John Petrucci interview

Rod Whitfield: It’s been a time of change and upheaval for you guys, but they say such times can lead to great creativity. Has it been that way with you guys, you think?

JP: Yeah, it really has. Having Mike rejoin – it’s weird to say – it’s at the end of 2023, actually, when he rejoined. It’s just been great. We went and got into the studio earlier last year and wrote what I think is a really strong album. We had a lot of fun doing it. I can’t wait for it to come out in a couple of weeks. It seems so long ago that we actually finished it, but not only that, but the 40th anniversary tour that we started in October last year has just been phenomenal – the fan reaction, the attendance, the venues, the tears in the audience, the whole thing. It’s just been so cool. Yeah, so it’s been very positive for all of us.

RW: So I’ll skip ahead – 40 years together, as you just mentioned, four decades in the one institution. How does that feel when someone says that to you?

JP: It’s wild. A couple of things come to mind. One of them is I think about some of my favorite bands. There’s not many that make it that long, and I think about the R40 – the Rush 40 tour – and I’m like, how are we at that point already? And the other thing I think of is that I’m playing in the same band with guys that I met when I was in middle school – John Myung, we were like 12; Mike, we met at Berklee – and we’re still in the same band with the same guys. So it’s just this family and this brotherhood, and we all feel really lucky to be in this position, to have it. We don’t take it for granted, that’s for sure.

RW: I’ve only heard the first two singles. What does the rest of the album hold in store for us?

JP: Technically it’s a concept album. I had this idea of calling it Parasomnia a few years ago, even before Mike had rejoined, and having the subject matter be all about sleep disturbances and creepy things that happen, because we are called Dream Theater, so it’s the perfect title. But then when we started working on the record, actually Mike Portnoy was the one that said, “Hey, why don’t we take it a step further and make it more conceptual?” So we started having recurring themes in the different songs and adding all this ear candy and connecting this music, having an overture. So what you can expect, I guess, to answer your question, is more of an experience – a parasomnia experience in the form of a Dream Theater record.

RW: Fantastic. Some of your lyrics in the past have been open to interpretation. Some spell things straight out, and I think ‘A Broken Man’ fits into the latter category. Who wrote the lyrics to that, and is it based on anyone in particular? Is it just a statement on the effect of war on the people who participate?

JP: James wrote the lyrics of that song, ‘A Broken Man.’ I mean, basically the guidelines for anybody taking on a lyric for this record is I wanted them to write about a parasomnia event or experience. In my case, I wrote about night terrors, sleep paralysis, things like that. In this case, James chose to write about how vets are affected by sleep deprivation and how that kind of PTSD really messes psychologically with ex-combat vets and how that can affect their sleep patterns and their life and how frustrating that may be. So he chose to write about tying in the parasomnia topic.

RW: So is that word just something that came to you one day?

JP: My son mentioned it when we were having a conversation. He said “parasomnia.” I was like, “What did you say? That’s a cool word.” My immediate thought was that would be a cool album title, and I just kept it in the back of my head for a few years. And as we started approaching this record, I presented it to the band: “Hey, I have this idea.” But again, it’s the perfect Dream Theater title.

RW: I bet your son is stoked.

JP: I’m not sure if I ever admitted to him that I got that from him, so I have to tell him.

RW: Definitely. Now, obvious question, but it has to be asked – when are you coming back to Australia?

JP: We definitely are. I don’t know the when, but I do know the next several months of our trajectory. We have a North American tour in a couple of weeks. We have European festivals, so it won’t be before this summer. Don’t quote me – I want to say possibly in the fall. But yeah, it’s something we for sure are going to do.

RW: So can you tell me it’s gonna be this year?

JP: I wish I had a more definitive answer. I would imagine so – that’s what’s being discussed – but I haven’t seen anything definite.

RW: Okay, no worries. Now, this may strike you as a little funny, maybe a bit ironic, but I’ve loved every solo you’ve ever recorded, but my favorite solo of yours is not on a Dream Theater song. In fact, it’s not even on a song that you’re a member of. I love the band Periphery, and your solo in ‘Erised’ is just so you, if you know what I mean. It’s in a similar way that Eddie’s solo on ‘Beat It’ was just so him, even though it’s in a very different setting. So do you have a favorite solo of yours, or a most challenging solo, and are they the same thing?

JP: Well, first of all, thanks for saying that. And you do know the connection between me and Periphery?

RW: You’re Jake’s uncle.

JP: I’m his uncle, yeah. They were touring with us, and we recorded that in a hotel room on the tour. It’s funny – I was just talking last night to Sterling Ball from Ernie Ball Music Man. He did a solo album where he had a bunch of guests on it – me and Lukather and Steve Morse and Steve Vai – we did a Disney medley. I don’t know if you ever heard it, but it’s really cool. And actually he did a second one where we all did covers, and that I can’t wait for people to hear that. I mean, I’m very proud of what I’ve done in Dream Theater – but some of the projects that are a little different or something I wouldn’t normally do end up being the most fun.

RW: Existential question for you. Black Sabbath first are the first heavy metal band. I think there’s pretty solid consensus on that. Your Yeses and King Crimsons of the world are probably the first prog rock bands. Who do you think was the first prog metal band?

JP: That is an interesting question because when we started, they didn’t really use that term, you know what I mean? So for us, we were friends with the Fates Warning guys, so there was Fates, there was Watchtower out of Texas, Queensrÿche, like their first few albums. So some people will argue that it’s Dream Theater. Maybe – I’m not the one to say that, but I will say that when we did start, from the very first record in the style that now we continue to be, that term wasn’t used. So I don’t know. We’d have to find the history – who tagged it prog metal?

RW: I have to give it to Queensrÿche. They formed in ‘82, which predates you guys by a couple of years.

JP: Oh, they definitely predate us, yeah.

RW: Yeah, and they first brought out the first album in ‘83.

JP: You’re probably right. And they were before Fates Warning, right?

RW: I think so, yeah. And obviously in the ‘70s an album like 2112 was probably considered heavy metal at that time, but in hindsight I don’t think you can really call it metal.

JP: Right, not metal as post-thrash era that we associate it with.

RW: Any parting words for your many, many Aussie fans at this stage?

JP: Well, we really enjoy coming there, and I feel like we don’t get there often enough. So I really anticipate us returning to Australia and playing as many dates as we can. I think even the last time we played, we didn’t play in all the cities that we normally do. We’re long overdue. So just hang on tight and we’ll get there. We have a great show that we built for this tour that I can’t wait for everyone to see.

RW: How do you choose a setlist from 16 albums these days?

JP: Here’s the great thing with having Mike Portnoy back in the band – that’s the very first thing I asked him to retake over, is doing the setlist. He’s really good at it, and I hated doing that when he was not in the band.

RW: I was gonna say, I bet he jumped at that.

JP: Oh yeah, yeah. Oh yeah, he loves it.