that’ll be it for this album because there’s not too many songs to choose from.

NS: Will there be a theme to this album besides just dark, or is it just individual songs?

MP: Just individual songs. But being that they’re all so long, we’re able to work within each song with many themes, which is the way we’ve always written. On Awake, we had themes that tied over and very long songs. We’ve always worked that way. So there’s many themes within each piece. That’s just kind of the way we naturally write. But it’s definitely not a concept album.

NS: Supposing the album is out in early 2002 like I’ve been hearing, when do you plan to be back on the road?

JP: Towards the end of January. We’re actually booking shows for Europe already. That’s where it all starts.

NS: Do you have any shows planned before the album is released?

JP: Actually, we’re all going to be pretty busy before. We have to mix it in September, and I have a couple of clinic tours coming up in October and November.

NS: Are either of you singing on the new album?

MP: I’m sure we will be. Being that the lyrics aren’t written and we haven’t begun the vocals, who knows to what capacity. But I’m sure we both will add something. Once this tour smooths out – we’ve had our families out for the first half of this tour, but toward the end John and I need to focus on the lyrics and melodies. We have an 8-track recorder on the bus. So within the next week or so, we’ll begin demoing ideas, which usually means me and him singing our lyrics and melodies and demoing them, and we’ll get them off to James. All within the coming weeks.

JP: Actually, James has finished one, and one is halfway done.

NS: He’s done some vocals already?

JP: Not vocals but lyrics. After we write the music, we give him a lot of guide tracks, and the lyrics will be written. There are a couple that were done before we left.

NS: John, are you working on any side projects besides Jordan Rudess’ solo album?

JP: No, nothing. I’m taking a break from side projects. Jordan’s thing I did towards the beginning of these sessions, once again in the mornings. I played on four songs of his album, mostly rhythm, beefing up the rhythm tracks. With the music from this tour, I’d like to do something with it. There might be a hole somewhere. But not other than that.

NS: Are you planning on having signature strings with Ernie Ball?

JP: I have no plans for that. I just use their stock strings. There’s nothing weird about my strings.

NS: I have a couple questions for Mike. When is Transatlantic due out?

MP: October. In fact, I just got the final mixes yesterday, and it will be mastered next week.

NS: Was it remixed?

MP: There are four tracks, and we remixed two. So two of the mixes were done in May, and now two were just remixed.

NS: Will there be a “making of” video like the Making of Spock’s Beard?

MP: I hope so, and in addition, I hope I’m not the one who has to do it. (laughter) I think that Neal did the Spock’s one, and he’s the one who actually filmed most of the making of the album. I like what he did with the Spock’s one, so I hope he does one for Transatlantic. I personally don’t have the time or the energy to deal with that again. There’s enough other projects for Dream Theater that are in the works that I’m dealing with, so I don’t have the time or energy to do it. But I hope so, because he has some really cool footage. If I could add to the Transatlantic, it looks like we’ll be doing some European shows in November after it comes out. And also to add to that while we’re talking about videos, this is the scoop. I haven’t announced this yet. I’m working on the DVD for Five Years in a LIVEtime and Live in Tokyo. That’s in the works.

JP: Lots of products coming out.

MP: Yeah, you have the triple live Dream Theater, there will be these two videos on DVD, also my Liquid Drum Theater is coming out on DVD in October. There’s going to be a lot of stuff to tide people over until the Dream Theater album hits in January.

NS: Do you guys have a message to the fans?

JP: I’d actually like to say that on this tour, I’ve been seeing a lot of Dream Theater fans, and it’s very cool because it shows support for individual members as well as the band as a whole, and it’s great! There’s obviously a lot of people who haven’t heard of myself or Mike who are fans of Joe or Steve, so it’s good for them. But at the same time, there’s definitely the power of the Theater camp that’s showing up. You can tell when you see all the shirts, and people know when we play Paradigm. That’s very cool that the fans are coming out and supporting us on that level as well. Very cool.

NS: Mike?

MP: What can I add? This has been a fun tour for me. I’m very glad John asked me to do it. This is just how I spent my summer vacation. I’m just a D in a world of Gs out here. I play for 40 minutes, and then I have to wait 23 hours and 20 minutes until the next show. But it’s been a strange experience for me just playing drums and keeping my mouth shut. The problem is I’m biting my tongue. I’ve got all these holes in my tongue from biting it all day long. But it’s been fun. Thanks to the fans, and keep a look out for all the dozens of Dream Theater-related stuff that’s coming out in the coming months.

NS: Thank you both very much.

JP: You’re welcome.