The John Petrucci Interview

The Dream Theater guitarist believes that Rush were everything!

Rock Candy: John, what first turned you on to Rush?

John Petrucci: When I was in junior high school all my friends were huge Rush fans. They also played instruments, and of course pretty soon I started to cut my teeth as a guitar player. It was crazy, because in my neighbourhood on Long Island in New York there were lots of bands and players, and the common thread was that everyone loved Rush. Our local rock radio station WBAB played their songs a lot, so early on I heard ‘Tom Sawyer’, ‘The Spirit of Radio’, and ‘Limelight’.

RC: Did it take a while for you to become a hardcore rush fan?

JP: After I got turned on to the radio stuff I remember a buddy playing me ‘The Trees’ from the [1978] Hemispheres album. That was the moment when Rush really hit home. Suddenly I realised, “Oh, wow... it’s a lot deeper than I thought.” To this day Hemispheres is my favourite Rush album. I was drawn to everything about it; the sound, the look of the band, the style of music. Hemispheres was a huge influence on both me and Dream Theater.

RC: What appealed so much about the band?

JP: I was very drawn to the fact that Rush was a group that wasn’t like anyone else. Despite the fact that they were played on the radio, Rush were making very progressive music that also included a storytelling element. Neil Peart’s lyrics and the narrative nature of each song made me think, “This is what music should be.” I got sucked into everything the band stood for with records like [1976’s] 2112.

RC: What was the first Rush song you learned to play on guitar?

JP: I went all the way back to the first album [Rush from 1974], but even that stuff was really challenging. My buddies and I would jam on songs from that first record, and I think ‘Working Man’ was the first one I learned. It was such a great jam number because it was more rock-oriented, like Led Zeppelin, but even as early as that Alex Lifeson’s solos were tough to remember. Even so, it wasn’t long before I dived into the more complicated stuff, trying to figure out what the hell the chords were that he was playing.

RC: Is Alex’s style apparent in your own playing in Dream Theater?

JP: Very much so because I’m very influenced by his chord work. You can hear it all through my playing. If you think about ‘Tom Sawyer’ [from 1981’s Moving Pictures album], Alex uses these open-string figures that make the strings really ring out, which in turn makes things sound lusher. I’ve definitely taken some of that from him. On the earlier stuff like 2112 and Hemispheres, Alex would combine rock and suspended chords. The sound of big power chords with open strings over the top made for a really three-dimensional sound, and I’ve always been very into that.

RC: When did you first see Rush live?

JP: The first rock concert I ever went to was Rush on the Signals tour at Nassau Coliseum in New York State back in 1982. I was 15 years old at the time and I distinctly remember feeling like my head was about to explode while I was watching them. That night, Alex took an incredible solo where he built things up perfectly into a ridiculous crescendo. Even then I was completely captivated by his phrasing, and the fact that his playing was musical in a way that was really beautiful, and yet reckless and raw at the same time. You can hear it in songs like ‘The Spirit of Radio’ and ‘By-Tor and the Snow Dog’. I’ve tried to combine beautiful and raw a lot in Dream Theater.

RC: Rush is kind of proudly nerd rock, right?

JP: Yes, and I wear that badge with pride myself! I used to have a denim jacket in middle and high school, and I remember there was a Rush patch on it. The one and only time I met Geddy Lee was on a broadcast called That Metal Show with [famous metal DJ] Eddie Trunk. I brought the jacket along to show him. All the way from being a kid growing up on Long Island to becoming a full-time professional musician, I’ve always been proud to geek-out on Rush.

RC: So you got to meet Geddy. How about Alex and Neil?

JP: Sadly, I never met Neil, but I did get to meet Alex once, and he was great. It would have been amazing to get to know all the guys from Rush, especially while they were still touring, but for some reason I never got the opportunity to do that. Not being able to meet Neil is a big regret, because he was a tremendous influence on me as a lyricist, and still is. The phrases he came up with are etched into my brain forever like a kid scratching his name on a school desk. I can quote all of his stuff.

RC: Fans love the fact that Rush’s sound changed a lot over the decades. Is there a period you connect with most?

JP: The period from the late ’70s into the early ’80s will always be special, because that was when I first got into the band. Hemispheres is the Rush album for me, but I also listened to albums like Permanent Waves [from 1980] and Moving Pictures religiously. I’d go to see Rush live every time they came to town during that period.

RC: You say you saw the band live a lot, so do you have a favourite Rush live album?

JP: They put out a lot of live albums, but it’s the two earliest ones, All the World’s a Stage [from 1976] and Exit... Stage Left [from 1981], that I always go back to. That’s probably because my buddies and I always listened to them when we were growing up. We geeked-out like crazy on those records.

RC: Can you explain exactly what Rush means to you?

JP: That band means an awful lot to me and always has. When I’ve made decisions with Dream Theater, both in terms of business and creativity, I’ve often asked myself, “What would Rush do?” They always seemed to make good decisions, and they did everything with such class. It was easy to be led by their example.

RC: Have you ever considered what your life might be without Rush?

JP: There’s no doubt about the fact that I wouldn’t be the musician or guitarist I am without Rush’s influence. Their impact on me has been huge.