John Myung Interview

[MinistroRaven]

I didn’t see the his one posted. So bear with me

https://youtu.be/P1WYpaWbzwk?si=L9mi6qQIU_FFdxDt

[MinistroRaven]

I didn’t see the his one posted. So bear with me

https://youtu.be/P1WYpaWbzwk?si=L9mi6qQIU_FFdxDt

I had to speed up the interview to watch it. It was entertaining, and it seems it was recorded BEFORE the announcement of MP coming back to DT.

[TAC]

Thanks for posting the link. It's great to hear JM talk. The interview is really good, but holy shit.....speak man!!!!!
What a chore to listen to.

[devieira73]

That answer around 27:30, almost made JM smile! 

[pg1067]

I liked how he said they were crossing the border from Canada into Washington, and they superimposed a photo of Washington, D.C.   

[Deadeye21]

DT posted a short of him playing Pale Blue Dot on YouTube as “John Myung Bass Solo”. There looks to be a setlist behind him in one shot, be great if anyone could make it out though. Wonder if Dreamsonic or the first rehearsals with MP

[porcacultor]

DT posted a short of him playing Pale Blue Dot on YouTube as “John Myung Bass Solo”. There looks to be a setlist behind him in one shot, be great if anyone could make it out though. Wonder if Dreamsonic or the first rehearsals with MP

That steel pole (?) behind him kind of reminds me of recent stage designs (Dreamsonic or previous). Since it's an all black background, it doesn't look too much like the DTHQ facilities to me (and hence I wouldn't bet on it being a rehearsal with MP). They could've renovated the DTHQ environment, I'm going by the latest evidence which was the EPK for AVFTTOTW.

Unrelated to the JM video, yesterday MP posted a photo of him at home receiving his 31st Modern Drummer award, and it looked like the stairs to his house, which is in another state (I think DTHQ is upstate NY and MP lives in Pennsylvania or some other state. Close, but not sure if enough for him to go back and forth between his home and DTHQ on the same day).

So from all this measly evidence I wouldn't bet on their rehearsals having already started. Maybe all the fun will only truly begin after MP's Metal Allegiance show on the 25th (I know there's another date for him early March with Flying Colors at the Cruise To The Edge, but maybe by then the DT16 work will be in motion and he'll just take a short break).

[Pebsie]

Mike would've only gotten back from MorseFest London yesterday. Give the man a minute to recover the jet lag

[Schurftkut]

i think a tour comes before the album, they must've gotten a shitload of offers headlining festivals

[porcacultor]

i think a tour comes before the album, they must've gotten a shitload of offers headlining festivals

I think it'll be one of those things: they get the album in the can, leave on tour and only play 1 track, and later arrange a full album tour. Maybe.

[Setlist Scotty]

i think a tour comes before the album, they must've gotten a shitload of offers headlining festivals

I think it'll be one of those things: they get the album in the can, leave on tour and only play 1 track, and later arrange a full album tour. Maybe.

That's a very likely scenario and one they've done for several albums over the years to serve as a warmup before doing a proper tour in support of a new album (8v, SC, BCaSL, ADToE). It's a great way to bring attention to the band (especially to such broad audiences), to clear away the cobwebs and I would imagine to make a good amount of money in the process.

[Schurftkut]

i'm just keeping my fingers crossed that JLB has been working on training his voice in the meantime . there's going to be an even bigger focus on their shows for a while than before. Also the whole world is getting their MP drumvideo fixes again, also bringing in new fans. Plus there will be some video's for his new DT kit he's doing with Tama and something he teased with MD as well..

DT is gaining big momentum with MP back on the promotion side already

[gzarruk]

i'm just keeping my fingers crossed that JLB has been working on training his voice in the meantime . there's going to be an even bigger focus on their shows for a while than before. Also the whole world is getting their MP drumvideo fixes again, also bringing in new fans. Plus there will be some video's for his new DT kit he's doing with Tama and something he teased with MD as well..

DT is gaining big momentum with MP back on the promotion side already

I wouldn't count on it...

We obviously don't know for a fact what JLB has been up to lately, but that same phrase appears every time in between tours/albums and then nothing ends up getting better on that regard. I remember there was some talk about how the lockdowns were going to benefit James' voice because there were no tour dates and he could get well rested. Well, then the A View/Dreamsonic tours happened and we all know how that went in the vocal department.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

i'm just keeping my fingers crossed that JLB has been working on training his voice in the meantime . there's going to be an even bigger focus on their shows for a while than before. Also the whole world is getting their MP drumvideo fixes again, also bringing in new fans. Plus there will be some video's for his new DT kit he's doing with Tama and something he teased with MD as well..

DT is gaining big momentum with MP back on the promotion side already

I wouldn't count on it...

We obviously don't know for a fact what JLB has been up to lately, but that same phrase appears every time in between tours/albums and then nothing ends up getting better on that regard. I remember there was some talk about how the lockdowns were going to benefit James' voice because there were no tour dates and he could get well rested. Well, then the A View/Dreamsonic tours happened and we all know how that went in the vocal department.

Not to sidetrack the discussion from JM too much, but as someone who knows absolutely nothing about singing, I do find it interesting how we all just assume (myself included) that vocalists can magically improve or fix their problems with "training", like it's a Dragon Ball Z episode.

While there is absolutely a fitness/maintenance/practice component to being a great vocalist, I think there are also probably mitigating factors that are hard or even impossible to overcome. For example, it's possible that the food poisoning incident plus years of singing on tour have wrecked James's voice beyond repair. It's also possible that James is training as hard as he can, but has some kind of health issue we don't know about or something that puts a ceiling on what he can or can't do.

At this point, I think that the best we can hope for is that [1] if James hasn't been taking his vocal maintenance seriously, that MP's return gives him the inspiration he needs to begin doing so, or [2] if James has been doing all he can (which is what I'm inclined to believe unless I see a compelling reason otherwise), that the band make some very conscious choices around their setlist to enable him to be as successful as possible (downtune certain songs, remove some songs entirely, or even rewrite certain vocal melodies entirely).

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

i'm just keeping my fingers crossed that JLB has been working on training his voice in the meantime . there's going to be an even bigger focus on their shows for a while than before. Also the whole world is getting their MP drumvideo fixes again, also bringing in new fans. Plus there will be some video's for his new DT kit he's doing with Tama and something he teased with MD as well..

DT is gaining big momentum with MP back on the promotion side already

I wouldn't count on it...

We obviously don't know for a fact what JLB has been up to lately, but that same phrase appears every time in between tours/albums and then nothing ends up getting better on that regard. I remember there was some talk about how the lockdowns were going to benefit James' voice because there were no tour dates and he could get well rested. Well, then the A View/Dreamsonic tours happened and we all know how that went in the vocal department.

Not to sidetrack the discussion from JM too much, but as someone who knows absolutely nothing about singing, I do find it interesting how we all just assume (myself included) that vocalists can magically improve or fix their problems with "training", like it's a Dragon Ball Z episode.

While there is absolutely a fitness/maintenance/practice component to being a great vocalist, I think there are also probably mitigating factors that are hard or even impossible to overcome. For example, it's possible that the food poisoning incident plus years of singing on tour have wrecked James's voice beyond repair. It's also possible that James is training as hard as he can, but has some kind of health issue we don't know about or something that puts a ceiling on what he can or can't do.

At this point, I think that the best we can hope for is that [1] if James hasn't been taking his vocal maintenance seriously, that MP's return gives him the inspiration he needs to begin doing so, or [2] if James has been doing all he can (which is what I'm inclined to believe unless I see a compelling reason otherwise), that the band make some very conscious choices around their setlist to enable him to be as successful as possible (downtune certain songs, remove some songs entirely, or even rewrite certain vocal melodies entirely).

It's not magic. It's training. If you want to run a marathon or bench press 300 pounds you need to train your body. If James wants to stand up there and sing a DT set then practice is critical. I have no idea if there is some underlying health issue - he has said zero - but it is also possible that he does not have a health issue in which case it IS largely a matter of training and practice. Obviously the body changes overtime so there's that, but if you take care of your instrument and don't have any underlying health issues that prevent it, you can be singing well into your 70s. A lot of people stop practicing as much when they get older either because their bodies can't or they have other obligations in life or they just do not have the same fire under their seat. Again, I can't rule out a health issue because the matter has not been addressed publicly. It is fair speculation, but I fully expect him to come back on the next tour and show improvement. My opinion is that he just didn't get it done on the last 2 tours. I don't expect or need him to sound like I&W JLB on the next tour but I really do hope there is something he is going to do in order to perform better.

[Setlist Scotty]

Not to sidetrack the discussion from JM too much, but as someone who knows absolutely nothing about singing, I do find it interesting how we all just assume (myself included) that vocalists can magically improve or fix their problems with "training", like it's a Dragon Ball Z episode.

Let's also remember that there have been a few on here - specifically Crystalstars and one other - that are very knowledgeable about the voice and training, and even they have said JL's problems are fixable with proper training and technique. So yeah, you and I might know jack squat, but if others who do know say improvement can happen, I have no reason to believe otherwise.

[Indiscipline]

I don't want to terminally derail this thread, therefore - in full respect of everybody's opinions as long as it's agreed they are opinions and not diagnosis - I limit myself to desperately beg you fine people to not reduce the issue to a training/not training matter.

It's way more complex and certainly beyond anyone's grasp when not up close with professional instruments, hence - in presence of doubt and complexity - I believe analogical questioning should be the way rather than digital either/or-ing.

[gborland]

Maybe John Myung has a beautiful singing voice. We will never know.

[pg1067]

Maybe John Myung has a beautiful singing voice. We will never know.

Based on this interview, any song with John Myung singing would last about 35 minutes.  I had to bump the playback speed up to 1.75x.

[TAC]

Maybe John Myung has a beautiful singing voice. We will never know.

Based on this interview, any song with John Myung singing would last about 35 minutes.  I had to bump the playback speed up to 1.75x.

 

[porcacultor]

I don't want to terminally derail this thread, therefore - in full respect of everybody's opinions as long as it's agreed they are opinions and not diagnosis - I limit myself to desperately beg you fine people to not reduce the issue to a training/not training matter.

It's way more complex and certainly beyond anyone's grasp when not up close with professional instruments, hence - in presence of doubt and complexity - I believe analogical questioning should be the way rather than digital either/or-ing.

I've never had the opportunity to do so before, so let me take it and finally say I think you are a very wise person, Indisco (not to mention very fun to read). The world could use some more of your sensibility and tact.

[Schurftkut]

Jordan did say in a recent interview that DT doesn't really work on the show itself during rehearsals, and that they go with what comes naturally. But in JLB's case they need to alter the melodies of songs before going on tour. It worked pretty good with downtuning and singing lower like in PMU. I guess with the musicians playing perfect, you'd expect the same effort in the vocaldepartment while learning the setlist.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I don't want to terminally derail this thread, therefore - in full respect of everybody's opinions as long as it's agreed they are opinions and not diagnosis - I limit myself to desperately beg you fine people to not reduce the issue to a training/not training matter.

It's way more complex and certainly beyond anyone's grasp when not up close with professional instruments, hence - in presence of doubt and complexity - I believe analogical questioning should be the way rather than digital either/or-ing.

Thank you for summarizing what I was trying to say in many less words, and much more effectively, than I did.

[Herrick]

Good to hear that Myung's head injury wasn't anything too serious. I was wondering how that happened.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

I don't want to terminally derail this thread, therefore - in full respect of everybody's opinions as long as it's agreed they are opinions and not diagnosis - I limit myself to desperately beg you fine people to not reduce the issue to a training/not training matter.

It's way more complex and certainly beyond anyone's grasp when not up close with professional instruments, hence - in presence of doubt and complexity - I believe analogical questioning should be the way rather than digital either/or-ing.

I think the point was less a diagnosis (though, ironically, in the past some have gone as far as to insist he must be hiding an injury) and rather the notion that if you want to have command of your skills, you need to train/practice/whatever you want to call it effectively. Without that ingredient there is no good performance, and certainly no DT.

[Wim Kruithof]

Watched it with much interest but darn, how can a man play bass that fast... and speak this slow?

[HOF]

Watched it with much interest but darn, how can a man play bass that fast... and speak this slow?

He went down to the crossroads at midnight you see...

[TAC]

Watched it with much interest but darn, how can a man play bass that fast... and speak this slow?