James LaBrie interview

Aedobooks Edizioni: We have just heard the new and beautiful version of ‘Wither’/ Do you like this intimate version or the electric one on the album?

James LaBrie: I mean, I appreciate both. I mean, you have one version where it’s the whole band ensemble and it’s cool because it has more of a driven kind of feel to it. But obviously, the version where it’s piano and voice is very atmospheric, it’s very emotional and it really gives it a very potent kind of convenience of feeling, and emotion and strength. So it would depend on what mood I’m in to choose which version I’d like to listen to.

AE: Have you ever thought of making an unplugged solo album to bring out your great voice?

JL: I’ve been asked over the years to do that. Over the last year I’ve actually been studying off and on with Jamie Vendera. He’s a vocalist and vocal coach in the United States. And he’s amazing. So he’s been showing me some things just to really keep your endurance and voice in really good shape while you are on the road because you’re out there going crazy. I think if I do something like that, it would have to be where I feel that there’s the proper platform for it to be presented to the students that want to see what I do to prepare every day. Because it’s not just about me warming up vocally and then cooling down after the show. It’s everything that I do throughout the day. I get up, I jog five kilometers a day. I drink lots of liquid – juice. I take a lot of vitamins. I take protein drinks. I make sure that I get at least anywhere from 8 to 10 hours sleep a night. I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables. And I make sure that there’s a lot of calcium, magnesium, and [make sure] the alkalinity level is kept up high in my body. There’s so many other things that I do to enable me so that when I am on stage, I’m able to be at my peak. So I want them to see everything and I’d want to be able to outline everything that I do so that they can take on the same regiment. And if they were to follow me, they would probably feel the benefits of it as well.

AE: In your career, you did a duet with so many singers. Can you tell us the names of three singers you would love to duet with?

JL: Well, one of them, unfortunately, has already passed away. I mean, I would love to have done something with Freddie Mercury, because he’s my all-time favorite. Aside from that, I’ve always respected Robert Plant. He was such a unique and innovative rock and roll singer. When he first came on, nobody had heard a male vocalist singing like that. It was like a male version of Janis Joplin, but with balls. He was just so amazing. Aside from that, Steve Perry has an amazing voice and Rob Halford has always been a very unique vocalist in his own right. There’s so many singers. I even appreciated Nat King Cole because of his velvety, swoony kind of voice. But also there’s [the] greatest rock and roll voices like Steven Tyler, Ian Gillan, David Coverdale and I love Geddy Lee because of just how unique he was with his voice. I also loved Tony Harnell – he used to be a singer with TNT. He had an incredible voice. Actually, him and I stay in touch with one another. Aside from that, I really appreciate Brent [Smith] from Shinedown – I think he has a very cool voice. Chris Cornell has a great voice. There’s too many to mention.

AE: What was the most beautiful or exciting concert you ever attended as a spectator?

JL: I saw Queen. It was just unbelievable. It was 1982. I saw them in Toronto at the C&E Grandstand and they were phenomenal. It was mesmerizing, the whole show. Freddie was amazing. Brian May was playing guitar like no other. You had John Deacon and Roger Taylor just back there holding it, being very charismatic and showman-like. It was just incredible. The show, the visuals, everything was amazing. That was probably the most spectacular. I saw Muse a few years ago. I was just freaking blown away by them. They’re like unbelievable. I love their new album. I think it’s incredible. But I would say that those shows, they were on a different level. And I’ve seen Rush several times where every time I see those guys, they never let me down. Their shows, their live shows are just so brilliant, so intelligently put together.

AE: If you had not become the vocalist of DT, what do you think you would have done in your life?

JL: I probably would have been a paramedic or something like that, because it was just something that I thought was interesting to be able to do something to help people. I thought it would be a rewarding job, even though it would probably be very gory and upsetting and a little disconcerting at times. That was one of the things that I thought of. But to be honest with you, past that, I never really have given it much thought because I was always so focused on doing this, and this was really something that I was willing to go to the end for, to become what it has become. But I think that when Dream Theater is no longer doing something, I would like to get involved where I feel that I’m making a difference and bringing awareness to humanity that we need to become more harmonious, we need to respect nature and its environment, and we need to really get on board with that before we completely destroy this beautiful planet that we live in.

AE: Do you still play the drums?

JL: No, I don’t play drums. Like I’ve said in the past, I played drums from the age of 5 until I was 17. In the odd times over the years I’ve gotten on. I was over at a friend’s place and his son plays drums. I got behind the kid and was just like, “Oh my god, I can’t play these things worth my life, to save my life.” So, no, I haven’t kept up with it.

AE: Perhaps DT are the most copied band in the world. A lot of bands play exactly like you do. What would you recommend to all these band and all the guys who are starting now to play progressive?

JL: Really establish your own sound and your own identity. The worst thing that can happen for a new progressive band coming up that wants to really make a splash, who really wants the notoriety that they feel that they deserve, the only way that they’re really going to do it and get it is if they have something that’s original. Something that really separates them from a Dream Theater, or from a Porcupine Tree, or from a Pain Of Salvation, or from a Spock’s Beard, or Neal Morse. They have to have something unique. It has to be them, and there can’t be several parallels, or else everybody’s going to say, “You sound too much like that band”, or “You sound too much like that band.” They need to really establish their own identity, and that will bring them to the top.

AE: Tell us the last album you bought, the last movie you saw, the last book you read.

JL: The last movie I watched was called Tell No One, and it was a foreign film. It was in France, and it was a murder mystery. It was an amazing, amazing movie. Actually, Mike turned me on to it, so I watched it. Phenomenal.

The last book I read was The American Native Indian. It was just all of their spirituality and their way that they totally respect mother nature – everything has its purpose and everything has to maintain its balance – it’s all about that – spiritual. The understanding really being for everyone being a community and realizing the gifts that you have and being very introspective of what it is that really makes you unique but also allows you to be contributing to the whole. So it’s a very cool book. But right now I’m actually reading a book called The Last Pope and it’s about John Paul I who was only pope for 33 days. It’s kind of fictional – it’s talking about conspiracy. Was he murdered or anything like that? So it’s a very cool book I’m reading that right now, which is really cool because I’m right here in Rome today.

With the last album, I was just listening to Megadeth’s latest album yesterday. I love it. The new guitar player is amazing. Chris, he’s incredible. Incredible guitar player. So I love the album. It sounds great. Hats off to Dave and the guys. It’s a great album – it’s definitely one of their best.

AE: Black Clouds & Silver Linings, as well as the last two albums, sold very well in Italy, a country in which the rock and metal albums are never at the top of the charts. How do you explain this huge success?

JL: There’s a few factors. I think number one is that we have an amazing fan base. I know most bands say that, but we really do. Once we’ve established a fan, the fan is there until we decide that we’re no longer going to do this, and they’re willing to ride it out. They expect change from us. They expect the unpredictable. They expect us to push the envelope. They expect us to be unique. They expect us to be who and what we’ve always been, Dream Theater, musically. And I think because of that, they really appreciate it. It’s the same relationship I had when I was growing up and still to this day with Rush. I love those guys. I’ve always had. Even as a kid growing up to where I am now. I’ve always appreciated who and what they stand for musically. And I think that’s what it comes down to: we have so many fans around the world and they’re willing to be there as long as we are here. And I think that reflects in the way that our albums sell. That reflects in the way that we chart. Also it reflects the kind of people that we are. Personally, we’re still extremely passionate about what we do. We’re not doing it because it’s a way of making money. Obviously, that’s part of the equation – you have to make money in order to do something, to continue to do it. But I think what really is the most important aspect about it all is that we still love what we do. We do. And I think it shows. And I think when our fans hear our music and I think when they see us live, they go, “These guys are real. They’re really doing this because they love doing it. They’re having a blast. They’re getting a high out of this still. They’re not just going through the motions.” And I think all of this really lends itself to the fact that we are and we do what we do today, and we’re as successful as we are.

AE: Your last album refers from the title to painful facts, but with a horizon of hope. Are we really going to get a change?

JL: The title, Black Clouds & Silver Linings, is basically what I think each and every one of us experiences in life. It’s about your trials and tribulations, your victories, your challenges through life. We have our ups and downs in life, and no matter how difficult life gets, it makes us stronger as a person, as a soul, to see our way through the difficult times so that we do have the silver linings. So no matter how bad something looks, if you can see it through you will realize a better place, and I think that’s what it’s talking about. Lyrically it’s talking about some moments in life, whether it be a nightmare you remember where it’s not so pleasant or losing a loved one or experiencing every day to day life and what is unexpected or what is sought after in relationships and the way that we continue to grow and we continue to learn as people. These are our ups and downs throughout life. So that’s the metaphor behind Black Clouds & Silver Linings.

AE: You are the vocalist, the frontman of DT and a point of reference for all the singers in the world, but first of all you are the father of two children. How hard is it to go on tour and leave your family?

JL: My children are very excited that I do what I do, and I am who I am, but they look at me as dad. My daughter, she is actually studying voice and taking piano, and my son plays guitar, and so they love music. My daughter’s totally into Tori Amos, so she wants to really create that kind of a world for herself where she will sing and play piano. And my son is totally into John Petrucci. He just thinks he’s amazing and he wants to play guitar like him, and he loves rock and roll. With all that being said, at the end of the day when I go home, I’m a human being just like any one of you. And that’s how I am with my children, and that’s the way they look at me. They don’t look at me as “James LaBrie”. They look at me as dad, somebody who’s just as fallible as anyone else in the world.

AE: We heard you on the last album by Redemption. Did you enjoy it?

JL: Yeah, absolutely. Nick Van Dyke [is] extremely talented. I love the band Redemption. He called me up and he said, “I’d really love for you to appear on the album. I have this track that I wrote with you in mind.” So I said, “Let me hear the track.” I heard the song. It was great, loved it. And I’ve always respected Ray Alder. So it was an opportunity to work with Nick and be a part of his album. I really respect him and I wish that band all the best. I think they deserve a lot of recognition. They really do. But this is the second time that I’ve sang with Ray Alder because I did Fates Warning on Parallels. So it was cool to once again do it 17 years later or 18 years later.

AE: After several years of DT, many side projects and guest appearances, is there something left?

JL: Yeah, I have a new solo album that I’m working on right now. I will be recording that very, very soon, and we’re hoping for a release in June 2010. It’s with Marco Sfogli on guitar, and Mike Mangini on drums, and obviously Matt Guillory, who writes all the music with me. And it’s really exciting. We’re really excited about these songs.

AE: In many interviews you said you appreciate different singers such as Sting. Is progressive metal still your favorite kind of music?

JL: It’s funny because I think a lot of the misconception is that people say because he’s in a progressive metal band, that’s the only kind of music he listens to. But that’s not true. I’ll listen to alternative bands. I’ll listen to pop. I’ll listen to rock. I’ll listen to thrash. I’ll listen to progressive metal bands. But I also like to listen to classical music. I also like to listen to jazz music. And I think the fact that I’m able to go into these different areas or styles of music just expands my musical palette which is very healthy for any musician to do; you have to do that. Just taking one format of music would limit your ability to be able to express yourself as a musician.

AE: When will DT produce an album by themselves that will allow you to be completely independent?

JL: This is the way that we’ve always operated. We have never, ever been influenced by external pressures. In fact, let me recant that, I’m sorry. At one point in our career, when we were doing Falling Into Infinity, we had external exterior forces bearing down on us, trying to direct us trying to tell us that we needed to do this or that in order for them to be able to put out an album that would be successful. All this pressure really affected who and what we were as a band, as Dream Theater. And it really screwed us up. There was a lot of internal conflict. There was a lot of just conflict between the influentials at the label and ourselves, and it just created a very negative environment for us. So what we did is we went ahead and we did that album, and it came out, and it did what it did. But we went back into the label and we said, “We can never work like this again, and if you don’t let us do it from here on out, on our own terms, then we don’t want to exist anymore. We don’t want to be Dream Theater.” So at that point, they did. They acquiesced to our wishes and they just stood back and let us be who we are. So with that being said, previous to Falling Into Infinity, we did everything on our own terms. Post Falling Into Infinity, we’ve always done everything in our own terms. And the last two albums, being with Roadrunner, didn’t make any difference. It’s another label that believes in us. It’s a label that wants to promote us and do what needs to be done in order to make us successful, business-wise. But we’ve never been influenced by who represents us as far as our music goes. We are who we are.

AE: How do you manage the stressful tour life?

JL: I think a lot of it comes from the fact that we’ve toured so extensively over the years that we’ve established a very strong foundation fanbase-wise, internationally. And I think it’s really created a sense of loyalty from our fans around the world. And because of the kind of shows we do, they know pretty much what to expect from us. They know that it’s going to be a visually stimulating show, it’s going to be exciting, it’s not [going to be] predictable setlist-wise – what songs we play – because we like to change it up each and every night. So I think these factors and the fact that we have established who and what we are as a live band really lends itself to success in the way that we tour.