Derek Sherinian interview (excerpts)

Lee: For months, Mike Portnoy’s been hinting at a prog metal supergroup, and now we have Sons of Apollo. How did you get involved?

Derek: Mike and I have a relationship dating back to Dream Theater and we reunited in 2012 for the PSMS [Portnoy Sheehan MacAlpine Sherinian], an instrumental thing. We love playing together, so we thought, ‘Let’s do a prog metal band. Let’s do this for real.’ But he [Portnoy] was busy with four or five things. He’s a busy guy.

Lee: To understate things a bit.

Derek: (laughs) Yeah. Every year of two, we threw it out there and here we are five years later and the timing just worked out. Mike called me and said, ‘Are you ready?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ From that moment on, I went into full writing mode and I just started digging deep, trying to write the best stuff this band could do, accumulating riffs.

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Lee: The minute Sons of Apollo was announced, some fans drew comparisons to Dream Theater. Since you used to be in Dream Theater, how would you compare the two?

Derek: I think it’s a totally different animal. We are a rock band. Dream Theater is not a rock band; they are a prog band. I think they have distortion, but I don’t think there’s any rock pedigree there. It’s like comparing apples and oranges.

Lee: Like comparing, I don’t know, Stratovarius or Symphony X with Led Zeppelin, maybe?

Derek: It’s a different thing. I’ll tell you what, though: a lot of fans would like to see a tour with Sons of Apollo and Dream Theater.

Lee: It would probably need [Dream Theater guitarist] John Petrucci’s approval, and I don’t see that happening.

Derek: You know what? One thing I’ve learned in this business is that the unexpected often happens. You never, never know. We’re not in competition, though. We’re in our own lane and we’re breaking ground with this record. We’re going to let the music do the talking.

<snip>

Lee: Speaking of the technical side, I’m not sure if you heard, but your recent interview about John Petrucci ‘finding his cyborg in [Dream Theater keyboardist] Jordan Rudess’ stoked much debate in prog forums. It really stirred up the hornets nest. What do you think about this sort of back and forth? It seemed like quite an innocuous comment to me.

Derek: Throughout the years, a lot of people I talk to say [Dream Theater] is cold and technical. But I want to tell you from playing with those guys, to be able to play those passages consistently every night on tour, you have to respect that whether you like their music or not. That’s what I have to say about that. John is a consistent guy. He’s amazing. He plays great every night.