Mark Holcomb interview (excerpt)

You had to take time away from Periphery II to tour with Dream Theater. Was that worth it, in retrospect?

We had told ourselves in the process of recording that there would be no booking tours. We only accepted because it was Dream Theater. We have a list of bands, 10 or 15 names long, that no matter what, we will say yes – no matter the money offer, no matter what time of the year, no matter how busy we are. It was the single biggest learning experience we’ve ever had as a touring professional act. They never sat us down and told us anything. It was just observing – how they conduct themselves with fans, how they conduct themselves with other bands, with crew, with local crew, how they practice every night, how seriously they take their craft, how tough on themselves and their performance every night they are.

What specific lessons did Periphery take from that tour?

At the time, none of us really practiced much before we went onstage. We’d always just goof off and play video games or go wander around whatever city we were in or go have dinner and some beers. One night, I was on the way out to go to a restaurant, and I walked by John Petrucci’s dressing room. He was sitting there with his amp, going through these really mundane sounding scales. I poked my head in and said, “Hey, man, what are you up to?” He said, “I’m just practicing.” I asked if there was anything special going on, and he said, “Yeah, I’m playing a show later.” They all do that, every single night. I remember thinking to myself, “Wow, we go onstage in an hour, and I’m on my way out to go drink a beer and eat dinner. What am I doing?”

They knew thousands of people would be there listening for them, listening to every single thing they’re playing. We all think, “They’re so stupidly talented. How could we ever aim to be that talented?” It’s directly because of the way they prepare themselves. We need to work our asses off.