Jordan Rudess interview

Stan Savas: Welcome to Greece Jordan. How are you?

Jordan Rudess: Very good, thank you. I went for a walk in Plaka this morning and I bought one of your traditional musical instruments, called Baglama.

SS: Really? What did you think of it?

JR: I loved it. Very unique and powerful sound. I was impressed.

SS: The truth is I was impressed too, with your new album. I listened to it last week.

JR: Really? You are one of the first lucky ones as our record company sent it to a few chosen people to get a first taste.

SS: Yeah, I heard. I think this is a very pleasant surprise. I found A Dramatic Turn Of Events much more creative than your last albums.

JR: So the reaction is positive, I would like to believe.

SS: Definitely. I think this might be your best work since Scenes From A Memory.

JR: Nice, and did any of the tracks stand out for you?

SS: “Breaking All Illusions.” It is amazing. It has all the elements Dream Theater fans love.

JR: I’m very glad to hear that.

SS: Let’s move on to the difficult stuff now. Now that Mike Portnoy is not a member of the band anymore, do you feel like you have more creative freedom?

JR: Mike was a very good friend of mine. We have shared a lot all these years and I consider him a very open minded person. Dream Theater owe a lot to Mike regarding the sound we have today. But what really opened the exit gate to Mike was our new approach to our music. What we wanted to do – and it was the opinion of John Petrucci who did the production – is to take more things from ourselves as musicians. For example, keyboards could have more space in Dream Theater music. Actually, we wanted to make our roles more vital. Especially for me this approach was very important, as I believe that in many of the previous Dream Theater albums, keyboards could have a more significant role. For example, in the past when we had a good and heavy riff we would double it on the keyboards. Now, we feel more creative and we left behind those “phobias,” if I can call them like that, giving more emphasis to the harmonies. I’m a composer and I want to use this quality more, and now I have the chance to do so. Our whole experience from both the composition and from the production and mixing of “A Dramatic Turn Of Events”, vindicates our belief.

SS: As I already told you my favorite track from the album is “Breaking All Illusions”. “Outcry” and “Lost Not Forgotten” also stood out to me. I think those three tracks have the best elements from both Dream Theater and Liquid Tension Experiment. Do you agree with this observation, or do you think this opens a new era for the band?

JR: For A Dramatic Turn Of Events we indeed “went back” and kept several of the Dream Theater elements we and our fans like so much. But we had a goal as we knew where we wanted to go, what we wanted to do and how to achieve it. So I don’t think we moved blindly as our new songs have a clear direction. Moreover, as you may have found out, we left out some other Dream Theater elements that existed in the recent past of the band. Some modern and extreme metal elements like the brutal vocals and Mike’s grunts are missing from the new album. Especially now that Mike Portnoy isn’t a member of the group those elements do not represent any of us in the band.

SS: In the recent years, every album has a more commercial track, which also is released as a single, sometimes with a video clip as well. Something like that has happened with “Wither,” ”These Walls,” and “Forsaken” and you did something similar in A Dramatic Turn Of Events with “Build Me Up, Break Me Down”. Is this planned every time you enter the studio?

JR: We know that the record companies like more radio friendly songs so in the back of our minds there is always the thought to compose such songs. However, we like those melodies so it is something we would do anyway. Many times we come to the studio with many easy-listening melodies.

SS: Let’s talk about the production of the new album. In the past it was handled in common by Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci. Now that Mike is not in the band, and despite the fact that you had the opportunity to hire an outside producer, you didn’t. Please comment on this choice.

JR: When we finished recording John came in and told us that he wanted to handle the production as he thought that he would do a good job. Everyone in the band agreed and we said that since it is a new era for the band, let’s let him do it. As you saw he has done an amazing job. John has a very strong personality, he knows exactly what he wants to do and at the same time he is a very capable person. His musical abilities and knowledge were what brought the best out of everyone. He also collaborated really well with Mike Mangini as well with John Myung who has been more open since the departure of Mike Portnoy, who despite his talent – being a drummer – had some particular capabilities in the way he handled guitars and keyboards. With John handling the production we felt that we don’t need someone to tell us what is good and what is not since we had the most appropriate person to do this. I think we all enjoyed this challenge and we sat all together, wrote the music and decided mutually what we should keep and what not, without Mike Portnoy deciding by himself about what we should do and what we shouldn’t do, acting many times as the “Dream Theater Police officer.”

SS: Do you think that Mike Mangini’s approach to playing will add value to the new Dream Theater songs?

JR: The truth is that when we wrote “A Dramatic Turn Of Events”, Mike Mangini was not in the band. He came a little after that when we had already decided that we didn’t want at that point something new in our way of composing. However, I have to say that from the first moments Mike won us with his personality and also with his playing. I would dare to say that the way he approaches his instrument and music reminds me a lot of John Petrucci and John Myung. He constantly tries new things which is inspiring for all of us. He is a real professional and professor.

SS: You know Jordan, many fans claim that after this album Mike Portnoy will return to the band...

JR: Yes I have heard this but I don’t agree with it and it is not a nice thing to be circulating. Everyone in the band is perfectly happy with our current lineup.

SS: So is this the best lineup of Dream Theater ever?

JR: Like I said... We are all very pleased with the current lineup. I think that many things are better in the band now.

SS: So how difficult it was to keep all this drummer search procedure secret?

JR: I dare to say this was the toughest period for Dream Theater. When Mike Portnoy finally announced to us that he would leave the band we were all shocked. It took us a lot of time until we recovered from this, however we sat down and decided to continue making music. Our next step was to find the man who would replace Mike and this was even harder to keep secret because we wanted to share this experience with the release of the documentary with the whole drummer audition procedure.

SS: Which documentary by the way is great...

JR: There was the real difficulty for us as we were always under pressure to reveal the name of our new drummer. We however believe that our fans understood our denial to reveal from the beginning the name of Mike Mangini.

SS: Many of your fans believe that Marco Minnemann was the best suited to be the drummer of the band, mainly because of his progressive rock/metal background. He was also from the beginning one of the undeniable runner-ups along with Mike Mangini. What was the thing that made you make your choice?

JR: First of all I have to say that I admire Marco as a musician. What also has to be made clear is that it wasn’t a contest for the best drummer. The drummer position in Dream Theater was a big professional opportunity and we had to take many things into consideration. Age, if you are married or not, personality, these are all very important factors to consider if someone is suited or not for this position. Mike Mangini came early in the morning, he played all the songs perfectly without missing even a little and mostly without being annoyed with our managers and technicians who reasonably had a critical look. But there is also something else. Mike showed to us that he really wanted the job and that he is the perfect guy for the position. He is a man who has achieved a lot regarding his career and he showed us that he really wanted to be the next drummer of Dream Theater, make albums and tour with us. The truth is that his energy really won us all. On the other hand, Marco Minnemann was musically mind-blowing but he had a more “light” approach comparing to what we were looking for. I believe that from the seven people who we initially chose for the auditions, many of them had the talent to replace Portnoy but as I said earlier we had to take other factors into consideration as well.

SS: You know, I think that Rod Morgenstein would also be a good choice although he wasn’t even one of the seven you invited to audition.

JR: Again it was a matter of choices and if the candidate could devote his career in Dream Theater.

SS: You told me before that now that Mike Portnoy left the band many things are better. Do you think that Dream Theater lost something more than a good friend and an excellent musician?

JR: Mike had taken most of the responsibilities in the band, to a point where the rest of us felt a bit uncomfortable. He would talk with the technicians, with the managers, he would arrange everything in the merchandise section of the band and in general he had the complete control. After his departure all these responsibilities were divided to all the rest of us. Someone took over the commercial part, another one had to take over our show production and someone else had to talk with the producers and managers. Mike Portnoy’s departure marked a significant shift in the organizational chart of Dream Theater and we all took some time so we would make an appropriate division of responsibilities and duties.

SS: Do you think you lost something more in relation to the music?

JR: As I already said before Mike has left his mark in the band. He was there from the beginning and he essentially shaped the group’s personality. But I think the rest of us can do some great things with Dream Theater.

SS: In the recent years many of your fans believe that the band is in a downfall, especially after Scenes From A Memory. How do you explain that?

JR: When Scenes From A Memory was out it marked a new beginning for the band. Something similar happened with Images And Words but Scenes From A Memory literally transformed Dream Theater’s career. I would like to believe that A Dramatic Turn Of Events will be another remarkable point in our career.

SS: Did you ever believe after Mike’s departure that the end of Dream Theater was near?

JR: ...We never even considered this was the end for Dream Theater. The only person in the group that seemed unhappy was Mike. I remember that when he came and asked for a five year hiatus we all looked at him wondering “What? What are you saying?” When he told us that he didn’t have a good time with us anymore we understood he needed a change. But this never had anything to do with the future of Dream Theater and we never considered that the end of us as a band was approaching.

SS: In your last albums there were some influences from bands like Metallica and Muse. How beneficial do you think this obsession of Mike’s was for the band, considering he was the one who brought all these influences into the band?

JR: The truth is that Mike was thinking a lot like this. Me and the rest of the guys in the band had a different point of view. The easy thing is to try to copy Metallica. This is the reason I consider our new album something special since we used all our creative freedom in the creation of the album.

SS: Have you recently talked with Mike?

JR: The truth is I haven’t. I tried to keep in touch with him but unfortunately it wasn’t possible. I sent him a card for his birthday and sent him some emails but he never responded. I think he just needs some time and space after all those things that happened. After all he is very busy with his new project with which he is planning to release an album and he is also preparing a tour. Something which is also happening with us. It’s a shame though after so many years of friendship and collaboration in Dream Theater and Liquid Tension Experiment to have a relationship broken like that.

SS: I think the whole situation eventually returned like a boomerang to Mike.

JR: It was a strange situation. Think that after a little while he asked to return to the group. I never understood this... What I felt is that Mike that different thing he wanted with Avenged Sevenfold and it ended up that it wasn’t for him. So he returned and asked to rejoin the band. For us this was impossible. We had gone our way and we already had a new drummer. This whole thing was in fact therapeutic for what had happened to us.

SS: We reached the end. Thank you so much for the interview and the interesting things you told us tonight.

JR: Thank you. Be well.