Hugh Syme interview (excerpt)

Rodrigo Altaf: How's the interaction with Dream Theater to design their cover? Did things change when Mike Portnoy left?

Hugh Syme: No. Mike was brilliant in terms of communicating. It was made known to me in our first conversations that they grew up being big Rush fans and they liked my artwork. I was appreciative of their interest in my work. I had been aware of Dream Theater. I'd heard their music and appreciated it. I knew they were Berklee graduates, and I knew that on many levels, they were technically better players than the boys in Rush. The last album where they all went and woodshedded the writing process and the recording on Distance Over Time – that album is organic. It's melodically their most engaging I've ever heard. And it was the most emotionally honest album I've heard in a long time. So I think that's a testament to the fact that even though we all have families and wives and lives, and we can't all just go and hang out as musicians, it served them well to do that. And to go in to woodshed the album, go to a rural place – much like Rush when they went up to Moran Heights – it made a big deal of difference.

Now, a lot of times, Rush will worked in Toronto on the guitar and the bass. Neil will think about drums; they’ll come together and they'll kind of they will bring the parts together later in the process as opposed to letting it develop organically. I think the results become evident in both instances.

Anyways, Mike was brilliant to work with, great guy. And when he left, somebody stepped up and that somebody was John Petrucci – well-spoken, very clear on what he likes and doesn't like. But neither of them were dogmatic or imposed any kind of preconceptions. As much as I was grateful for them as musicians and clients, they seemed equally grateful to have me working on their project. That freedom is pretty heady stuff. And yet you don't abuse that. You take that gift and you work with it. Just like with Rush, I try to bring my best. And we all as professionals, we do two things. We try to please the client. But as artists, we have to please ourselves. If we don't grow and if we don't look at what we do with any degree of respect, responsibility and hopefully on some level, excellence, then we failed.

RA: Yeah. And when you say art director, it's more than just doing the album cover, right? When it comes to Dream Theater and Rush, for example, are you involved in the stage props or the imagery live that make reference to the album covers or not really?

HS: Not wittingly and not intentionally, but in both cases, if you go to a Rush concert and you go to a Dream Theater concert, my artwork is everywhere. It's the groundwork for all the imagery on the rear screen projection and on the merchandising and so on. So it becomes the tail that wags the dog. And that's gratifying. But do I get physically involved? Not really. I gave Neil some ideas on his is elaborate drum set for Clockwork Angels. Had nothing to do with either of Geddy's rig or Alex's rig, but we knew going in it was going to be pretty steampunk.

RA: I'm asking because, for example, right now on the stage, James has that microphone stand, which is sort of a replica of your album cover. It's the digital hand holding the skull.

HS: Yeah, and I only saw that as I started doing the tour book for the boys. They had to do some rehearsal and they had to do the first few gigs to get the live photography necessary for the tour book. When they started sending that to me, I immediately saw how my cyborg hand and skull became the nucleus for their artwork. And then for them to do a sculptural mic stand was pretty hip. I saw it; I was amused and pleased.

RA: It's pretty cool. Dream Theater, much like Rush, has very passionate fans. And some of the fans have become quite critical about the execution of your work. Like the Octavarium cover, for example, with the strings and balls not lining up; the self-titled cover, which was fixed before the album was released. How do you feel about that?

HS: Well, I almost don't care. And God bless the guy that says the string doesn't quite match up to the trajectory of that one ball on the Newton's Cradle. When I read that or somebody brought that to my attention, I thought, “Well, he's not wrong.” But does that mean he's brilliant or bored?

RA: A little bit of both, I would say.

HS: Well, I would think more of the latter, especially with social media. Dennis Miller said it beautifully. He said, “Never have lives less lived and so chronicled.” You know, never has there been so much platform for opinion and know-it-alls and, some fools and some insightful as well. In those instances, I take it with a grain of salt. I'm not offended. And like I say, I openly admit to the fact that I f***ed up. The string doesn't quite line up. But do I care? No, because I think the cover still stands on its own merit.