James LaBrie interview

Hyde: James how’s it going?

James LaBrie: It’s going great!

H: I’m excited to be talking to you today and talking about this Distance Over Time tour...

JL: We’ve had a great ride; we’re still going strong. We’ve been fortunate enough to be doing this for as long as we have, and we’re still going out there and totally giving it every night. It’s been amazing.

H: On this Distance Over Time tour we’re celebrating 20 years of Scenes From a Memory. What did the album mean to you and the band at the time, and what does it mean to you today looking back at it?

JL: When we went into this album, it was our first conceptual album. It was just a natural progression for somebody who liked Dream Theater to want to put it out there as a conceptual piece. We were pretty psyched. We were very, very excited. We had been talking about it for some time, and finally, the opportunity presented itself that this was the time. We’d come off Falling Into Infinity and we had done that world tour. [We had] gone through some personnel changes at the label and management, so we were in a more intimate space. We were going through some serious transformations and transitions as far as the people that are on the periphery. So going into the studio, we’d gone through a lot emotionally, and I think was the gasoline on the fire for us to say to the label, “You need to let us do this album. You need to leave us alone. We’re gonna go in the studio, and you’re gonna hear it when it’s done.” Fortunately for us, they were all in agreement. So going in, we pretty much knew where we wanted to go with it as far as the lyrical conception – reincarnation and that – and musically, it was the first album that we did with Jordan Rudess. We were pretty psyched with that, and what better man to have coming to that kind of a piece that is that kind of a musician? It was just a perfect fit. We could tell as we were in BearTracks writing it and recording it that we were onto something that we thought was really gonna resonate with our fans, and it still does today. Doing it live, it’s pretty amazing to see the reaction to it. It’s almost like a throwback right into that moment again 20 years ago we were presenting it.

H: Of course it is the Distance Over Time tour, the latest album from the band. Coming off The Astonishing, which was an even bigger concept than Scenes From a Memory was, what was the focus going into Distance Over Time? What was the process like?

JL: Coming off a huge album like The Astonishing, [which] was two hours of music, it was a situation that we went out, we did this huge world tour, and the album – let’s be honest – it kind of divided our fans. They either loved it, or they were trying to sink their teeth into it but not succeeding. We knew while we were out on The Astonishing tour that we said, “You know what? We need to really get back to our roots. We need to create a more aggressive album. Just let it happen. Spontaneity needs to be our friend.” I think the piece that really brought that together was deciding that we were going to go live together in this house, and the studio was only maybe 300 feet away from the house. We just shacked up and kept our focus on the music, and were able to hang out with one another. So ultimately, the conversations led back to the music. I think it really fed and created the kind of album that Distance Over Time became.

H: You wrote the lyrics to [‘At Wit’s End’] so what can you tell me about it?

JL: I’d just come across an article that I read, and it was basically talking about couples that experience something traumatic; in this case it was a few couples that were talking about trying to overcome a situation where the girlfriend or wife had been raped, so it was a pretty dark subject, and unfortunately the relationships didn’t survive due to the psychological turmoil that sets in on somebody that has to face [such] a situation. So I was really moved by it. At the same time I was thinking, “Why can’t people in general – it’s easier said than done but – just respect one another and realize that we’re all here just trying to do the best that we can and be accepted for who and what we are?” But it stems from much more profound situations than that, where someone’s obviously ill that commits a crime as such. I was just really moved. I thought, “Wow! If that happened to me in my relationship, how would I react?” and it was just something that I thought, “Well guys, this song in particular is kind of directing me in something that I just read about.” And they’re like, “Yeah, go for it. Write it,” and so that’s where I went with this lyric. It’s a bit dark, it really is, but there’s also hope in there that you can overcome and survive that and help that person to see that they’re much more then that horrific act dictates.

H: You had three lyrical contributions to Distance Over Time including the bonus track, so is it like you hear the music and you’re like, “I think I have something for this,” or you’re moved by the music or does it change?

JL: Well yes, there’s definitely that part of it, but also when we’re writing the melodies, I’ll hear a melody and all of a sudden, words will come into my head. With ‘Out Of Reach’, that’s where it happened – I just started singing these words in my head and said, “Whoa, hang on a second! I think I’ve got something for this. I’m gonna take this lyric.” And then with ‘Viper King,’ that was a throwback to Deep Purple and Zeppelin, and I was like, “I have a lyric here that I think I can throw down on this and it would be a fun lyric, about getting into your favorite car and just letting it wind down the road and crankin’ your music.” But basically, it’s either something that comes to me immediately workwise or I just feel a connection to it.

-----

H: It is the Distance Over Time tour. I got asking James what can we expect outside of what we already know?

JL: It’s an ‘Evening With.’ We’ve been working with Steve Barrett, our lighting director since 1995, and he just puts on a phenomenal show visually, and we have the screens going on with the imagery in the background, but just even the lighting design itself is mesmerizing. We’re working with a new sound man; we call him ‘Ace.’ His real name is Michael Baker and he is ace at audio. The first set is us doing songs from the new album Distance Over Time and then various other songs from our catalog. And then the whole second set is Scenes From a Memory in its entirety, from beginning to end, and then we finish off the night with a killer encore, a song that I think everyone’s going to really appreciate. It’s a great evening and the feedback that we’re getting from our fans that have been to the shows are saying it’s memorable. So come on out, have a great time with us and celebrate the music.