An Audience With Metal’s Visionaries Masterclass

When prog metal pioneers Dream Theater took techie young pups Periphery out on a UK tour, we thought it made sense to see what would happen when their super-talented guitar virtuosos sat down for a natter.

Jake Bowen: How was progressive music regarded amongst your peers when you first started out?

John Petrucci: In some ways, I felt like Dream Theater missed the boat. Going back a decade, when bands like Genesis and Yes were all over the radio and playing arenas, there we were, a bunch of young guys playing music in that vein, but the music around us, the stuff that was popular, had nothing to do with that. It’s like we were in the wrong era. But the other side is that Rush were really popular, especially where we grew up in Long Island. Rush were the ones playing Madison Square Garden and The Colosseum. So there was hope, but progressive music was never really popular. It was popular within our circle of kids, but it was in some way uncool. We always said, “If we were around in the ‘70s, we would have had it made!” [Both laugh.] But it turned out that, through perseverance, this melting of metal and progressive music became its own thing and grew legs of its own. Fast forward, and we have this long, sustained career. It’s funny the way things work out.

What about you, how is progressive metal viewed in your world?

JB: It’s very similar. I can draw parallels to what you’re talking about because, when I was growing up, mainstream progressive music and metal was veering off to the left – like with nu metal. A lot of kids didn’t want to listen to that any more; they viewed it as an angry and aggressive form of music and they wanted to listen to Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews Band. They’re great bands, I love them, but that wasn’t really where my heart was, so like you said, I felt like the black sheep in terms of my peers and what everyone was listening to.

JP: Obviously someone was into progressive music. We were signed, and as a young band we were signed twice. We had our first album out and then we moved on to another record deal, and even in the midst of all this commercial stuff that was going on, somebody had a feeling for it. We were in the right place at the right time to say, “Wait, there’s something going on here.” And then our second record achieved commercial success – it went gold, it was on the radio – so there was something to it. So even though there was resistance – “You don’t sound like Bon Jovi or Pearl Jam, what are you doing? Your songs are 10 minutes long”, and we’d get criticised for wankery and everything else – there was something there. And it made sense to me because, growing up, all the kids we hung out with were so into Rush and Yes – there are people out there, it’s just a matter of tapping into those people. But sometimes when you have an identity that’s a little bit different, it becomes more difficult, but in return the fans you get are really passionate because they’ve found something that they can call their own, that’s unique and that’s not typical. That’s the pay-off. I’m sure you’re experiencing the same thing.

JB: It’s the same. The key word is ‘devoted’. I designate them ‘Dream Theater fans’ – even our fans. They’re the type of fans that will be there for you forever. That’s the most valuable type of person that could be into your music, that’s supporting you, because you know that they’ll continue to push your career because they will always be listening and be there.

With Dream Theater, each album sticks out as its own entity, it has its own sound. There are so many bands that have, like, 10 albums and three of them sound the same. That’s what I want to avoid. You guys have done it perfectly.

JP: Every album is an amazing opportunity to roll up your sleeves and write the future. You don’t have to do what you did in the past. It’s important to have an identity, having said that – that’s something that does contribute to longevity. If a band changes too much, it could throw away what you’ve built. But every album is an opportunity to go further. You can do something different, you can do something similar – whatever. Take that opportunity – it’s a blank slate you’re looking at. We try to use our creative minds as much we can.

JB: What does the term ‘progressive’ mean for you?

JP: For me, it’s probably a more narrow definition, because I wasn’t the kind of guy who listened to all deep prog stuff. I know people who have this history and can name bands I’ve never heard of. I was just a kid who heard Rush’s Hemispheres and 2112 and was hooked, like, “This is unbelievable! They’re telling stories, the songs are 14 minutes long, they solo for three minutes here, there’s talking there...” It freaked me out. In my own mind, it’s a style of music where you can do whatever you want – there’s no constraints of style. What’s your take?

JB: I think ‘identity’ is one of the key words for progressive music. I can listen to Tool, and that to me is progressive music, but they don’t sound like any other group because they developed their sound and identity. Pantera are another band that nobody would ever consider progressive. They developed a sound, they were extremely groovy and melodic; they didn’t sound like any other metal band. I think that’s the best part about progressive music: the bands that are good at it, they develop an identity, and build upon it and put out stuff that doesn’t get stale. It can be styles of music, but it’s just how it’s written and arranged and how it sounds to me.

JP: It’s more the story that’s being told – you’re going on a journey. Pink Floyd did that a lot. Your music is allowed to breathe – you can have that moment where for five minutes on an album it’s an atmospheric thing with some long, keyboard section, some trippy section. It doesn’t have to fit in the constraints of or tie in a song in a certain pattern or a certain arrangement order. An album or a song can take you on this journey; it can take you up and down. To me, it’s more like classical music.