So here it is, my attempt to translate the interview, i hope it is quite accurate as some idiomatisms cannot be accurately translated, but it can't be worse than google translate
:
“Breaking all illusions”
In my opinion your new album is the “Scenes from a memory” of the 00’s for DREAM THEATER, not so much because of musical similarities, but because it has the same “fresh air” feeling. Yeah, many people have told me this. Don’t forget that when Jordan Rudess joined the band, in “Scenes…”, there where again some positive vibes and always, when there is such a big change and you face a big challenge, subconsciously you get involved in such a procedure (of facing things positively).
Of course, this time you didn’t replace your keyboard player who played on one studio album, but your leader / founding member…
Didn’t all this create big pressure to write an album so good so this change would go unnoticed?I’m sure Jordan would give you the same answer to this! When me and the rest of the guys in the band write music, we feel really confident. Of course there is pressure every time we write an album, but this time, since the beginning, we were totally confident of the direction of the album, the sound. Everything was clear and we all had the same goal. With this unity we had, we gained even more trust in ourselves and we knew exactly what we wanted to do.
So entering the studio, what was your goal with “A dramatic turn of events”?After all the conversations we had before entering the studio, our goal was to write the best album we could from a composing point of view, it had to be balanced, melodic and having all those elements that make us special as a band. We didn’t want to take a certain direction more than another (metal vs prog) and we had a very clear goal with this. That was the most important to us, our songs, our compositions, to be the best possible.
Do you agree that this album reminds more of 90’s DREAM THEATER than 00’s DREAM THEATER?I would say it is a combination of the two eras. During the 90’s our sound was different, while during the next decade it certainly became more modern. Although I have to agree that the song structures reminds the way we worked on “Images and Words”, but I think our sound is different, the production is better etc.
To be honest with you, the first time I listened to the record from beginning to the end, it gave me the impression of relief, that you were relieved of some stereotypes that existed during the last years in the group…Right, right!!!
To be more specific, you have a lot of spots where you play solos along with Jordan, something you did less and less during the last years.(I’m not sure what he means) The aggressive vocals are missing, which sometimes were ΟΚ, but most of them, didn’t have any point and ended up being something like shouting. I appreciate it a lot that they are missing from the new album…Of course, you are right.
To continue, you avoided the norm to begin and end the album with a very long song, like you did in the recent years. The second song being very commercial…You are right… It seemed like we were relying on a formula, uh;
Exactly. Do you think that Mike Portnoy’s absence gave you the opportunity to do things which you might wanted to do, but somehow you couldn’t?
(without finishing my sentence once again)Of course! I think this would inevitably happen. Beginning from “Scenes…”, me and Mike did the production and from the moment you cooperate with someone, you have to make compromises. Everyone has his opinion, ο Mike has his own, a very strong opinion and knows what he wants to do very well. This time, a second person wasn’t there and I could for example close the album with a ballad. No one had any objection, everybody was cool with this idea. I think there is definitely more freedom when you work alone .It comes really naturally.
So, do you admit there was some kind of formula especially in the tracklisting of your previous albums?Ummm… Look…Uhhhh....Of course we didn’t think that way when we were writing those albums we just did what we did. Now that you mention it you are not wrong, but that was just how we did it, it was natural. I understand though why you say this, because it seems like it was planed from the beginning…
What I didn’t miss in “A dramatic…”, is a song that reminds of another band.Of course, many people have told me that…
You know most people who tried to copy Dream Theater failed miserably, why would you try to copy other bands in four consecutive albums? (p.s At this point, Petrucci starts cracking up) “Never enough” for example is a great song and I really love it when played live, but it is 100% MUSE… On the other hand, I was starting to get bored hearing more songs about Portnoy’s addiction, especially with “The shattered fortress”. If you have an alcohol addiction, solve it, its not necessary that it takes four albums!(p.s having laughed very much at this point) I don’t think it is needed anymore!!!
Maybe you need to write something about smoking, because while you have a strict non smoking policy, I see right next to us Mike Mangini smoking a cigar. You have to take care of him because he also plays the drums!!!Oh no, do you think so? Hahahahahaha!
On a more serious note now. You had a massive change with the departure of Portnoy. After this, there was a long period we didn’t hear a thing about his replacement from DREAM THEATER, until you made a checkmate move and released the videos with the auditions on the internet. I think it was a great strategic move and people wasn’t talking about Portnoy, but about his possible replacement. How did this idea occur?Basically, when we started the auditions for our new drummer, we knew we didn’t just come out and say, «the new drummer of DREAM THEATER is…», but to find a special way to reveal it. So we thought about making a documentary and letting people find out our new member. The point is that the production of the documentary took a lot of time since it is a complicated task and we wanted the product to be the best possible.That made some impatient fans angry and they said «why don’t you come out and say who is it so we can move on»? But it couldn’t be done this way and we did not want it to. On top of that ,the whole procedure with the rumors about the new drummer was convenient to be honest, because it was a part of the game! It was really hard to keep it a secret, but we knew the fans would like the end result, and so they did.
I can confirm that. There was a big confusion among the fans. I was searching through the first video, where James says at a point something like <<this is the drummer we are looking for », to see if he was wearing the same t-shirt in other auditions too, to find that your new drummer was Mangini. Considering of course he changed clothes frequently and didn’t wear the same t-shirt all the time!!!Hahahaha! You are completely right. Μany fans have told me that they were anxious to watch these videos and that they were looking for even the smallest detail which would lead them to a safe conclusion.
So lets go to the chapter called Mike Mangini. We saw him in Greece with Steve Vai about ten years before and he drove us crazy with his skills. Despite that, he wasn’t so experienced recording as a member of a band as he was almost always a session artist. Also, he is responcible to replace not only a drummer, but a leader. So how did you end up deciding that Mangini would be your new drummer? Mike Portnoy might had a very dynamic presence, but we are always talking about a band. So for us, the leader part didn’t have any importance. We wanted a drummer. Mike Mangini has played with EXTREME, ANNIHILATOR, Steve Vai, so we knew he has the experience to cope with what we were asking from him.
Was it of any importance for you, even psychological that with Mangini in the band, when you turn back to see the drummer, you will shout “Mike” and your drummer will respond? (laughs) It would be pretty different if you shouted “Aquilles”(we are talking about Priester of ANGRA who also auditioned)…Hahahaha! Ok, it is a big coincidence, but now that you say it, it may had its importance on a more subconscious level.
Beginning at September, you are touring America with TRIVIUM. How did you choose this band to open for you?
When their name was first mentioned, we immediately decided they are the chosen ones. They are a new band, technically capable, with very nice albums and a modern band. Of course they don’t play the same kind of music as we do, but on the other hand, this make them special for the world to see. They also have a new album coming out in the next days. The guys in TRIVIUM are amazing and great players, so I look forward to tour with them.
I understand you are constantly asked about Mike Portnoy’s departure from DREAM THEATER, but I can’t not ask you about something that has been in the interest of the press for a while. You have given many interviews and answers about this subject, with James LaBrie’s being a highlight, where he mentioned that «the band now sounds much more balanced», an answer that was met with criticism by some fans. There were people who said that the only person that would kick him out of the group left, that now that Mike left he is dissing him and so on. How do you react against this flood of questions about Mike given that he is still a good friend of yours?Look, Sakis, the answer is simple.If anyone wants to know the reasons Mike left DREAM THEATER, all he has to do is ask him. Besides that, you understand that I’ve known Mike for almost all of my life and there is no chance I would say something mean about him. He made a decision which he considered the right at the time and we continue, being happy with the current situation. This is how life is. People make changes, they adapt to different situations and I hope everyone is happy with their choises. You know me and I think you understand that in no case I could say something bad, doubtful or melodramatic about Mike. Its not in my nature. And I’m sure that James didn’t mean this in an offensive way towards Mike. Unfortunately very often some phrases are isolated in order to create some drama out of nowhere. And given how widespread internet is these days, you can’t react .In defence of James, he said that he is happy with the current situation, the new drummer, the new album and that things look more balanced now. Nothing more, nothing less.
I would say I agree with you. Its seems there are less “me” in DREAM THEATER now and that there is only one leader…You know, I have to tell you that I don’t like hearing that in the band someone is the leader, now or in the previous years. It’s not my band, or Mike’s. It’s nobody’s band, we’re DREAM THEATER.
I’
m sorry but I have to disagree with you, because I don’t like a play of words. From the moment you are responsible for the decisions of the group in the most important issues, you automatically become the leader…Yeah, we all participate in the decision making of the band. Ok, I am the producer and I make a lot of decisions for this, so I could say yes to what you said. But there is a balance in the decision making. Of course there are decisions where someone has to take the initiatives and you can’t ask for everyone’s opinion, otherwise it would take two years only to mix the album (laughs)
Mike Mangini just came in and played on the album. Are you planning in the future to use some of his ideas?
So far our relationship is very good. I know he constantly has some ideas. Even today during soundcheck, he was trying some of them with Jordan. He is a very creative person and it will be really nice to work with him on a different level next time.
If you had to compare the two Mikes’ how would you characterize them as drummers and as members of the band?They are two completely different persons. Mike Mangini is completely into the art of drumming, exercise, trying new things and improving on drums. Mike Portnoy is an amazing drummer, but he doesn’t get into those things, he focuses more on other stuff like movies, directing, the fans and so many other things.
You obviously wanted to show the quality of the new drummer to the fans, as you incorporated into your setlist a drum solo and it was met with many good comments.Exactly this. We have so much music,it’s difficult to even fit the songs to our setlist and during the last years we didn’t have one so we could play one more song. But now,we thought that a drum solo would fit perfectly and would in some way introduce officialy Mike Mangini to the fans.
For the first time after MANY many years in your career though, you play the same setlist every night during this summer tour…There are small differences, but yes.
Yeah. One night you play “Learning to live” during the encore and the next night you play “Metropolis”. So practically the same setlist.Mike could learn all the songs and rehearse forty of them before we toured, but we didn’t want to give him so much responsibility for his first tour with us. So we decided he should learn perfectly 14 songs, which in DREAM THEATER language, is so much music. So we didn’t want to risk too much. Our first priority was to be as tight as possible as a band with our new member and be more consistent with our performance. I hope people will appreciate that.
Do you know that there is a group called CIRCUS MAXIMUS and in their album cover of “The 1st chapter” of 2005, they had exactly the same clown with the unicycle, which you –or better Hugh Syme- used on “A dramatic turn of events”?Yeah, I’ve seen that. Hugh Syme is amazing and I love all of his work.If you see the work he has done on the whole album, I’m sure you will be excited. We can’t do nothing now. These things happen and obviously both artists used the same database where they draw ideas from. Probably a cd with stock pictures or something.
What I say, is I wish CIRCUS MAXIMUS could make an album as good as any DREAMTHEATER album, so the whole album art comparison would make sense…Hahahaha!
Why did you name the album “A dramatic turn of events”? Is it about Mike Portnoy’s departure?No. It looks its about this, but its related to the lyrics of the album. Everybody thinks it is about Mike leaving the band, because the first time you see it, it is kinda obvious. The lyrics are about great events in the world and the fact that these events have caused disasters or big changes in a dramatic way, like in example “Outcry” which is about the recent events on Egypt which changed the lives and fates of millions of people. All these stories fit perfectly the title, which, as soon as I thought about I loved, but on the other hand I was completely certain people would believe it would be about Mike’s departure!
So I’ll let you rest and eat something before you hit the stage…Thank you so much for your support and I hope Greek fans will like our new album!
P.S.2: It is in fact awesome, that after 15 years I conduct interviews with members of DREAM THEATER (according to my calculations I must have conducted over 25 interviews with members who are playing or have played in DREAM THEATER) and after 13 concerts I’ve been to, I feel the same excitement as the first time I saw them in my life... Some diseases, really cannot be cured…
Topic: Interview with JP (Rock Hard GR) UPDATED WITH TRANSLATION (Read 18560 times)
