Derek Sherinian interview-article (excerpts)

His CV also includes stints with A-list acts Kiss and Alice Cooper, his own instrumental supergroup Planet X... and prog metal godfathers Dream Theater in the mid-90s, of course.

“I think in any musician’s journey there are going to be [moments] where there’s huge periods of growth, and I grew a lot during my period in Dream Theater. From the time I went in to the time I came out, I was a different player,” he reflects. “I look back then to now, and I’m, like, a way different player now. Listen to my piano playing now, compared to my piano solo on the Dream Theater record. It’s like a different guy.”

Sherinian was initially snapped up as a tour stand-in for Dream Theater after the departure of original keyboard player Kevin Moore. He was kept on as a permanent fixture, recording on the mammoth, 23-minute EP track A Change Of Seasons before the full-length Falling Into Infinity – an album that divided fans, released in a tumultuous time for the band as they grappled with increasing external influence.

Sherinian was effectively dumped though in favour of Jordan Rudess, who had worked with the band’s Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci on the first Liquid Tension Experiment album – and had previously turned down Dream Theater in favour of the Dixie Dregs. More of a rock star than a cerebral prog swot, Sherinian was often an outlier in the band: lava lamps, sunglasses, an air of nonchalant swagger. Did he feel he had a different style? “I think so,” he laughs. “I have one!”

Looking back, the keyboard player says taking up stage-right with Dream Theater was a “great learning experience.”

“It wasn’t my dream band or something that I would want to play and grow old with, but the band was a great stepping stone for me to introduce the world to my playing, and it also set up my solo career,” Sherinian says. “It put me on the map, so I’m grateful for that opportunity. And it also prepared e to play with the best musicians in the world. After Dream Theater I went on to play with Simon Phillips, Steve Lukather, Allan Holdsworth – all the very top musicians. It was a great training ground for me.”

It’s maybe little wonder that it wasn’t a dream job, considering Sherinian admits he was never into progressive rock when growing up. He appreciated heavyweight tinklers Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman, though the music beyond that struggled to dig deep.

“And when I joined Dream Theater in ’94, that was the first time I was really in a progressive rock band,” Sherinian continues. “So I started to develop my style, it really started to take shape during that period, and so since then I have been associated with being a progressive rock musician. I guess that’s cool, but I don’t identify myself that way. But I was voted Prog’s No.9 greatest of all-time progressive rock keyboard players. The only people I had ahead of me are guys like Rick Wakeman, Emerson, all the legends. I’m looking at this list, going: ‘Holy s***! That’s pretty awesome!’ But I don’t really consider myself a prog player. I guess because I play odd time signatures and fast passages or whatever, that's labelled as prog. So be it.”