An Exclusive Look into The Band’s Search for a New Drummer

[MajorMatt]

Yeah, I did fine. I wouldn't change anything......but, then again....I didn't feel that gig was right for me anyway....from the very beginning.
I was very busy during that time period....only had a few weeks to learn a 20 minute song, a ballad, and a tech song with 30 part changes within the space of 3 minutes! Haha.
That all went well.....
We jammed a little while....was cool but, the environment (in ears, video, etc...) didn't lend itself to a lot of creative moments...plus the fact that these guys we're trying to "jam" in odd times, etc....
Then they threw some riffs at me to see how quickly I could spit out complex stuff.

Now this...was fun but, at the same time....I could tell that they were looking for a dude that will come in....and record an entire record in the studio...on the spot.

I've never wanted to work that way..... as I believe that if the business (need to put out a record quickly) over trumps the musical vision (taking time and creating the best you can)
then that ultimately directs where the band ends up in the future.

I like to sit on riffs for a few days.... at least and create the best possible part (as opposed to the automatic one)

All good though, like I said...was a load of fun and made some great friends out of it.

D

IMO looks like Roddy is out.

[bosk1]

It seems like one of the songs was TCOT.  I mean, I know it's super easy to cleverly splice in short video clips to the audio of TCOT in the video to make it seem like that's what they are playing even if they aren't, but it just seemed to sync up so perfectly.  TDOE sure sounds like it could be what Wildoer was describing.  And as far as the third song being a ballad...hmm...what could it be?  Wither, maybe?  It's got lots of groove and emotion, so might be a good choice for the auditions.  But could be any other DT ballad, I suppose.

[ariich]

Yeah Roddy and Wildoer never stood out as particularly likely candidates anyway, same with Priester. It's the other 4 who seem the most suitable.

[DarkEternalNight]

The ballad could have been The Spirit Carries On. That was the last text shown in the video, it could just be a pun of talking about the future, or both.

[nikatapi]

Wildoer seems to be very down to earth about this, as he says that it was unexpected for him to be asked to audition, and he couldn't believe it. He seems a very cool guy.
To be honest at the beginning of the speculations about the drummer, i was hoping for Donati to get the gig, but after watching this video i think i would love to see either Minnemann or Mangini as the new drummer.
Those guys seemed to have the most fun and are more exciting to watch while playing.

[kennedymichael]

What about the song before TCOT?  I sounds familiar but I just can't place it . . .

[MajorMatt]

What about the song before TCOT?  I sounds familiar but I just can't place it . . .

The Best of Times

[ReaPsTA]

I think it's interesting that all these guys who carry so much respect and prestige felt that being asked to audition for DT was a huge honor.  It speaks to how big a deal DT is.

[Aniland]

The ONLY reason people are referring to LeBron James is because of the titular similarity to James LaBrie.

[kennedymichael]

THANKS!

So the songs played during the video are:

1. Shattered Fortress
2. Wither
3. DoE
4. Best of Times
5. TCOT

It appears that DoE and TCOT are played by each of the drummers.  APPEARS.

[Aniland]

So, Marco and Wildoer haven't gotten it, they've said. Derek also said he didn't and Aquiles is going to tour with some band. That leaves Mike Mangini, Virgil Donati, and Thomas Lang...

[njdtfan]

Wildoer seems to be very down to earth about this, as he says that it was unexpected for him to be asked to audition, and he couldn't believe it. He seems a very cool guy.
To be honest at the beginning of the speculations about the drummer, i was hoping for Donati to get the gig, but after watching this video i think i would love to see either Minnemann or Mangini as the new drummer.
Those guys seemed to have the most fun and are more exciting to watch while playing.

Yes, Peter is very down to earth. Great guy. Humble by all means. Hevwas trly honored to be in the company of great drummers and the guys in DT.

[ZBomber]

Taken from https://www.sickdrummermagazine.com/index.php/news/latest-news/2207-dream-theater-drummer-auditions-inside-story.html

There has been much talk over Dream Theater and the auditions they held to find a new drummer, since Mike Portnoy decided to leave the band last year. The band has stayed pretty quiet about the whole process, but now they gear up to announce their decision.

A source very close to the situation has told Sick Drummer Magazine the new drummer is Mike Mangini, and others who were asked/auditioned were: Derek Roddy, Marco Minnemann, Virgil Donati, Thomas Lang, Aquiles Priester and Peter Wildoer.

This was just posted 4/18 on the record label's website: "Dream Theater would like to share with its fans some of the intense process, along with the musical joy, that went into choosing a new drummer.  Who is the best fit behind the kit? Go to Dream Theater's Facebook page on Thursday, 4/21 at 11 AM to sign up for the mailing list and to receive more details about an exclusive and intimate look at the auditions, and to find out exactly when and how the momentous announcement about the band's new lineup will be made.  Also on Facebook, fans will be able to find out information about the band's upcoming 2011 World Tour".

What we do not like about this situation is the way the band went about the video footage detail. We feel the drummers were used in a sense, for their popularity. Each drummer was sent a camera to use and were asked to film as much as they could surrounding the audition. They were told it was to become "bonus footage" on a future DVD or something to that effect. The drummers were asked to film themselves preparing for the audition, practicing, traveling to the audition and anything else they felt relative. Then, upon arriving at the actual audition the drummers were asked to sign a release handing over all the video footage they had recorded, and if they didn't, they were not going to be able to audition.

We feel this is somewhat taking advantage of the drummers who auditioned and could have been handled a better way. Perhaps informing the drummers of the plan and sending a video release to be reviewed in advance. Not sticking them with a release at the audition and holding that over their heads as a requirement to audition, only to use the footage to steam up the facebook page around the announcement of the new drummer.

So... I would say that this article is pretty accurate. Someone might have re-posted it since the announcement today, but this thread grew like 15 pages and I'm not reading through allthat shit.  

[bosk1]

Right.  Much better to make an already long thread longer by reposting something that has already been posted and discussed.

[njdtfan]

Peter- Finally it's official, YES I did audition for Dream Theater!!! :-) It was a fantastic experience. Both my wife and I was treated fantastic by everyone involved with the audition. THANKS!

I've written an extensive "diary" like story on all my thoughts on the audition from when I got the mail where I was asked if I wanted to audition until when I was back home after the whole trip. I wrote it in english for the swedish drum magazine Crash Mag that Crafton Musik release once every year. I'm working on getting it translated into english asap.

[ZBomber]

Right.  Much better to make an already long thread longer by reposting something that has already been posted and discussed.

Sorry I don't have the time to read through 15 pages of people complaining about how they still don't know the name of the drummer.

And I quoted it from page 5. That was posted BEFORE this facebook announcement. Get over it.

[bosk1]

Cool, so now it's on page 5 and page 19.  I can see why it would be important to have it on both of those momentous pages of the thread.

[njdtfan]

Peter at audition

[ricky]

Peter at audition

had this been posted one day earlier, I would have been like

DUDE WHO IS YOU?

but yah.

alot of previously unavailable info is goin go public now.

[ZBomber]

Cool, so now it's on page 5 and page 19.  I can see why it would be important to have it on both of those momentous pages of the thread.

Because you and others seemed to question its validity before, since, I'm assuming ,it listed Priester. Well, now that we have the list of drummers, those drummers in the news article match up. Gives the article a lot more validity, while not making it necessarily factual. What is the big deal about bringing it up again?

Why SHOULDN'T it be discussed again? You're acting as if it has nothing to do with this thread. I know things are stressful with the influx of users, but seriously man? I don't know why you're on my case for resposting an article that has everything to do with the discussion at hand, especially when there were only a couple posts talking about it before we got an official list of drummers.

[ariich]

More importantly ZB, it's already been confirmed by Roddy and Wildoer that the claims in that article are nonsense and that DT were completely nice and up front about everything. Reposting it when it's already been debunked by the people who auditioned seems a bit strange.

[Aniland]

It's odd that the article knew exactly who was in it though, then having it go onto such misinformation. Weird.

[ZBomber]

More importantly ZB, it's already been confirmed by Roddy and Wildoer that the claims in that article are nonsense and that DT were completely nice and up front about everything. Reposting it when it's already been debunked by the people who auditioned seems a bit strange.

See, this would have been nice to know. Bosk didn't mention that, and as I said I didn't get a chance to read through 15+ pages to see if it had been debunked.

Maybe that's just someone that auditioned who was bitter that they didn't get picked or something. I have a hard time believing the site that posted that would just make it up. Still interesting, at any rate.

[ariich]

Maybe that's just someone that auditioned who was bitter that they didn't get picked or something. I have a hard time believing the site that posted that would just make it up. Still interesting, at any rate.

Not made it up necessarily, but "we heard it from someone" is far from concrete, and when the people themselves are disagreeing, it would indicate that the story has either been fabricated or at the very least exaggerated from what someone heard.

[ronrule]

Seems strange they'd even have anyone audition who considers "jamming in weird time signatures" to be a hindrance creatively.

I do agree with him on song and drum part writing though. Wildoer for DT producer!

[ReaPsTA]

So I was thinking about why the movie was made.  Given what the documentary is, I think a lot of people are not unreasonably saying they're being overly dramatic, trying to paint themselves in a good light, and using everything that's happened as a cash in.  I don't completely agree with this, but it's not unreasonable.

But what do I think DT's motivations are?  There are three primary reasons they did this:

- Making themselves look good.  I mean, come on.  Maybe it will end up seeming disingenuous, but how can they not do this?  Outside DTF, most of the fans want Portnoy back, and they probably aren't pleased with the band for so zealously pushing on without him.  For better or worse, DT wants present their side of the story so they don't look like dickheads.

- Money... which I suspect doesn't actually matter that much.  None of them are strapped for cash.  If they produced this documentary knowing it wouldn't be aired on TV or be a hugely popular piece outside DT fandom, they still would have done it.  The money's just a nice upside.

- Selling the new drummer and the band's future to the fans.  While the first reason was probably the most pressing emotionally, this was the biggest logical concern.  DT knows they live and die based on their intense fan base.  Given how controversial this is, they wisely decided to do everything possible to show the auditions were handled the right way.  If they don't do the documentary and then say "Hey guys, it's Mike Mangini," the amount of what-ifs becomes overbearing.  

"Why not Priester?"
"We totally respect his skills as a drummer, but we felt he didn't handle TSCO the right way and we didn't feel the right vibe when we improvised with him."
"Why?"
"Eh.  We'd rather not go into that further.  Priester didn't work out, but we don't want to do the disrespect of laying out in detail why he didn't work.  It paints him in an unfair light."
"SO GUYS.  DREAM THEATER DIDN'T CHOOSE PRIESTER AND THEY CAN'T EXPLAIN WHY.  THEY KNOW THEY SCREWED UP AND WON'T ADMIT IT!"

Basically in logical terms, while we might not like the premise or conclusion of the choice, we'll have every reason to understand its validity.

Also, look at it in the context of new media.  So much of our lives are public. DT fans especially know this because of Portnoy.  And, in American culture we tend to want to see the big media event that sums everything up to fully digest it.  United 93 (sorry to go there) and Miracle on Ice are great examples of this.  Just hearing about and seeing an event aren't enough, we need to feel it and experience the catharsis.  And if you think you're the exception, you're probably lying or not very self-aware.  This is why the overly dramatic argument holds no water.  They're being no more dramatic than our society in general.

The doc will inspire loads and loads of debate.  DT will love that.  The fans will love it.  Some people will see one of the other drummers audition and feel like he was the better choice.  This is inevitable, but better than factless emotion and speculation.  But the biggest thing is that most people will see the documentary and accept it happened.  The mental tension will go away.

And then Dream Theater won't be Dream Theater minus Mike Portnoy or Dream Theater plus Mike Mangini.  It will legitimately be Dream Theater.  And more than anything, right or wrong, that's what they want and need to happen to continue their careers.  Not a very romantic idea, but likely the most positive experience for everyone involved.

[ariich]

Seems strange they'd even have anyone audition who considers "jamming in weird time signatures" to be a hindrance creatively.

I do agree with him on song and drum part writing though. Wildoer for DT producer!

Wasn't it Roddy who said that?

[redfish71]

yes

[chrisbDTM]

im kinda scared at the point roddy brought up. I hope they let the drummer sit on some songs for a little while to come up with the best possible parts

[bosk1]

But what do I think DT's motivations are?  There are three primary reasons they did this...

All valid suppositions.  But I like:

4)  Because it's just a cool idea.  DT have a tradition of given the fans extra besides the typical cycle of album release, tour, repeat, with a live album or greatest hits compilation thrown in every decade or so.  They've always found a way to do something special for the fans, whether it be the Christmas CD's, the rotating set lists, the Ytsejam releases, the 6:00-on-a-Christmas-morning downloads, etc.  Without trying to one-up or outdo Mike for being the prime mover behind a lot of that stuff, they are continuing that tradition before the new album is even out by doing this.  Love the doc or hate the doc, it's just a cool idea.

...and all the stuff that you said, too.  

[bosk1]

More importantly ZB, it's already been confirmed by Roddy and Wildoer that the claims in that article are nonsense and that DT were completely nice and up front about everything. Reposting it when it's already been debunked by the people who auditioned seems a bit strange.

See, this would have been nice to know. Bosk didn't mention that, and as I said I didn't get a chance to read through 15+ pages to see if it had been debunked.

Maybe Bosk was annoyed at the tone of your "maybe this has been fully explained, but F.U. bosk.  I can't be bothered to find out, so I'm just going to post it anyway" post (not to mention the other crap you've been pulling around here lately).

[Ben_Jamin]

I agree with Bosk. I feel pleased were getting video. Even better than what I wanted it to be.

[chrisbDTM]

i love the idea and thankful for the videos (movie) to come. i just dont like that the 'reality style' opened them up to being bashed. some websites are having a field day.

[splent]

I wish there was a date.  I hate coming soon.

[skydivingninja]

Chill out guys...

Very cool to see Wildoer and Roddy talk about the auditions.  I didn't see Roddy or Wildoer getting the gig, but it seems that Roddy is definitely cool with the way things turned out, good for him.  This should also help Wildoer get some great gigs between JLB solo albums as well.