John Petrucci interview (excerpts)

Guitar World: Why at this point in your career did you decide to record a solo album?

John Petrucci: It stemmed from being asked to do the G3 tour a couple of years ago. Dream Theater were in the studio, and I got a call from Joe (Satriani) asking me to do G3. I really didn’t have any solo material, so I had to write music for the tour. And then of course, after I wrote the music, people were asking me where that music is available. I’ve always talked about doing a solo album, but that was the spark that actually pushed me to do it.

GW: How were you able to express yourself differently as a solo artist?

JP: Overall, it offered me a better chance to be more out front and more expressive. Since there were no other instruments, I had to do all the layering and harmonies on top of playing the melodies and solos. It was important to me to make it sound like a trio, rather than a solo project, so on a lot of the songs I tried to convey more of a “jam” feel. For example, the long solo section at the end of ‘Wishful Thinking’ was improvised. In Dream Theater, we certainly have solo sections, but as far as the more extended improvised stuff goes, we tend to save that more for the live environment.

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GW: Dream Theater has just released its new album, Octavarium, as well, and I’m noticing a huge diversity in material. ‘I Walk Beside You,’ for example, almost has a Coldplay vibe to it.

JP: I don’t know if people know this, but we’re big fans of a lot of pop music. Some of my favorite artists are Peter Gabriel and U2, and we have had music like that on every one of our records from the very beginning. In fact, whenever someone asks, “Are you trying to be commercial now?” we reply “We’ve always done that!” Hopefully, we’re learning to refine the art, because it’s definitely a special thing to write a song that has all the elements of commercial music but is still cool.

GW: Is there a seven-string on ‘These Walls’?

JP: No, it’s a Music Man Silhouette six-string bass, but it’s not tuned like a bass; it’s tuned like a guitar dropped down a perfect fifth: [low to high] A D G C E A. I use the same guitar on ‘Panic Attack,’ only on that song it’s tuned down a flattened fifth: B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ F B♭. My inspiration for using that guitar was the Last Chevelle album; I love Pete Loeffler’s tone, and I read that he used a baritone guitar to get it.

GW: How did you get the motorcycle sound on ‘These Walls’?

JP: That was me fooling around on the low A string. Since there’s no whammy bar on the Silhouette, I was detuning it on the tuning peg, using pick scrapes and then gradually tuning the string up. It sounds to me like a monster that’s throwing up and then can’t breathe in between... like he has asthma. Or like something out of a Godzilla movie.

GW: What guitar do you use on ‘Never Enough’?

JP: That’s my Music Man signature model tuned down one whole step [low to high: D G C F A D].

GW: That’s a very cool riff that you double with the keyboard.

JP: That one’s tricky because I play it all on the low D string. When you see that performed live, it actually looks really cool because my left hand is jumping around all over the neck in a horizontal motion.