Dream Theater – Learning To Live... Again

(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)

No one bore the brunt of criticism upon Mike Portnoy’s departure from Dream Theater more than John Petrucci. As one-third of the founding core of DT (along with bassist John Myung), Petrucci and Portnoy guided DT to progressive metal/rock stardom, becoming the scene’s most popular band. The division of work was quite simple and obvious: Portnoy was the spokesman, leader, and public “face,” while Petrucci did the grunt-work behind the scenes, responsible for a large portion the band’s music and lyrics. For 25 years, it was how DT ran the ship, so suffice it to say, the loss of Portnoy was one of titanic proportions, with many wondering how the band would soldier on.

This year’s A Dramatic Turn of Events answers a lot of those questions. Retaining many of the metal-on-prog facets they’re renowned for, DT spat another hulking beast of an album, full of adventurous solo trade-offs, Petrucci’s muscular riffs, and James LaBrie’s self-assured vocals. And with new drummer Mike Mangini just getting his feet wet (dude is a technical giant), there hasn’t been that many hiccups as many thought. In fact, Dream Theater may be functioning at its most cohesive level to date.

Calling from his bus in Detroit during the band’s fall North American tour, Petrucci was astute and polite as can be. And rightfully so – he’s now the guy out front, without the net of Portnoy, but is flanked by his band that for the first time, has everyone on an equal level. It’s not a bad place for Petrucci to be in. Amazing how things change in a year...

David Gehlke: This is your first album without Mike Portnoy and first with Mike Mangini, so upon its release, how big of a sigh of relief did you let out?

John Petrucci: With any album, there’s a lot of planning involved, you put a lot of time into [it] and a lot of hard work. It takes for so long for it to come out, so on tour, we had already played some of these songs live and the fan reaction was right here in front of us, and it has been really great. Sigh of a relief, yeah, and it’s something we’re very proud of and we’re happy to get it out.

DG: All things considered, this has to be your most important album.

JP:  Yeah, absolutely. Definitely important for us. With the lineup change, you have a lot of people looking at the band, looking at what we’ll do next and how we’re going to proceed and whether things are going to be different or better or worse. We’re conscious of that. We approached it that way and made all the right decisions as we went along.

DG: You already handled a lot of the music and lyrics, but did you feel more pressure than before when writing A Dramatic Turn of Events?

JP: People ask me that and I’m going to say no, only because I put a ton of pressure on myself for every album. A lot of musicians are that way. In my mind, every album is a new beginning, a fresh slate and a new opportunity to put our best foot forward. That itself is pressure. Do you want to take things further? You want to cultivate all of your skills and get better and better. The pressure is always there.

DG: I think some of James’ work on “Build Me Up, Break Me Down” and “Far From Heaven” is some of his best stuff to date. For someone who has worked with him for so long, where do you see his growth?

JP: I couldn’t agree with you more. I think he really shines on this album. Every decision we made for this album was really thought-out, and we had several conversations about the vocals as in how we were going to approach them. One of things we wanted was to make this a very melodic album. James is a very unique singer and has a beautiful voice and has the ability to sing melodically, so we wanted to take advantage of it. The range that he’s singing in, we were very conscious of that, as to where his voice sits with the songs. At certain points, his voice opens up. That was brought into the occasion.

And another part was how he was recorded and we made the decision to put him in a very comfortable environment with his friend Rich Chycki in Canada. He would record the vocals, just the two of them, and I think it was a good setting. I kept telling him, “Just be yourself. You’re an amazing singer, don’t worry about what else is out there with those growling guys that think it’s not cool to sing melodically.” I think he really shines. He did an awesome job.

DG: Would you say James’ contributions are going to be a little more noticeable this time out? Previously, he didn’t contribute as much, so was it important to make sure he was more onboard with everything?

JP: James is not an instrumentalist, so he’s not very actively involved in the writing. It’s mostly me and Jordan [Rudess, keyboards], and John as well. James is there the whole time, singing, coming up with melodies and making suggestions. It was like that on the last few albums, but I think with this one, it was maybe that kind of environment that didn’t require having a drummer there. Maybe it was having the ability to record his vocals in a separate environment where we were. I think the comfort level is there, so I think he felt closer and involved in the process.

DG: “On the Backs of Angels,” was that the obvious choice from the get-go to be the album’s lead-off track?

JP: It was written that way. I wrote the opening guitar line on an acoustic in my house, thinking how I could open the album. I wanted to do this moody, Pink Floyd-ish, “Welcome to the Machine” vibe. It was initially written that way and it worked.

DG: You’ve always been more of a metal guy, so are you more prone to let that side out more now? This feels like a metal-oriented album.

JP: I think it’s important to point that out. I think that’s what separates us from early on, from the rest of the prog bands. Even on our first album [When Day and Dream Unite], the core sound that we have as a band, the instrumentation, and the approach we take, is a metal approach. I always said we were like a Metallica-meets-Yes. Our arranging and the way we write music is in a progressive-vein, but the orchestration for the most part, is a metal sound. My guitar sound, in general, 90% of the time, is a high-gain distortion. Coupled that with the drum style, double-bass, everything else, is a metal setting. That’s important and is what separated us out.

DG: Switching gears, take me back to the first show with Mike Mangini. What was running through your head when you took the stage this past July in Italy with him behind the kit?

JP: It was a big show in Rome, outdoor concert and was a nice night. We knew that being in Rome was good, because the fans in Italy are very passionate and accepting and have been with us for a very long time. We had rehearsed before and had felt we could have used more rehearsal, but nevertheless, and there were some things we were doing differently, like adjusting things we used to do in the past with Mike [Portnoy]. I was a little nervous... looking back while we’re playing and not seeing Mike and seeing new Mike [laughs]. You adjust to it. I remember it being a little strange, but as we anticipated, the Italian crowd was super-supportive and enthusiastic. It was a great night.

DG: I just watched the “Life on the Road” video clip you put out, and not like you weren’t before, but the band seems like it’s having a lot more fun and you guys are more loose than ever. Is that how you feel?

JP: We’re a family and when you’re a family that goes through something – and not to be melodramatic – but when you lose a member like when Mike left, it was a big change for us. We had to make some major adjustments. In any situation, if you’re in a family and someone dies or a catastrophe happens, it brings people together. You start to talk more and start to learn about each other a little bit more and you pay attention more. You start to become conscious of certain things and I think because of that process, that it just brought us together. We’re closer because of that. Even the album experience, writing more with James, it was made us more on the same page and more conscious of what’s going on. Sometimes you walk around in the dark a little bit... and I think that’s what you’re seeing.

DG: How is new Mike putting a spin on the older songs? Is it a different feel or is he keeping it close to how Portnoy played it?

JP: He learned the songs the way Mike wrote them. He’s starting out with the album versions, to the note. He’s set on doing things that way. We’re playing the album versions with the album tempos. When you’re in a band for a long time, you don’t go back and listen to your songs – you play them live a certain way and make adjustments. The songs are more settled. Having said all of that, at the same time, all it takes is for me to give him a quick glance – he’s always watching what everyone is playing. He’ll throw out some improvised drum thing or a fill. He feeds off the energy, lots of eye contact.

DG: Were these some of the things you picked up on Mike when you had him in for tryouts? That he can be spontaneous, yet at the same time, he’s totally solid?

JP: One-hundred percent. For him to step into this band and take on the entire catalog, with a band that has been together for this long... not only in the studio environment, but in the live environment, you’re in the warzone [laughs]. You have to be professional. He’s a total rock. He’s never fumbled the ball, ever. He’s also an experienced and gifted drummer and he’s willing to mix things up. I’ve noticed as shows go by he’s more comfortable in the band. I can only assume it must be nerve-wracking for him, the pressure of playing all of this stuff.

DG: Because Portnoy handled so much of the fan aspect of the band, has that caused the rest of the band to step up in those aspects?

JP: From day one, Mike was great about staying in contact with the fans and getting his face out there, promoting the band. Without him there, you can’t be in the background, you have to step up. Almost immediately, everyone got their Twitter and Facebook accounts, so they’re able to do all of that. We re-designed our entire website, so it’s beautiful and interactive, very cutting-edge. We have more involvement with the record label, trying to do some promotional things like the releasing of the drummer documentary and the snippets of the songs as the album was coming closer. Everyone has stepped up. You come together in the face of something that is challenging, yet it’s not a time to be complacent.

DG: At least in your case, you’ve always been able to stay in the back and be more behind-the-scenes, so this has to be a huge adjustment, right?

JP: My whole thing, I’m a guitar geek, I love to play guitar and write music. That’s been my strong point since the beginning and I love it. I’ve taken the steps to be more involved and it’s definitely different. It’s cool. It’s really not hard to do, and you get more in-the-know, and you get closer to what people feel and want to hear. It really helps your mental perspective of the whole thing. Our band is a creative outlet and it’s also our career. We’re very invested in it, so we need to all be on the same page to make this successful. It’s all part of that picture. So yeah, it’s been different for me, but also eye-opening, and I’m happy to do it.

DG: Because you have one of the more devoted and cultish fanbases in metal, I’m curious to see how you were feeling around the time Portnoy left about a year ago. What was it like for you?

JP: First of all, I understood that. If I was a fan of a band and one of the main people left, I’d be upset. You don’t want them to change and you don’t know what the future will hold. I understand. Our fans are very passionate and we’re not a passive listening experience [laughs]. I totally get it. Beyond that, my perspective is “Okay, time to roll up my sleeves. We have a lot of work to do.” Ultimately, with all the drama aside and all the different opinions and posts, the bottom line is that you have to have great music that you believe in. That is what brings people together. That is what made this thing in the first place. That is my focus and that is the band’s focus. It’s how we kept our feet on the ground, even though it’s very easy to get pulled in. We’re all about the music, first and foremost. I think that kind of focus showed we made the right decision.

DG: You just mentioned how it’s easy to get pulled in. One of the things I noticed during this process is how you guys kept your mouths shut. Portnoy has been asked about what happened with the band and has said some things, but you’ve kept quiet.

JP: You always gotta stay high-class. Again, it’s about the music and you can’t let other things take away from that. Any sort of business things that happen, it’s not everyone’s business. You don’t know about the personal dealings of certain companies, so why should it be different here? If you have a problem with somebody, you call them up. You don’t need to do that in the online environment. Everyone understands that perfectly well, and it’s just a matter of retaining dignity and class. You don’t want to say anything that you will regret or will be misconstrued. The best thing is to focus on what is important.