John Petrucci interview

Carl O’Rourke: You guys are gearing up to release your new record Distance Over Time, and let me start by saying it's a phenomenal album – congratulations to you and the guys first of all.

John Petrucci: That’s awesome to hear. Thank you so much.

CO: I started listening to it for the first time around 9:00pm the other night, and at 4:00am I was still spinning it, so I'm in love with it. Forgive my temerity, but when you guys have a new record on the way, I get this trepidation because I'm thinking, “How do these guys do this time and time again?” and you always deliver, this time included. I believe this time was what you referred to as a more organic return to the roots kind of endeavor. I’d love to hear a bit more on that if you’d be so kind.

JP: This one, by the nature of how we did it, it really lent itself to make this kind of record a little bit more, like you said, more rootsy, more primal, more organic. The whole band went away to a location together. It was like being on a guys’ hunting trip or camping trip or something, like a retreat. No distractions, no commuting, just being together and being able to hang out, long days playing music, write, take a break, barbecues, hang out at night drinking bourbon, wake up the next day, make some bacon and eggs, and do the whole thing again. So just the environment in which we did it in, and the way in which we did it contributed to this as more of a bonding experience as a friend and as musicians. So the music, I think, really oozes that feeling of connection and rootsiness. I’m really happy with the way it came out.

CO: When you guys moved into the country house together, and as you said, having barbecues and having some bourbon at night, and writing throughout the summer, it sounds like exiling yourselves from these citified structures really helped inform the writing, or at least created a space for you guys where you could just enjoy each other’s company. And that energy is really reflected in the songs. I think that would be fair to say, wouldn’t it? Or what do you think?

JP: I think you’re absolutely right – we really did enjoy each other’s company. As much as we spend a lot of time together on the road, as long as we’ve known each other, it’s not the same when you’re traveling and you have the show, or you have a day off or you’re in the studio, it’s late at night when you drive back home. When you’re able to just go and hang out and just talk and watch TV together or have a meal or cook or whatever, it creates a different kind of environment. So everybody felt very much a part of what was going on and very invested in the outcome. You’re doing this project together, and you’re feeling really positive and proud of what you’re doing. So it really was a great environment to do it in.

CO: It's really great that after all this time you guys still have that camaraderie. A couple of tracks that really stood out to me on the record – and I mean there were a few – but first of all ‘Paralyzed.’ Such a great number that really gets its hooks into ya. But then I came across ‘Out of Reach,’ and that piece is so emotive and so heartbreakingly good. If you’d be so kind, I’d love to ask what the genesis of that song was. Where did it come from?

JP: That’s a funny song, because we really didn’t intend to write a ballad necessarily on this record. There was one day I walked into the studio – and this is exactly what I’m talking about where it’s just really relaxed and chill – and I started playing my baritone guitar, which is the same guitar that ‘Paralyzed’ was written with; it’s a very deep, low-tuned guitar. And I started playing this clean thing. Next thing I know, Jordan starts playing along with me, and we just very naturally composed a song on the spot – just improvising. When we finished, we were like, “Wow! That’s really cool. We really should record that!” It wasn’t our intention at all. But basically ‘Out of Reach’ was written in the time it took for us to play it. It was really off-the-cuff. So it was just a matter of blocking the form in a little bit, and we recorded a demo of it within a few hours and it’s all done. We weren’t really sure we would put it on the record. It was just a really pretty piece, so we were like, “Yeah, let’s do something with this.” And I think it ended up being a nice part of the record in the end.

CO: I was watching the studio video of ‘Untethered Angel,’ and I’m wondering if you could possibly help me end a small online debate. It was surprising to see Mike’s cymbals so high and seeing him extending his reach. Is there a reason why this was set up like that? Because fans online have been discussing that, and I think it’s even become a meme now, so I was wondering if you’d be able to shine some light on that for us.

JP: [laughs] A couple of reasons. I think being the caring person that he is, I think Mike originally raised the cymbals out of the way so they wouldn’t interfere with James onstage. Because of James’ height and him holding his microphone and the drum riser, the cymbals are like right at his head level. So I think part of the reason he pushed them out of the way was to help out James. And the other reason, if I’m not mistaken – you’d have to really ask Mike – but I think he wanted to create more of a window, like more visual access so you can see what he’s actually doing. It doesn’t physically look very convenient! [laughs] I don’t know how he does that. That has to be hell on your shoulders. But only Mike could do that.

CO: Thank you for helping us get some clarification on that. When it comes to your music and Dream Theater as a collective, I think it’d be more than fair to say that there is a wonderful juxtaposition going on, where by that I mean Dream Theater certainly has its own sound, but at the same time, you can’t be entirely sure in what shape that will take on each record respectively, which keeps it interesting, and it’s a credit to you guys as writers. Would you agree with this, and if so, what is it that in 2019, and since 1985, that keeps you wanting to be artistically brave?

JP: That’s definitely accurate. It’s kind of a funny thing. I was just having a conversation about this. It’s hard if you’re somebody who’s going to turn Dream Theater on to a new listener. It’s hard to just pick what type of song to play because, you’re right, they kind of come from a different side of us a lot of the times. You might have a song like ‘The Spirit Carries On’ or ‘Another Day,’ or even ‘Out Of Reach’ that are very sort of emotional and melodic and more ballad-y. And then we have all this sort of technical crazy stuff. And then we have a records like Train of Thought and Systematic Chaos that are very heavy and dark. I think for us – and this ties in to the second part of your question – what keeps us going and motivated is that creative edge. It’s that spark that just tries different and new things and explores that and it’s part of being a progressive band, a prog band – we’re fine labeling ourselves as a prog band or a prog metal band – but in the nature of that is that you try different things. You try new things, new sounds and in the end, records are all an experience. To me, it’s always been like watching a movie; it’s like an event that you sit down for. I remember doing that as a kid, as a teenager, as a young man just putting on a Yes record, or Rush record, or Pink Floyd record or whatever it is, and just listening to the whole thing. You experience it in the way you experience a movie. When you think about things in broad strokes with that bigger picture mentality, it makes you a little more open-minded to try a range of different things. So this way a record isn’t just one dimensional. As you’re listening, you kind of get taken on this ride and you’re not sure what’s gonna be around the next corner. That unpredictability is really what makes it interesting and keeps us really motivated.

CO: One of the things I admire about you as a player and a person is that you’re not complacent. You’ve never been one of these players who tries to retain an egregious ego by hiding your technique as some have in the past. In fact, I’d say you rather try and invigorate players who try to follow in your footsteps by detailing to them how you do what you do. Is it important to you – this approach – and if so, why, and what’s your thinking behind it?

JP: It is important. Probably the reason why is because I think about myself as a player and how music education was such a big part of satisfying my hungry need to know everything about the guitar. Whether it’s before I went to Berklee and I was just trying to pick up any sort of article that I could – the guitar magazines or watch videos and learn things – to fast forward to me doing guitar camps with a lot of my friends and some of the most amazing players in the world. That guitar community, comradery thing – the willingness of guitar players to share everything from technique to tone to everything in between – to me, that’s really important. It’s inspiring; it inspired me when I was younger, so I like to kind of carry that on as a professional.

CO: Finally, something I always appreciated about the music of Dream Theater is that it isn’t arbitrary; it’s very clear that you guys don’t wing it, and I think it keeps you moving forward in an era where there’s a profound sense of retrograde or retromania. And don’t get me wrong – it’s TV, it’s everywhere – but a lot of music now at least feels like it has a very strong addiction to its own past, and I’m wondering, would you agree with this? What are your thoughts on the current state?

JP: I think it depends on the band and the artist, and what they’re trying to do. Obviously, there are a lot of artists that do like to push boundaries and push forward and create new sounds, but there’s something about staying connected to your original motivation as a creative person. I think the parallel is when you think about your family and where you’re from. In my case, a family from Italian immigrants came over to New York, and family is such a big part of who you are. But then passed that, you have your own family, you branch out and everything, but you never forget the connection to where you came from, and old recipes for meals and things like that; it’s what makes you a deeper person. I think that sense of being authentic as an artist, as a musician, is really important. Some musicians really do that well and I think that’s why the music is so believable, because it all comes down to the connection that you make as somebody playing music to somebody listening to music.

CO: Just on a little personal note: there's plenty of people here in Dublin, Ireland who hope to get you guys over here again at some point. We'd love to see you and hang out with you.

JP: We’d really love to, and I cannot believe in all the years we’ve been touring, we’ve only played there once. It’s really insane, so we need to get over there.