Jordan Rudess interview (excerpts)

Samuel Järvinen: Do you fear that there’s maybe a path which leads to something like what you were talking a bit about on the album The Astonishing, about how the machines make music and it becomes more of a technological wonder than perhaps a human expression?

Jordan Rudess: Yeah, I mean, I think with any kind of technology that’s ever been released, there’s always that kind of balance, like how is this technology gonna be used? It can be put in the wrong hands, and it can be used badly. And I don’t mean wrong hands like war or something like that, but also music. If you give somebody a drum machine, what are they gonna really do with it? They could just put it on a 4/4 beat and rap to it, and then you’re like, “Oh, that’s not very high-level stuff. You’re just using the machine, and it’s taking over.” You could just go over to a machine and say, “Just generate something, and just play,” and so what? Who cares?

The machines are obviously getting more and more capable to do things, but what do you do with them? How do you steer them? How do you make them so there’s more of a connection? How do you really extend the connection between who we are and how this machine is being used, or how the technology is being used? If there’s no resonance or connection between the person and the machine, then who cares? So it’s a really interesting topic, and I know there’s a lot of sensitivity, and there’s a lot of AI bashers and AI enthusiasts, and we’re at that point in technology.

But as someone who’s always worked with technology and always looking for the magic in it and the spark and the creativity and the educational values, my focus is on the positive direction of using technology to enhance who we are and what we do. Yes, The Astonishing explored a world from a certain point of view. I can’t take credit for writing those lyrics or the story, so that’s not coming from my mind, but it was a cool, kind of funny idea, and I had fun making the sounds of the NOMACs on the record. That was actually very creative, to make the weird electronic noises. But my personal belief is that we’re at a point where we have a great possibility for the future with technology.

SJ: As a person who’s worked for a long time in the industry, do you see that there is a trend with AI? Because we got something like the Beatles’ final recording, infamously, where there’s AI to create John Lennon and stuff like that. Is it a trend that you see popping up, or do we have something to be afraid of there?

JR: Yeah, I mean, I think we definitely have something to be afraid of, because again, how is it being used? One of the crazy things that’s happening these days, is you see something online or whatever, and you don’t know if it’s real or not. That’s f***ed up. That’s upsetting. You get to a point, I don’t know what I’m looking at. In a way, from a very personal point of view, I don’t care. We can talk about the nature of reality. I mean, then we get into a whole other discussion.

SJ: But you don’t see Dream Theater trying to put young James LaBrie voice with AI on the records anytime soon or something like that?

JR: No, no. Dream Theater is traditional in many ways, and that’s one of the things I do, and I respect the group and what we’re all doing. We make some really good music. And I bring in my little technology ideas with the kind of instruments I’ll use and stuff like that through the years. Like I brought in the wonderful Continuum that I played. That’s very high-tech, but what does that mean in that case? It means that you have this new technology that allows you to be so expressive on this three-dimensional surface. So that’s the kind of technology that I like to bring into the band.

-----

SJ: I guess you would say probably dynamics is something that’s missing. I mean, not everything, but it’s a trend in progressive music that everything’s very dense and busy.

JR: Yeah. One thing I’ll say to a young musician or other people in the prog space [is] why I think Dream Theater is so successful, and I think that the reason that we are is because we really love a good melody. We love things that come from the heart. Yeah, we’ll play 32nd notes flying, but all of a sudden we’re doing something that’s really just plain pretty, and we value that, and we love that, and we know what it means to our fans to have something that’s just beautiful and calm. That’s a high level in another way.

But to just go out there and just play counterpoint and 32nd notes and mathematical music and just have that be kind of on its own, that’s not what works for me, it’s not what works for Dream Theater, and it’s not what works for reaching and touching a lot of people. So you’ve got to think, as a musician, how are you going to actually bring your music into somebody else’s life and have it be really meaningful and have it be deep for them. So there are a lot, a lot to think about there.

SJ: Yeah, and that’s actually very true, and I think that a good song, at the end of the day, no matter how much you put the sauce in there and the technical stuff, is something that you can sit down on maybe at a campfire and play on a guitar, and everyone can sing, and you can see that it’s a good song. Because I feel like a lot of Dream Theater songs you can easily do that with. But then when you have something that’s going 100 miles per hour, maybe not.

JR: Yeah, I mean, it might be hard to do that with ‘Dance Of Eternity’ or something like that, but not with everything. But again, you look at our big songs like ‘A View From The Top Of The World,’ ‘Presence Of Enemies,’ ‘Count Of Tuscany,’ all these things, there are parts that are just settled and calm.

-----

SJ: How does it feel to be in a band with Mike Portnoy once again?

JR: It’s been amazing. It feels like he’s come back home, and it’s been just incredible to welcome him back. And not only his beautiful drumming, but all the things that he does and all the things that he can bring to the music-making process, album-making process, touring process. We’re very, very happy.