Dream Theater

Twenty years since the release of their debut album, When Dream And Day Unite, American prog metallers Dream Theater have survived through the good times and the bad. With the release of their tenth studio album, Black Clouds & Silver Linings set for late June, drummer Mike Portnoy is coming towards the end of a whirlwind press tour which has taken in Germany, Holland, Italy and France. Blistering.com caught up with “The Port” by phone in London just as he’s “sitting in my hotel room where I can rest for a couple of minutes” after a long day of radio and face to face interviews. It’s a big change from a few years ago when Dream Theater were signed to Atlantic and pretty much had to get by on their existing fans.

Mike Portnoy: It’s nice to have a label that actually gives a shit, that actually gets behind the band. In the past we spent, you know, fifteen years with another label on our own for the most part. Once in a while they might do something, but for the most part they were a bank and then a way to release the record, but then they just counted on our fanbase to buy ‘em. It’s nice to work with a label [Roadrunner Records] that gets behind the band and promotes the record. That’s what the record company’s supposed to do.

Ken McGrath: It must be good to see that when you’re given the opportunity and are publicised, that you’ve come into your own. After a few years where you weren’t fashionable…

MP: [interrupting] We’ve never been fashionable, but I think we’ve stood the test of time. if you do anything long enough people can’t ignore you anymore. Love us or hate us we’re not going to go away.

KM: And you’ve stuck by your guns. You’ve been in the game for how long, 20-odd years?

MP: Coming up on 25 next year, so it’s been almost a quarter of a century, man. It’s sticking to your guns like you just said. A lot of bands they’ll try to jump on the bandwagon, or the fad, or the fashion and they’ll skyrocket, have this quick overnight fame. But as soon as that fad or fashion changes, they’ll go out with it. We’ve never been part of a fad or a fashion, we’ve always done what we’ve done, stuck to our guns and even though it’s taken longer it’s lasted longer. We do what we do and even if this kind of music is never really popular or in fashion we’ve built up this base that’s slowly accumulated. It’s kind of weird because now it’s kind of becoming in fashion to play progressive, everyone from Mastodon, to Mars Volta, to Tool, they all have long songs. It’s kind of become cool to play your instruments and have these long songs, so now it’s a little scary, because it becomes fashionable, we might get sucked away when the times change. I don’t know. But up until now, we’ve always stood on our own.

KM: Do you think that these bands are bringing progressive elements in and challenging listeners with something more than the three-minute song?

MP: Well I can relate to that because that’s the way Dream Theater’s always been and this album’s (Black Clouds & Silver Linings) is no exception. This album’s only got six songs on it, four of which are over the 12-minute mark, so yeah, Dream Theater’s always been that type of a band and we still do it that way. You know to sit down and listen to our album’s it’s like sitting to watch a movie. It’s not the type of music you just throw on in the background and hang out and party, with it casually in the background. It’s like seeing a good movie or reading a good book if you want to get everything out of it, you want to sit down with some headphones and get into it. There’s a lot there to dig into if you’re willing to put in the time.

KM: How was the writing and recording of Black Clouds & Silver Linings?

MP: You know, it was the same old process. We’ve been doing this for a while now, we know what works and what doesn’t work. The last two albums (Octavarium and Systematic Chaos) have felt really good and really smooth. We kept the same team, me and John [Petrucci, guitar] producing and we worked with Paul Northfield who’s a great engineer and mixer, we basically move into the studio and record and write as one giant process. We don’t come in with songs or demos, we just do it together. It’s the way it’s always worked man. If it’s not broken don’t fix it. Just go with it and that’s what we do.

KM: For those who haven’t heard it yet, what does it sound like?

MP: It’s what you’d expect from Dream Theater, if you know Systematic Chaos, our last album, it’s the next natural step from there. It’s kept a lot of dark and heavy elements, I think it sounds likes a modern band and modern album in 2009. We never want to sound like some band from the 70s or 80s. I don’t think we do. I think this album could sit side by side sonically with anything out there today, whether it be Slipknot or Trivium. But at the same time it’s got all those classic Dream Theater elements that were laid down in the foundation 20 years ago. We haven’t really changed the style, we just kind of rolled with the times, with the sounds.

KM: Do you think some of your previous stuff is dated?

MP: I think some of the really early stuff is hard for me to listen to because it does sound [dated] but late 80s.

KM: Is that down to the production?

MP: You know what? To be honest with you, those are the albums that we had outside producers. Maybe they kind of pigeon-holed us into that. Any of our last albums from the last 10 years or so I can listen to any of them and I think they all sound strong. That’s easy for me to say because I was the co-producer on all of them, but honestly I think they really do stand the test of time.

KM: For Black Clouds & Silver Linings, where did the title come from and is it a theme that runs through the album?

MP: I guess it comes from an expression, with every cloud comes a silver lining, anytime you have a bad situation something good could still come out of it, like making lemonade out of lemons. That’s what all the lyrics on this album are heavy dark subjects, but in all cases we treat them with an optimism. The music too, the music is heavy and dark like a dark cloud, but it’s also got this silver lining with this progressive, melodic elements thrown in.

KM: Would you say it’s a trademark of Dream Theater, that you take dark elements but rather than sinking with it you try to lift it or find something positive?

MP: Yeah, I think so. I think it’s always been that way with us for sure.

KM: Any particular reason or are you just happy guys?

MP: [laughs] I mean we’re probably just normal, middle class American guys. None of us are full-blown drug addicts and waste products that can’t get our shit together. We’re just normal people, so any time we get a bad situation we try to work it out and make it alright. I guess for so many years, maybe that’s why we’ve endured so well, ‘cause in this industry, man, being in a band you go through a lot of ups and downs and unless you can endure them they’ll kill you. So I think we’ve learned to endure anything that’s thrown at us and once again it’s another expression, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

KM: You must have seen that a lot in your 25 years where you’ve seen people being chewed up by the industry.

MP: A lot of great bands get swept under the carpet and don’t get the recognition they deserve. Whether it be, like metal bands from the 80’s like Fates Warning that always deserved some recognition. They’ve always done what Dream Theater does, but someone we got the golden ring and they didn’t. Or a band like Kings X, they’ve made like 15 albums now and they still haven’t gotten any recognition. It’s kind of tough and in some cases, I’ve always tried to help these bands. In fact those are two examples of bands I took out as opening bands for Dream Theater just to help them.

We’ve always tried to pick opening bands that deserve recognition. Whether it be those two that I named or Spock’s Beard or Pain Of Salvation or Porcupine Tree or Symphony X. These are all bands that I think are really talented and deserve the exposure and if they can’t get it on their own, I’m going to help get them to the Dream Theater audience. That’s exactly what we’re going to do when we come back [to Europe] in the fall. We’re going to have this tour called “Progressive Nation” and it’s a four band bill, us headlining and Opeth in the second spot, who of course many people know, but the two opening bands [Bigelf, Unexpect] are bands I’m a fan of and I want to give them the Dream Theater stage to do their thing and make some new fans.

KM: How did the younger bands like Between The Buried And Me and 3 go down on the Progressive Nation tour last year?

MP: It was awesome. Once again, it was the same thing. I chose two bands in the opening slot to really give them exposure. I think most of Dream Theater’s audience and fans like a lot of different thing. So they can appreciate something extreme like Between The Buried And Me or something that’s more melodic and jamming like 3. The same can be said about the bands we’re bringing here in the fall, a band like Bigelf who are total retro, psychedelic hippies and a band like Unexpect who are totally out there, Mr. Bungle meets Slayer. Most Dream Theater fans are open-minded listeners - I know I am - and I think they can see quality musicianship regardless of the genre.

KM: Just back to Black Clouds & Silver Linings you’ve done lyrics for two songs, “The Shattered Fortress” and “The Best Of Times.” “The Shattered Fortress” is going to be the last song in your 12-step suite.

MP: Yeah, exactly. This was something that has been fun to write, five continuing songs that sprawl over five albums and takes seven years to complete the big picture. I’ve never heard of another band doing it and I thought it was a really cool, individual idea, but it was also very time-consuming. In the time it’s taken us to do this, other bands have come and gone and the length of The Beatles entire career had nearly taken place during this process. It’s kind of nice to be done with it. I think this final chapter is a great finale to the whole thing.

KM: Would you have any plans to perform it all at once live?

MP: Yeah, for sure, I don’t know when but definitely one day. That was always the intention.

KM: In terms of the new album, are there any special editions coming out?

MP: Roadrunner is pulling out all the bells and whistles and making it available loads of different ways. It’s going to be a regular edition, it’s going to be on vinyl, they’re going to have a 3-disc edition which’ll have a second disc of covers and a third disc of the album instrumentally. There’s going to be a deluxe, super-duper box set which will have everything I just named as well as a producers edition disc where you can take every instrument, isolate them and play them separately or put it together and make your own mixes. The box sets also going to have all kinds of different stuff in it, randomly inserted tickets to meet the band on tour and random signed lithographs. So man, there’s going to be lots of different ways to get into this album.

KM: Why did you decide to do the all-instrumental one?

MP: I’ve seen other bands do it through the years. Muse released their instrumental version of Absolution and The Flaming Lips did it and Nightwish and Protest The Hero. I’ve seen a few different bands do it and I thought it was the perfect thing for Dream Theater to do, because there’s so many people who just love the instrumental side of the band, so this way they can really hear it and focus in on it. I thought it would be a cool perspective to offer.

KM: You don’t think it relegates the lyrics to second class citizen status?

MP: I mean we wouldn’t ever release an instrumental album and get rid of James [LaBrie, vocals] [laughs], it’s more of an additional embellishment to the main album and it’s a cool bonus.

KM: So it’s a new way to experience the record. What’s on the covers disc?

MP: We’re going to keep that a secret. [Roadrunner] are going to release one a week for the five weeks leading up to the album coming out, so the fans can one by one check them out. I think they’re going to be available on iTunes or wherever else, I don’t know specifically where, but the plan is one per week then when the album comes out you can get the whole thing on the special edition. I think it’s about 50 minutes long for six covers.

KM: Are they songs people would expect Dream Theater to cover?

MP: A couple of them. I picked a range. A couple of metal tunes, a couple of prog tunes, a couple of classic rock tunes. A few music fans would know and a few of them are pretty obscure that maybe they won’t know and I thought that was cool because we can maybe introduce some people to new bands that they’ll love. Like Metallica have done covering Diamond Head or Budgie, introduce people to bands they grew up with. So I thought it could be cool to pull out a couple of obscure ones and give these bands some exposure.

KM: Moving off Dream Theater, for a moment what can you say about rumours of a supergroup between yourself, Mikael Akerfeldt [Opeth] and Steven Wilson [Porcupine Tree]?

MP: You know, it’s something the three of us spoke about years ago and one of us, I don’t remember who, stupidly mentioned in an interview and it’s haunted us ever since. Mike and Steven have been friends, they’ve been talking about collaborating for a long time and I would totally love to do it cause I love those guys, get on great with them and respect them as artists and musicians. So, it’s just a matter of timing, because the three of us are three of the busiest people in music.

KM: One of the other bands you’ve been involved with OSI, their most recent album Blood is the first not to feature you on drums. Was it just scheduling problems that meant you couldn’t be involved with it?

MP: No it wasn’t a time factor, it was really a chemistry factor that boils down to my experience doing the first two OSI albums. To be honest with you working with Kevin Moore [former Dream Theater, Chroma Key] is just not much fun. He’s really a very… I’ll put it politely, he has his ways of working which aren’t very conducive to collaboration and it was kind of frustrating the first two albums that I did with him that I did not have any reception to collaboration. That’s alright ‘cause I’ve done sessions where I’ve just gone on and played drums, like with Neil Morris or the G3 tour with John Petrucci, I’m fine with that, but as long as it’s still fun. But it’s not even fun with Kevin, he’s just very uptight, serious, so I figured “why would I do this again? It’s not anything I can contribute to artistically.” It’s not even really that much fun. So I passed on doing it. It’s a shame because Jim Matheos [Fates Warning, Gordian Knot] is one of my best friends and I love him and I’d still love to work with him in some sort of project. But it really isn’t a fun situation for me with OSI.

KM: Was the offer put to you to record the album?

MP: I wasn’t even going to do the second album (Free). I told them I was going to pass on the second album for all the reasons I just told you and they were able to convince me but I think it was pretty clear at that point that there wasn’t really that much of a future left in the band.

KM: If you’re going to be making music you should want it to be something you enjoy.

MP: Yeah, absolutely and my time is limited as it is. If I’m going to spend time away from my family I want it to be something enjoyable or at least a creative outlet.