What Dream Theater Sez

Dream Theater (Raw Q&A)

By Doug Van Pelt

It’s not often that we interview the same band more than once in our “So & So Sez” feature, but when a band returns with fresh new material over time as strongly as Dream Theater has with “Scenes From A Memory,” “Live Scenes From New York,” and (most recently) “Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence;” then it’s only natural to get the tape recorder out again. While our first interview connected with drummer Mike Portnoy (issue #42, 1993), this one included vocalist James LaBrie and guitarist John Petrucci.

Doug: How has this tour gone with Joe Satriani and the greatest band in all of the known universe King’s X?

John: Oh man, you’re a King’s X fan I see!

D: Maybe a little...

James: (Chuckles) I thought you were going to say that about us! I was like, What the hell is going on there?’

D: Sorry man. Nobody touches those guys.

JP: Yeah, they’re awesome. It’s been a really fun tour. We’re playing some very cool venues, like amphitheaters and stuff during the summer. You know, you couldn’t ask for a better atmosphere; and, ahh, I love King’s X as well, and I love Joe. It’s really inspiring to watch them play and to watch Joe play. It’s been a great tour.

JL: It’s been going fantastic. I think the people (coming) are definitely people that, you know, are into bands that are more into the musicality or whatever. There seems to be a common thread throughout they’re definitely into all three bands just because of what we stand for musically. We’ve been talking about touring with King’s X for probably at least the last 6, 7 years and we could never make our schedules coincide with one another, so finally it came around to this tour and it just so happened that they were available and Joe really wanted to do this as well; so it was great to put the three bands together and finally make this tour a reality. But King’s X they’re great guys and they’re doing fantastic every night.

D: Cool. When you guys started writing for “Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence,” was the plan from the get-go to do a double disc or has that kinda happened by default with so much good material?

JL: Yeah, I think what happened was we knew that it was going to be a long album, but you know as we know you can only put so much material on a CD; and what happened was that when we started to approach the track that later became the title track “Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence” we originally thought that it was only going to be about, maybe... “let’s not go any further than 20 minutes,” but what happened was that as we got into the song as we started to compose... before we knew it we were up to 30 minutes and everything sounded great and we were excited, but we still knew that we hadn’t finished or completed the idea...

(Doug chuckles)

JL: So, by the time we were finished completing the idea, both musically and lyrically, it was 42 minutes. At that point we knew that we had exceeded the time allowed on one CD, so we needed to look into making it a double CD. And the label was completely supportive, like, “Okay, sure. Absolutely. Let’s do it.”

D: What were your thoughts on writing a tune about stem cell research? How did that idea and concept go over with the rest of the band when it was brought up at first?

JP: I think they were into it. I was trying to come up with a topic for that particular song. I knew the song was complex and long and it needed a topic that was gonna have enough depth to carry the song. And that (issue) was way in all the headlines. It was a big, big thing. There was a wealth of information to draw from. There were TV programs and debates going on all over the place. When I write about something non-fiction, I need to get all my facts straight. When I was writing it, I was asking everybody what their views were and where they stood. It was kinda interesting...

JL: The thing that I loved about the song was that it covers both arguments. It speaks for both sides. I think that was cool, because it gave it a real realistic overview. Where I come from, stem cell research... (I think) that it should be done. That it should be continued. I truly believe that, if someone’s life can be improved, if their lifestyle can be improved, and their lifestyle doesn’t have to be so dependent on other people or other sources of care, then I think that it’s a beautiful thing. If it can fix Spina Bifida, or whether it can fix a Quadriplegic, or somebody that is dealing with disease of some sort that can be cured, why would we to keep that from people? And I know that the controversy isn’t how that’s being determined... It is a touchy subject, but I would tend to lean toward the experiments be continued and that the research be continued. So, I mean, that’s my view on it.

D: The song title “The Great Debate” is just a natural title for it, because you presented both sides of the debate.

JL: Absolutely, yeah. It’s very cool. We love that song. We love playing it. We get some amazing reactions every night that we play it, so that’s very cool.

D: Awesome. In “Blind Faith,” you address a question to Messiah, capital M. How rhetorical versus how honest of a question is that? What sort of answers / examples do you feel you’ve found to that question?

JL: Well, you know what? I think the thing that I’m questioning is that whole thing is an overview or my observation of the world and where the world has come; and basically, that whole thing talking to Messiah is looking at the plight of the world and what is it that needs to be shown to this higher creative force? What needs to be presented to them before they once again show themselves, or before once again show us or enlighten us to what paths we should actually be taking? Because spirituality, for that matter, or even conformed religion, have really dissipated over the last century, and I think it is because people are so caught up in the materialistic world and they become selfish, self-serving, insensitive. I think, because of that, (is) why the world is where we are today. It does answer a lot of questions for me, because it shows me that the only way we are going to change the whole situation is if we start looking more within ourselves for the answers, because I really do spiritually think that a lot of the answers or all the answers lie within each and every one of us and that we are all connected to God or this Superior Entity. So, I think that is where that whole song is coming from. Does that answer your question?

D: Yeah. What do you think of Jesus Christ?

JP: What do I think of Jesus Christ? Well, um, I’m a Catholic and, um, you know, He’s, like, the one person, you know if you can emulate Him, then the world’s a better place (chuckles).

JL: Well, you know, I was raised Catholic, so Catholicism was my thing. Still to this day my parents go to church every Saturday evening. But, you know, Jesus Christ always stood for me as something that was a guiding light, you know? Somebody that had all the answers. Somebody that was completely be-ing. Somebody that was of purity and of absolute knowledge; so, that’s the way that I’ve always looked at Christ. But, later in my life now, I think that my quest has been more spiritual. I’m reading a book right now by Dr. Wayne Dyer. I don’t know if you’ve heard of him, but he takes on a more spiritual quest of life and he enlightens you to that situation. It’s a book called, “There’s A Spiritual Solution To Every Problem.” Um, so that’s basically where I am at this point. But that’s the way that I’ve viewed Jesus Christ, you know? And, whether it be Jesus Christ, Allah, Messiah, or whatever you wanna...whatever your entity is that gives you that sense that there is a higher being out there that has created everything we are and everything that we see... I truly believe that that exists. Absolutely, I do.

D: What have you seen in your life that causes you to believe in a god?

JL: Uh, my children. I have two children. Um, just that that really showed me the miracle of, you know, that there’s got to be something that is way beyond our human comprehension that is able to create something like that. When you see a baby being born, I mean, it’s the most incredible experience, I think... It was for me, anyways. And, you know, just because of the nature of the business that I’m in and that I travel all over the world and I see all these different ethnic backgrounds, ethnic people, different races, whatever, different creeds, everything...I’ve come to realize that the one most important thing I think that people really strive for in life is acceptance, and if you really delve in to that and you go a little bit deeper and you think about it, everybody’s trying to find their place and I think it all goes back to what I just spoke to you about previously, with the previous question was that, you know, I think that we would have a truer sense of who we all are and that we all do...we all are a community, one big, vast community, but we all are connected, you know? I see that and it gives me more proof that there is...what we see in front of us every day is a true miracle and how this all came about is something that we will find out in our next life or when our spirit continues to evolve into another form or into another dimension. Now, I don’t mean to be coming off here sounding too profound or deep, or even to the point of being corny, but these are things that I believe and these are things that I believe there’s a reason for everything that is happening on earth.

D: Pretty fascinating, huh??

JL: Oh, it is. It is. Something as simple as to put a seedling into the ground and that materializes into a tree or a plant or a flower. You might be able to water that tree or that plant or that flower, whatever, and it grows, but you sure as hell didn’t grow it, did you? You didn’t make it become what it is. So, who did? Who created that? And that in itself, if you look into it, it’s incredible. But, I mean, people don’t see that. A lot of people today are blind to all the things around us each and every day that really prove that there’s something going on here that is completely beyond our comprehension.

D: Yeah, I think that the prevailing school of thought, the age of enlightenment and reason and whatnot had a big influence, too. People don’t look at the invisible anymore.

JL: No, they don’t. And they only rely on their five senses. The senses that we have come to call upon whenever we need it. But I think that there’s much more to that. I think there’s much more to the senses than we...we just somehow turned it off or, because of our up-brining in our society, inducements, we don’t believe that we can call upon anything more than what we can actually touch, see, hear, taste and feel. And I think that has limited our possibilities.

D: What do you think of the claims of Christ: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Me?”

JL: You know what... We’re getting really in to this religion thing, huh? (chuckles) Well, I dunno. You know what? It might be. For me, I believe that if you live a true life... I believe that if you live a true life, then you will go on to what that next dimension is — whether it is as we refer to it, heaven... I really truly believe that the way to get to a higher sense of existence is to live as true as you possibly can whether that is what God is referring to there; that whole scripture reading that you’re speaking of... I think that’s what being said: “Live truthfully, be fair and be the best that you can be; then you will be rewarded, you will come through Him.” And that’s what He’s preaching that you come into the world that He says exists, which is heaven or paradise that you have to live a life that He is enlightening us to. I believe it.

JP: What do I think about his claim? Like I said, I’m a Catholic, so I believe in Jesus and everything that He taught, you know? A big part of my life.

D: So, you would probably agree with some of the creeds that the Catholic church has, where Christ identified Himself as a certain thing that was more than just a normal man or a prophet or just a messenger for God or a preacher; but He actually claimed to be deity and...

JP: Yeah, absolutely!

D: Cool. What led to you guys as a band and you personally with some of your song writing into exploring spirituality and faith in your art?

JP: It’s one of those uh...it’s a subject that is easy to write about because of, on a very simple level, just some of the words and imagery it’s a very powerful imagery, and powerful phrases and words and things; so, just on a surface level, that’s kinda good for lyric writing but you know for me lyrical expression kinda of you know it’s a type of thing where I explore what my beliefs and thought and conflicts are and uhh you know I think that’s a very powerful way to express that and it’s something that’s interesting to explore in lyrics.

D: Cool. What makes you guys want to communicate that on this level in the entertainment field?

JP: As far as the lyrical message, it’s really a matter of personal taste. It’s not like as a band we’re saying, “We want to express this. These are our views.” Because everybody’s views are completely different. But personally, as a lyricist, I like to write about stuff that I feel passionate about or that I can relate to or things that are important to me as a person, you know? That’s why I write things.

JL: As far as the spiritual content coming out in our music, I think that because, you know, if you really look into that... The true essence of our beings the “I,” in me, the existence within me, the spirit within me, the soul within me I think that if we really open our minds up and we really open our hearts up, it speaks to each and every one of us. But I think that, through the observations that we have each and every day or the literature that we might read, it enables us to listen more intently to the spirit. And you tend to write about things that are our true beings and things that are our make-up. I think that is why you see a lot of spiritual content coming out in our music lyrically. In the songs that we talk about, there is a lot of quest there for enlightenment, and I think that’s fun.

D: Well, that was my last question, anything you wanted to add before you take off?

JL: No, I mean, I think a this is an interview unlike many others I must say, but a because it’s a Christian hard rock magazine is it ahh makes sense...... (laughs) but you really had me going man, I tell you, it’s good that I went to church.

D: It makes for good conversation. I’d love to sit down and talk some more

D: (Addressing John Petrucci) On the “Scenes From A Memory” album kinda returned back to a time of like Images and Words with the dynamics and the beautiful melodies, ummm which was about a decade apart from each other, what gave you guys the inspiration to kinda write kinda that material again?

JP: Uhhmmm, I’m not really sure, you know, it’s a I think that just tackling a concept album ummm was inspirations enough. You know.....

D: Ummhmm...

JP: I think writing in the studio was something that we did for the first time as Dream Theater, also helped in the direction and have a new good band member writing with us, Jordan, you know who we wrote 2 Liquid Tension records with and there was a great chemistry, that helped as well.

D: Cool, what gave you and Mike the confidence to start taking the production home?

JP: Well we knew that, especially with the concept albums, which is when we started, uh that we were the only ones that really got it and that there was you know since we wanted to write in the studio that there was no sense in having a producer sitting around twiddling his thumbs while we’re writing music, making comments and suggestions about something that they couldn’t possibly understand because it was all something that we were concocting you know.

D: How successful have you been balancing you’re personal family life with the band’s business side and have you caught any flack for that and has it gone against the grain for you? Or has everyone around you been real supportive... and how has all that gone?

JP: Well, you know the most difficult thing about any uh, traveling person you know, whether they be musician or sales or whatever who has a family is being away, you know not being there umm for your family you know that’s the most difficult thing. And we try to create a balance but nothing could really replace you when you’re not there and that’s really the big price that everybody has to pay unfortunately.

D: Yeah, well is there anything else that you’d like to add? I kinda did a with James last week, so I have kinda two interviews to put together a nice story here.

JP: Great

D: But I wanted to give you an opportunity to add anything.

JP: No, I’m good.

D: Ok.

JP: Thank you.

D: Well you bet man. Sorry I missed you guys on this tour. I was in Pennsylvania when you played Austin.

JP: Oh, ok.

D: ...and we would have done this face-to-face.

JP: Right.

D: It would have been great.

JP: Well that’s cool though.

D: Well tell my buddies in King’s X I said “hey.”

JP: All right, you got it.

D: All right. God bless.

JP: All right Doug.

D: Bye.