Derek Sherinian interview (excerpt)

W (DD): OK, let’s talk a little about Dream Theater, tell us a little bit about those years, what you miss, what you don’t miss, and also about the reunion concert “When Dream and Day Reunite” in 2004, how was that experience of playing again with the guys, including Jordan Rudess?

DS: Well, Dream Theater... When I got the call from them... Actually, let me rephrase that. At the time Alice Cooper was taking time off from work, the whole Seattle Grunge thing came out, and none of the big rock bands was doing business, so everyone was kind of chilling out, and figuring out what their next move was going to be. And so I heard that this band, Dream Theater, was looking for a keyboard player, and I didn’t know their music at all. And I heard that they were Progressive Metal, so... I arranged an audition, and they sent me the music, and I remember just being, like horrified, going “Oh, my God, this stuff is insane, I don’t know if I can... I’ve never played music like this before.” And so, it was a great challenge, and I really put a lot of time into it, preparing for the audition, and I went in, and as it turned out, there were three people that auditioned – it was Jordan Rudess, Jens Johansson, and myself. And when I heard Jens was auditioning, I was like “Well, he’s going to get the gig” because Jens is just an amazing keyboard player – he’s probably my favorite keyboardist in Metal, for sure. And so, as it turned out, they wanted Jordan originally, and I think Jordan may have had other things going on, I’m not sure what the story was, but he passed on the gig, and so then they called me. And then I went in and learned the set, and started doing the tour, and after six months, they made me a full member of the band. And I’ll say that the four years I was in that band, it was a great learning experience for me, musically, and it really helped elevate my ability, and just... You know, all around professionalism as a musician, so I’m very grateful for that opportunity. You know, I’m still friends with all those guys, and I just recently played with Mike Portnoy on a tour with Billy Sheehan and Tony MacAlpine. We played instrumental, we played a lot of those old Dream Theater songs. And that was just a very cool thing, and so... I have nothing but great memories of that time.

W (DD): Yeah, great. And since you mentioned the PSMS, an instrumental super group, that you guys toured last year, are there any plans in the future for that?

DS: Yeah, we’re talking about going back out this fall, including a South American run – we’re talking to a couple of big promoters down there, so that’s a big possibility that we’ll be playing down there, so let’s keep our fingers crossed.

W (DD): That would be amazing to see yourself, Mike Portnoy, Billy Sheehan and Tony MacAlpine playing together, that might be like a dream come true, amazing. Great, great. Since you were talking about those years with Dream Theater, can you choose a song from Dream Theater that you are really proud of being part of, and recording, so we can listen to, here in our show, as well?

DS: I think the most famous composition I wrote during that time, for the Dream Theater people was Lines in the Sand, and so that was a very... That was the first big piece that I brought to the band, and everyone seemed to like it, so I would say that.