James LaBrie interview

BlogMusicaMetal: Hi James, how are you doing first of all?

James LaBrie: Doing great.

BMM: Feeling great?

JL: Absolutely, we’re always excited coming here.

BMM: Tonight you will be playing the first of three dates in Milan in a row, and it’s a really great theater over here in Milan. Does it feel good to be playing in a theater after so many years not having to deal with crappy sound checks in sports arenas and things like that?

JL: I don’t deal with sound checks, so... [smirks] I mean, the concept for this tour was that we were gonna go into theaters and create this environment that would really embellish upon the whole storyline and the concept of the album. And those environments are perfect for this kind of a concert or a production. So it’s great to be going into these gorgeous rooms. It’s a little different for us in the sense that everyone’s sitting down. That’s a little different because [for] most of our shows, everyone’s up in the air, very animated, very vocal. I mean, I’m sure they’re still gonna be very vocal, and they have been, but it really is a much more intimate engagement with our fans, because the rooms tend to be a little smaller – they’re not the big arenas and stuff like that. But we’re having a great time. It’s going off great. The fans’ reaction so far has been tremendous, as far as that whole feeling and the way that it resides with them throughout the evening in those kind of rooms. So, yeah, I think it’s been great. It’s something that we wanna do for this tour. We’ve been doing this almost thirty years, so we thought we’d mix it up a bit, and it really does kind of accentuate what is trying to be conveyed or communicated on this tour.

BMM: When any band announces a rock opera, usually it involves a lot of guests, both musicians and singers, while on the other hand you decided to do everything by yourself – well, by the band. When did you pick this decision? It’s really interesting to have a rock opera...

JL: For a very brief moment, John and I were talking about the whole vocal approach to this album, and initially, it was with maybe the possibility of including a couple of female vocalists to come in and do, obviously, Arabelle and Faythe. I really think that we probably thought on that for about a day, and then I came up to him and basically I said, “I really think to have everything very focused and have everything so that it’s kept within what we’re trying to achieve that I need to do this. It’s going to be something that’s unprecedented for me.” I’ve done stuff like Scenes From A Memory and Leonardo: The Absolute Man, I’ve done other albums that were based around characters where I had to become a character, but this was full-on. This had to be really exceptionally well thought out so that the voices really did emulate the character, and they did convey it sincerely and genuinely. So it was a huge challenge for me, but actually very thrilling to get into this and to see it come alive. But like I said, we were gonna go maybe the typical rock opera route, but then we thought, “No, I think we should do it this way.”

BMM: Yeah, well, everyone is doing rock operas the other way, so it’s a way to differentiate yourself.

JL: Well, no, we’ve always gone against the grain, right?

BMM: Well, given the fact that I’ve seen some videos and there’s a background with the screens and effects and...

JL: ...yeah, the visuals, sure...

BMM: ...does it in a way limit yourself in the spontaneity of performing? You need to be on cue.

JL: We’ve always played our shows where everything is timed and everything is very meticulous, and it has to be with our music, or else it would be shambles – it would be a catastrophe. So, it’s almost become more of a natural undertaking for us that everything is being played so that it’s all in sync, but that does not take away from the fact that you are performing, that you are live, that you are interacting with your fans. And you can’t be oblivious to that, or I think you’re pretty much dead if that was the situation. So, no, it’s just the way that it has to be because of the kind of production, because of the show that we’re doing. It has to be construed as such.

BMM: I see. When the first show in Milan was announced, it was sold out in a few days, and then they announced another one, and it got sold out, and then they announced the third one. And The Astonishing wasn’t even out when they got sold out, so I saw it as a leap of faith from the fans to get the ticket knowing that you would be performing the album, and they didn’t know what to expect. So what does it tell about your fans? How do you see them?

JL: I mean, we’ve been coming here since 1992, I think November ‘92 is the first time we were in Italy [actually April 1993], and even from that very first show, it was very apparent to us that something very unique had happened here and that the fans completely got us right from the very first moment they heard us. And it’s always been that way ever since then, even up until now, every time we’ve come through Italy, it has always been an incredible experience for the band, and hopefully for the fans. We were informed, we were told that the shows were already gone, and we should have been doing more, but obviously it’s not within our schedule. We are already doing a ton of shows – many, many shows. So we’ve been very blessed. Our relationship with our Italian fans has been fabulous.

BMM: Did you hear anyone being disappointed by the fact you are not playing a greatest hits at the end or something like that?

JL: Yeah, of course. I mean, you’re not gonna satisfy everyone. We knew that there was gonna be controversy there. We knew that. Obviously, Dream Theater’s based on more than one album, it’s based on several albums; our discography is quite involved. I think we knew that this would bring along some discord with some of our fans. But they have to accept the fact that this is what we’re doing. This is the kind of album that we’re presenting, which is a conceptual album, and the only way that we feel that it can be played – and played properly – is from beginning to end. And this is what we’re going to do. We’re gonna go back to those tours. We’re gonna go back to where we’re playing all the classics. I know many people would be thrilled [for us] doing many songs from Six Degrees and so on. It’s fine. We’ll be the Dream Theater that we’ve been on all the other tours once this has seen its course.

BMM: Is it in a way a relief for you not having to go on tour playing and singing ‘Pull Me Under’ or things like that?

JL: No. I mean, I love it. Believe it or not, contrary to popular belief, we still do love playing songs from Images, Awake, Scenes From A Memory, Six Degrees, Train Of Thought, Octavarium – any of those albums. There are songs on there that we are all very partial to and that we’d love to pull out and bring back onto a stage. That’s why I’m saying that it’s inevitable that we will go back and we will be doing tours like that, and everyone will be happy. [laughs]

BMM: I guess some people over here in Italy will be coming to the show for three nights in a row, to live it night after night, to get to take something back home.

JL: That’s because they suffer amnesia. [laughs] I’m kidding.

BMM: Of course, the next step for a production like that will be going into a stage musical or even a movie. Have you considered that, to make people who love coming to your shows but are not coming to this tour because it’s not passing closer, to see a story like this, which is a strong story and a strong performance by the band, turned into something else, something more?

JL: Yeah, we’re in those discussions right now, and we’re investigating the possibility of those avenues availing themselves to us. So yeah, definitely. It’s just in the works now, but hopefully something will materialize.

BMM: All right, but on the other hand, the first multimedia thing coming out of The Astonishing will be a video game. Do you know anything about it? Were you involved?

JL: I’m aware of it. I mean, I haven’t seen any of the details because I just didn’t get myself into it knee-deep. But I’m aware of some of it, and what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard and been told, it’s very exciting.

BMM: It looks like it will be expanding the world, which is even cooler, using your songs but playing in other areas.

JL: It’s extremely exciting. It’ll be great.

BMM: As a gamer, I can’t wait to see how it melts together. I have one last question for you. Given The Astonishing themes, can you imagine a world without music, where music is banned actually – not without music, but where you can’t play music?

JL: No, I can’t. I think it would be a very sterile, clinical, boring, lifeless, emotionless place to be. No, I can’t even fathom it. Absolutely not.