Life Lessons: James LaBrie

The Dream Theater frontman has enjoyed prog metal prominence for 25 years – but record label conflicts threatened to strike down his band during their peak

Words: Matt Mills

In his lifelong journey from Canada’s rock underground to progressive metal heroism, James LaBrie has acquired an encyclopaedic knowledge of the music world. He’s sung on one of the 90s’ most game-changing metal albums, rubbed shoulders with rock giants, clashed with record labels and defied doctors to perform for fans. Now, as Dream Theater rest on the cusp of the long-awaited Distance Over Time, James regales us with his biggest takeaways from more than 40 years of music-making.

Every Skill Can Come In Handy
“I started playing drums when I was five; at 16 or 17 I stopped. I was about 12 years old when I started forming my first rock bands and I was singing and playing drums, so I had always wanted to sing. My music teacher phoned my parents when I was in elementary school and said, ‘I wanna work with Kevin [James’s real first name], because he has a unique voice.’ My parents were like, ‘Go ahead! He sings around the house all the time anyways.’ But my father was all about the drums, introducing me to [jazz legends] Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. I knew I wasn’t going to do it forever; I said to myself, ‘There are better drummers out there.’ But, coming into Dream Theater as a singer, I could naturally understand these very technical time signatures because of those 12 years as a drummer.”

Timing Is Just As Important As Talent
“In the 80s, I was in a glam metal band called Winter Rose. It was all about writing songs like Whitesnake, Skid Row or Mötley Crüe. We had to write songs that hit those marks and then, when we hit the stage, that had to be replicated. We were being looked at to sign with Atlantic [Records], so giving them something that they felt would resonate at that particular time in music was so important. That’s what I learnt: be prepared for that, because it doesn’t get more demanding or on-the-spot. Yes, you need to have talent, but it’s all about timing, too.”

Your Bandmates Should Be Your Friends
“When I first joined Dream Theater, I was looking for personalities. I wanted to see who these guys are, because I had been in enough bands to know that there are some people who think they’re God’s gift. I knew that these guys could play and were precocious: they were 20 when they put out When Dream And Day Unite. So I was looking for, ‘What are they like in a conversational environment?’ and they were really ace guys. I immediately felt comfortable with them. I knew that this could be something that may take off and, fortunately, from my lips to God’s ears, it happened.”

You Know When You’re Making A Great Album
“I still recall recording Images & Words. One night, I had just recorded the vocals for ‘Under A Glass Moon’. I walked out of the back of the studio and it was beautiful! A big forest, really quiet; just the perfect environment to stay focused. Our producer, David Prater, said to me, ‘James, how are you feeling with everything that’s going on right now: the music and the recording?’ I felt like what was going on was really special. David goes, ‘You stole the words right out of my mouth. If this is heard by the right people, this album is gonna blow up!’ And this was the fall of ’91; grunge was at its peak. We’re recording an album like Images & Words while Nirvana are on top of the world. But it was because of that that it became a statement. It was a throwback to the beauty and majesty of progressive music, but it was more than that. It was metal, it had an edge. And, lo and behold, it did take off. Fortunately for us, ‘Pull Me Under’ went through the roof!”

It’s Ok To Meet Your Heroes
“I recorded ‘Learning To Live’ at The Hit Factory. I’m walking down the hallway to record, when Roger Daltrey walks by me – he was doing one of his solo albums. I’m a huge Who fan: I saw them in ’82 during their first farewell tour. Ha ha! I just said, ‘Hi, how are you doing? I love your work’, you know. He said, ‘Thanks a lot. What are you doing?’ For him to even ask was amazing. I told him about Dream Theater and he said, ‘Best of luck, I really hope it works out for you, mate.’ That was so inspirational. I went into that booth and told myself, ‘I am gonna fucking knock this song out of the park!’”

Always Be Sure To Follow Doctors’ Orders
“I ruptured my vocal cords in 1994. I had wicked food poisoning when I was down in Cuba with my wife and I was violently ill. I was spitting up blood. I saw some specialists and they said the best thing for me to do was not sing for six months to a year. Unfortunately, we were on the Awake tour so I was in Tokyo two-and-a-half weeks later singing. After that it took many years for me to recover to the point where I felt good about myself again. I went through a lot of shit and it compromised me as a singer. I used to be able to sing anything I wanted to but now I have to really watch myself.”

Record Labels Should Never Interfere
“The lesson here is, record companies, stay the fuck out of it! While making Falling Into Infinity, we were annoyed that the label was somewhat aggressively suggesting that we create a ‘hit’, to the point of bringing in [pop/rock songwriter] Desmond Child. It didn’t make a difference though, did it? Desmond has written a lot of great songs with a lot of great artists, but it just didn’t work with us. When we finished the Falling Into Infinity tour, we communicated to the powers that be that you need to leave us alone. Fortunately, they completely agreed and we were able to create Scenes From A Memory. On our own terms, we tried to live up to the great, quintessential concept albums. It was an amazing album and a huge success for the band.”

Being Progressive Is Never Uncool
“I am aware that the words ‘Dream Theater are uncool because they’re prog’ are being spoken, but Dream Theater are more than prog rock. We have so many layers to our music. It’s prog, it’s metal, it’s jazz fusion, it’s pop; it’s a conglomerate of many, many different styles of music. We push the envelope all the time. We’re unpredictable. We’re not doing that to blow your minds, it’s not about that; we do things on our terms because that’s how we operate as a unit. When I hear or read ‘Dream Theater are uncool,’ I go, ‘Fair enough, you’re just not one of these people that appreciates our approach and direction. And that’s fine, you don’t have to.’ People call us a progressive rock band, but you can’t conclude what Dream Theater are based on one song or one album.”

Don’t Put All Your Eggs In One Basket
“Outside of Dream Theater, I’m able to show a whole different side of myself, musically, in my solo career. It’s an opportunity for me to work with other musicians. Primarily, it’s been with my partner, Matt Guillory. Without him, it wouldn’t be feasible. He and I have a chemistry; we know where we wanna go and what we want the music to represent. We write songs so that the driving force behind them, musically, is very infectious. That music’s taken on its own identity away from Dream Theater.”

Never Be Afraid To Cause Controversy
“We knew going into our 13th album, The Astonishing, that it was going to demand a lot of open-mindedness from our fans. We knew there was going to be controversy. It’s a two-hour rock opera opus, so not everyone’s going to be into something so theatrical and fantastical. You’re asking a lot of people for them to lose themselves in that kind of an album, so it wasn’t necessarily a shock to the band that it polarised our fans. But it was an album that had to be made and, I think, for the kind of album we wanted, we did a phenomenal job. It is something I will always stand behind and be proud of, but it definitely put a division in our fanbase. But this album, Distance Over Time, is more classic Dream Theater, with both the progressive and the metal sides. It strikes down the middle of the field and I think it’ll unite all of our fans.