Mike Mangini interview (excerpts)

Rodrigo Altaf: Isn’t there a drum clinic by Stewart Copeland where he said, “I’m gonna do something that no professional drummer can do”? And he played like a 4x4 beat for 15 minutes.

Mike Mangini: That is amazing. There’s a song on the album The Astonishing and John had mentioned – because I showed up and just tried things because he had written it, and I was like, “You like it? Do you not like? What do I do?” – but one of them he mentioned [was] a Pink Floyd kind of vibe, and so on purpose – he wasn’t in the room – Rich Chycki [was] and I said, “Rich, watch this!” I played a tape of this long solo section – I forget what song it was – but I was playing a 16th note out displacing, polyrhythming, and it just sounded like someone went in there that didn’t know how to play the drums and played like “stuff,” and it was so outrageous. I just did it for humor, because we were just laughing. I then said, “Watch this: I am going to play zero fills, I’m gonna play straight for the whole thing, and it’s probably gonna really, really either aggravate people” – I don’t want to aggravate anybody – “or they’re gonna wonder why I did it,” and that’s what I hoped. It’s like, “Why did he do that?” Well, because John’s the composer and the producer and responsible for how the whole record sounds and all that stuff, and it’s like what he wanted was the Pink Floyd vibe. I said, “Let me try to take that to a level that is so abnormal for all of us, which is just plain nothing.” So I did that, and that’s why I did it.

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RA: Speaking of expectations, after you did ‘Room 137,’ I thought we would get the Mangini track on every album from then on. Tell me how we need to bring more material to the Dream Theater guys...

MM: I wasn’t asked to do the lyrics on the last one. That’s that. [smiles]

RA: OK. The first edition of DreamSonic with Devin Townsend and Animals As Leaders just finished a few months ago. From what I saw, you guys had a lot of fun on the road.

MM: Oh yeah, absolutely! I knew it was going to be because when that was first presented to me that that’s what we were gonna do, the first thought was that it reminds me of those G3 tours. I was on the very first G3 tour with Eric Johnson and Steve Vai who I was with, and Joe. But the vibe... someone from this band would hang out with someone from that other crew, that crew would hang out with this crew, and the bands would hang out, and I was in these guys’ tour buses and just hanging out. That’s what DreamSonic was like, and I knew it was gonna be, because I had spent so many of my wonderful years with Mike Keneally, who was playing with Devin, and from meeting Devin and working with him, I got along. And of course I got along with Darby, and Matt Garstka had studied with me at Berklee, so he just zipped through my life and then later on I’m like, “Yes!” when I was seeing him do all these incredible things; it felt so good, it was great to be out on the road together. So that was the vibe: just having fun enjoying playing music and supporting each other with that.

RA: On this tour, you used a much smaller drum set than your usual, and I saw other bands doing the same in recent shows of other bands, but is this the end of the massive drum kit on the road or not?

MM: No. I mean that was something I was asked to do for A View From the Top of the World, so I said “OK. All right.” So I put it together and tried to use it to make myself giggle a little bit, like to play fills backwards or play a half lefty, half righty or lefty thing that should be righty – just to keep myself occupied back there. And then it births creative things to happen, which was the point of me doing it. I knew exactly what I’m gonna do, and I don’t know what I’m gonna play. In fact, I set that up and then we started going; I never even practiced on it, but I did my practicing, so I don’t think I needed to. Stuff was in a different place, I’m like, “OK.” Bang! [shrugs shoulders]

RA: One controversial thing in Dream Theater is the use of a click track which started when you joined the band. Do you feel it’s necessary to play to a click track live or is it because of the extra elements of the show like samples and triggers and so on?

MM: It’s the external elements and it didn’t start when I joined. I didn’t use one when I joined, though the whole point came out of a conversation. I believe it was with Jordan that I had the discussion, if I remember correctly, because somehow the video came up – a lack of sync – and I was like, “I can do that,” and that just opened it up.

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RA: What are some specific songs you like to play that you haven’t played live yet with the band, maybe two or three? Octavarium maybe?

MM: Yeah, that would be fun. It’s odd how I view a question like that or songs, because I just go into them all the same way. I’m sorry that I don’t have an answer, but it’s like, “Yeah!” or “We didn’t play a track off of Distance Over Time, so it would be fun to play.” Whatever it is, just because we didn’t do it.

RA: Speaking as a fan, I’d love for you guys to bring back ‘Illumination Theory.’ But I get it; it’s a complicated one to bring back live, right?

MM: They all are! [laughs]

RA: I bet! Since you joined Dream Theater, has everything that’s been written come from ideas of specific writing sessions or have you guys ever gone back to an idea from the previous albums before you were in the band?

MM: I don’t know any unused ideas for previous albums, so I have no idea! [laughs] None of that rings a bell. It’s more they have ideas of what they want to do next. It’s really John directing; John is the one going, “This is what I wanna do. This is what I wanna do, and we’re gonna do this, this, this, this,” and I go, “OK.” He’s the producer, so he’s responsible for that direction, that sound, the music – putting it together – and everything like that. I learned that from producing my own album. I could have made [my drums] sound any way I wanted, like totally not like what they sound like. You can make them to anything you want; that’s what a producer has the right to do. They gauge all the sounds and the vibe and whatever it is, all together, and they produce a final thing in addition to being an agent of the record label and budgeting and doing all these other things. So that’s pretty much it. He’ll direct it and we get in there, and sometimes we work together and sometimes not. It depends on what call he’s making.

RA: Now that you’ve been in the band for almost 13 years, what are some of the most difficult challenges in playing the music or being part of the band that you didn’t expect when you joined?

MM: Again, it’s like the song question; I just look at something and attack it. It’s like, “What needs to be done right now? How am I going to do that and get through it?” If I thought of things as difficult, then I would be more tired because I would be like, “Oh, I’m tired. That’s a lot of playing with them. Wow!” I would think about those things and that’s not what my head space is, but when I just have to get the job done.

RA: When I read that question, I thought more in terms of the level of attention and people wanting to grab your attention. “Hey, I saw you from” such and such a show and that city here and there. I don’t know if that bothers you or not.

MM: The fact that someone’s interested is a godsend! It would be worse if they were like, “Eh!” [makes disgusted gesture] You know what I mean? That’s all good. Even when I’m on stage – this is vital, this is probably why I’m answering the question like this – I simply look at life in little three second pieces. Move left, move right, move over here, John’s gonna walk down the stairs, turn, John’s gonna walk down the stairs, turn, do this, this is next... Then I’m not living in the past when I make a mistake and I’m not worried about the future. I’m gonna allow that to corrupt the moment? No! I can’t operate like that. Everything has to be so meticulous that I’m focused on my balance and my striking and what people are doing, and I’m into it in little pieces. That’s not easy to do. It took a lot of years of mental discipline to change, to develop. I mean it had to be a habit.

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RA: What is next for you? New Dream Theater album, maybe starting to write in a few weeks, in a few months, or promotion of the solo album?

MM: I’ve been waiting to find out exactly what’s going to unfold. I haven’t been given any kind of date, I mean directly, like this is a plan, so I don’t know. But I’ve been ready to go. I’m doing my thing here so we’ll see, but I have a lot to do to keep me busy for another 10 years.