Jordan Rudess interview (excerpts)

During a conversation with E-Gitarzysta TV, Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess talked about his signature 8-string guitar from Druzkowski Guitars called The Wizard.

You can check out a part of the interview below (transcribed by UG).

I was a little bit surprised that you have a signature guitar, that you play guitar at all – an 8-string, super-crazy. Tell me more about this connection. Is it important to play various instruments, and is it enhancing the overview of music?

I actually think that it’s a wonderful thing for somebody to play multiple instruments because it gives you a whole different perspective. Music is made in so many cool ways; it helps you to be able to express and to understand, especially if you’re a keyboard player like I am, who’s playing a lot of different sounds. You want to kind of understand how other instruments function and how they approach that. So for instance, if I want to do a vibrato, I’m playing a violin sound; if I want to play a clarinet or a flute, there’s more of a kind of a amplitude, the variations change. Playing different instruments can really give you a lot of information about musical expression.

How do you feel about your guitar, The Wizard?

I’m so excited. First of all, when I met Druzkowski and he introduced himself, he was really enthusiastic about building a guitar for me. I was first of all very flattered, you know, it’s wonderful, a master luthier wants to build me a guitar, and then we had a lot of fun together because he’s a great guy and just kind of figuring out the design.

Tell me something more about the cooperation in your band with John Petrucci? How do you work on the songs together?

John and I are very kind of, like, bonded, you know, both personally and compositionally. We get along really well and we really enjoy each other and our musicality and I kind of get inspired by what he does; also, he gets inspired by what I do. So, there’s a lot of fun that we have. It’s very fun to do the unison things, like if he comes up with something really crazy, I’ll write, like, a harmony part for it, we’ll go back and forth... It’s fun to practice something that’s really technical. We also enjoy playing pretty melodies, so everything from the fastest virtuosic lines to something that’s really expressive.

How to maintain a band for such a long time with the same lineup?

With [drummer Mike] Mangini, it’s probably already eight years or something like that. So, it’s an amazing thing. It means having a good team around, people who are supportive; in the management side of things, the agents, the crew that we’re with. I’ve been working with my tech Keith for, like, five years, and we’re friends. There’s a balance between the guys themselves – one guy is a little bit wilder, one guy is a little bit calmer, so it’s almost like a little bit of a gentle see-saw that ends up balancing out.

So that’s the matter of the perfect match of people around?

A balanced match. You know, not everybody has to be best friends, but I think it’s important that everybody can find that balance within the group dynamic.