John Petrucci, James LaBrie interview

Roadrunner Records: What older albums do you think your new effort resembles most?

John Petrucci: Wow! That’s hard to say. It kind of draws from a lot of our history, actually, in the way that it sounds, because it harkens back to the Images and Words days where we’re doing that blend of metal and prog music, but in a very melodic kind of way. So it’s very strong, melodic which that album back then was. Also has a bit more of the rawness and heaviness of Awake or Train of Thought, albums like that. And then it has some of that sort of adventurous Octavarium spirit or symphonic Six Degrees thing, as well. So it’s hard to just go to a specific album. Having said all that, I think it’s very unique to any of those; I think it has its own thing. When I listen to it, it’s a lot more weighted in the way that the instruments sound, and I think that they jump out a bit more and it’s a little more reckless and reaching out to grab you. It just has that kind of freedom to me.

RR: Do you think you will do another concept album?

JP: What do you think James?

James LaBrie: I think it’s been quite a while since we’ve done one. Obviously Scenes From a Memory came out in ‘99 and it’s something that just makes perfect sense for us to come around and do another one. It’s all a matter of timing and it’s all a matter of being in that headspace, but I can definitely see a point in our career where we’re all gonna be fired up and want to approach that musical journey or end.

JP: It’s cool because everything surrounds it then. It’s like the story and then the album experience and the artwork and the show and everything. It creates this big kind of mood and theme for the whole rest of that particular run and year or several years, so it’s fun to do. You get to be experimental and so yeah, sure, absolutely.

RR: When writing melody do you write specific to range?

JL: A lot of that might stand true with when I’m doing my solo stuff, but [with] Dream Theater it’s a different approach musically, because you have two very powerful musical forces as composers, John and Jordan; there’s a lot of stuff going on there. It’s like what I was saying during this process – this isn’t an easy answer, because there’s so many layers to it, but I was saying if you don’t get your foot in there quickly enough – your voice and where you want to say, “Oh yeah, this is what I’m hearing,” – you’re lost in the shuffle. [JP laughs] I mean there were many moments I’d be like, “Hey guys, hang on a sec! Guys! Guys!” and they’d be like [imitates playing a bunch of super-fast notes] and then I’d be like, “What the f*** was I thinking?! Where was I gonna go with this?” So you’d see me running out of the room and I’d be like [imitates recording a melodic idea]. And I’d come back into the room, and they’re going, “Ah yeah, you know that thing? We changed that. We’re gonna go in this direction now.” “Oh, that makes irrelevant what I was thinking!”

JP: That’s so two hours ago, James! [lots of laughs]

JL: It’s like, “Totally, geez we’re not even going there anymore.” “Oh, OK.” But as far as the melody structuring and how that all goes about it, in this instance it was Jordan, John and myself sitting down, and then John taking those melodies and going away, writing the lyrics. A lot of the way that John works is he completely isolates himself in a room or somewhere within the studio that no one else is around, has his acoustic guitar and he starts singing through his words. So the melody is taking on another shape. My involvement at that point is to wait for that to be concluded, then come in. How does it feel to me? How is it gonna be sung? Is it something that sings well or doesn’t? So we keep working it, and then it works again for me when I get behind the microphone, it also takes on a whole new feel, and there’s certain alterations that are absolutely necessary. But for the most part, if I come in and give these guys some ideas or if I’m sitting there and I hear something and get the opportunity to blurt it out before they move on, then that’s it. That’s basically my role. It really comes down to me as a singer and how I can bring the best out of what needs to be said vocally.

RR: Would you consider doing a full acoustic album?

JP: I would have to be honest and say no we haven’t really considered that. Would we want to do that? I’m not sure; I don’t know if I’d wanna do that. The closest thing I could personally say is I did a duet album with Jordan that was mostly acoustic. Actually wasn’t even all acoustic, so I can’t even say... I don’t know.

JL: The way I look at that initially, I think it would be very limiting because of the kind of band we are. If we were a band that was just based all on that pop sensibility and just three minute, four minute, maybe five minutes songs, and it’s all coming down to just a melody and a nice guitar accompanied riff, something that’s very flowing and melodious, then that would bring us into something this makes more sense to do something like that. I think it would be really counterproductive for us if we’d only be able to show certain sides and express ourselves to a certain point, and then it would be like, “OK, where do you go from here?” because naturally in this band would feel like doing this at this point. “Would this be cool we if we did do this? No we can’t ‘cause its acoustic.” I don’t think it would work.

RR: Are there any current metal bands that inspire you?

JP: I’ve said this before and I will continue to tout my own nephew’s band Periphery; it’s a band that I really love and really I’m a big fan of them. We brought them on tour. They’re doing great stuff and I’m really proud of those guys.

JL: Two Door Cinema are an amazing band. Young the Giant, Mutemath. Another one is I See Stars, Sleeping With Sirens, Bring Me The Horizon... These are really cool bands.

JP: You making this up?

JL: No. Am I making this up? August Burns Red. I just love the energy, the rawness, but at the same time great melodies. Granted, I don’t sing like some of these guys, but at the same time, there is something there that’s memorable. I always look for that in music. It’s gotta be something that I can walk away with.

RR: On the new album, what was the most taxing song to write and record?

JP: It’s probably kind of obvious it’s the long epic song ‘Illumination Theory,’ only because it’s such a huge undertaking as far as the length of it. We wanted it to have all different moods and settings, and different chapters, and each one of those chapters had to have a different vibe to it and tell a different story. The way that we constructed the middle part was something we never did before, so it was a challenge to create a sonic atmosphere just with sound effects and things, and no music; just weird things and sound effects. We had to record real strings, which was a challenge; getting that down, getting it arranged for strings, conducted and recorded in the studio so that it sounded really rich and full. That in itself was a big challenge. Lyrically there’s a lot of words. It was a lot of work just because of the sheer volume. I know for James as a vocalist, if I could speak for him, there’s a lot of different sides to him that’s shown on that song, where there was some very syncopated, messed up rhythms going on in some of the verses. I was like, “How is he gonna sing over this?” [laughs] So he had to be the glue to understand those rhythms and make it cohesive so when you listen to it, it doesn’t really throw you too much. At the same time, when it hits the big chorus sections, just be that soaring beautiful thing. Then he has one of the most belting, ballsy parts on the album in ‘The Pursuit of Truth’ after the strings. So I’m sure those are all challenges for James. It’s lots of solos and things that you want to stay original and unique. My challenge at the end as a guitar player was to try to sort of soar, take it out and be like standing up on the mountaintop with the wind blowing! [laughs] Playing that glorious solo, because it’s the final thing on the album that people are gonna hear. So yeah, it presented its fair share of challenges.

RR: Do you ever have any great ideas which turn out to be terrible?

JP: It’s a very funny thing that you say that; it totally happens all the time. Sometimes it happens in that state where you’re just either waking up or falling asleep, and you get into that really hyper creative thing and you start to think something. I’ve done that before. I thought I had the most glorious, amazing concept album written, and like I think I woke up and it was like, “Oh wait, that’s an album already! That was a song that I heard as I was falling asleep!” I think it’s good to kind of get all that stuff down. I love when something hits you, even if it’s not the greatest idea of all time that you might have built it up in your head, I think it’s good to record it to get it down. And I thank God for my iPhone voice memo thing because I use that all the time, just put it on, and then it’s like immediately categorize right there. In fact, just this morning, I had something. I was getting out of the shower, I was singing, I had it, picked up my guitar, there it is. I might go back tomorrow and be like, “Yeah, that kinda sucks,” but who knows? It’s there.

RR: Do you suffer from creative block? If so, how do you get over it?

JP: I think that happens sometimes, but they’re like micro blocks. I wouldn’t say there’s days or weeks or months where I’m walking around like some lost soul, like, “I can’t think of anything.” But within the process of writing the lyrics or coming up with a riff for something, or even as a band when we’re playing and it’s like nothing’s really working, yeah, it does it does happen. Nothing career-ending or nothing to really worry about. The best sort of remedy for that is to just change directions. Either walk away or completely draw from a different inspiration, even changing your position in the room or changing an instrument or something like that. There are ways to combat that. And like I said, they’re in the little micro bursts and nothing that’s ever been a real problem. I’ve heard other writers talk about that, how they go through periods were just nothing is happening.

RR: Have your influences and inspiration changed over time?

JL: I think that your influences and your inspirations are definitely going to change throughout your life, otherwise there wouldn’t be anything different to say. I think as you grow and become more enlightened to that which you find interesting, I think that that has a place within you that sooner or later needs to come out, and having a creative platform, there’s no better place in the world to be able to experience that which really strikes a chord with you in that particular moment of time. It’s something that you want to connect with and make a part of you. And I think it’s all about just constantly feeling that you aren’t remaining in the same place, otherwise you could become very stagnant and [uninspired]. This is life though – as long as you’re receptive to that, looking for something that brings a different feel in your life can be very enriching.

RR: What motivates you to stay productive?

JP: We love doing it. First and foremost, there’s a passion to do it; that hasn’t changed at all as far as the kind of people we are. We’re creative people, we like to do it, it’s in our blood; that’s what we love to do. Fortunately we’re in a band where we have these guys that are all in that same head space and also talented in their own right. I’ve always said it’s one thing to pick up the guitar and start to work on some music and that’s fun in itself. I could come up with riffs, chord progressions and sing along, and it’s great. But taking that into a setting where you’re surrounded by musicians who you respect, you have a musical chemistry with, who have great ideas and no shortage of inspiration, it takes it to a whole different level. I mean I can literally play two chords and it’ll spring off into this whole thing. Part of it too is getting together and being in that circumstance. Even when I was younger, people asked me about being a guitar player, developing your skills and everything, and I always remembered just jamming with friends and playing different situations was always so much more revealing and inspiring than just sitting there by myself. You can practice little scales and things, but when you get together – and music is about the back and forth and the tradeoff – that’s when it takes on a mind of its own almost, and that’s inspiring. So all those reasons really helped fuel that desire to continue to do this and to continue to push forward.