Chat with the members of Dream Theater September 24, 2013! (WITH URL)

[nikatapi]

Will you use an external producer ever again?Don't you think that not having an external opinion keeps you in the safe zone and hurts your "progressiveness"?

Is there going to be an HDtracks release for the new album for those who don't want a very compressed sound?

[Stef1]

First, thanks to all involved with making this happen, what a great opportunity.

Question 1. What is the current status of Ytse Jam records and will we get any more releases soon?

Question 2. Will you please play "You Not Me" again, as I do like this track. I've got tickets for Manchester so this would be a good time.

And please thank the guys for producing such a great album.

[YtseJamittaja]

I can answer some of these questions because there is a brand new JP/DT interview in Finnish magazine Soundi.

To JP: Do you have a favourite guitar solo out of all of DT's catalogue?

Another one shall be added when I have thought about it.

According to JP: "I could say Voices. The solo has rude attitude and cheerful whatever-feelings. It's nice to unleash sometimes that side of me."

Would you give us some idea of what to expect on the evening with tour. 

Jp hinted in that interview that they COULD play one ENTIRE album on the evening with tour! 




I'm sorry if this not belong to here, I just wanted to say that these questions have been asked already. I'm still thinking my own questions.

[puppyonacid]

Question for JP

From what I've heard of the new album at this point, alongside A Dramatic turn of Events - there seems to be a move away from down tuning and the use of Baritone tuned guitars.

Is that a concious decision or is it more just how the songs evolved?

What generally dictates the use of altered tunings? Is it to do with the key that a song is written in or is it a concious decision to give the song a bit more sonic depth?

[TAC]

Bosk..Nice job!! Your work is really appreciated.

Question 1. What is the current status of Ytse Jam records and will we get any more releases soon?

1. Is the band aware of how revered John Myung's lyrics are and does that put any pressure on him when writing them,

In the Boston song "More than a Feeling" there is the line ,"When I'm tired and thinking cold, I hide in my music, forget the day...." Now I know I'm not the only DTFer who, in those hardest moments in life turn to your music to get us through(and it has on so many occasions, thank you). So I ask, who do the band members turn to in their hard moments, who's music do you hide in?

These are great questions!! All must be asked!! Especially the Ytsejam status.

[rude boy]

what are your musical guilty pleasures? (steve vai for example once said he adores mj's thriller)

what is the most impressive live show you' ve attended as audience after you got famous? (i remember seeing a video of JP giving an autograph to someone at the wall concert)

[Another_Won]

The questions I had were already asked.

Hey Bosk, to your cat in the bag analogy, there were breathing holes.  I noted several of your references to this and thought to myself, "alright, what is this guy up to?"

Great job setting this up!   What a treat for us.

[Bolsters]

what are your musical guilty pleasures? (steve vai for example once said he adores mj's thriller)

Now that's a question I'd like to see each of them answer!

[ZKX-2099]

What kind of money are you guys making overall?

[wasteland]

"This is not really a question about this time of your career, but many people shared a common interest in an answer and threads were had about this: who came up with the idea of the Learning To Live intro and outro?"

"The ADTOE tour was an absolute highlight of your live career in terms of performance, balance in the setlist and stage production. How do you plan to improve your game in that regards for this tour?"

[liran95]

1. Do you guys plan on doing another concept album?
2. I recall JP saying that DT writes music first, and then puts lyrics upon the finished instrumentals. I was wondering which songs were written the other way around? (Lyrics first, and then music).

[Bear Report]

On DT, John Myung is as aggressive and prominent as he's ever been.  Was this a specific goal from a production standpoint, due to Rich Chycki's influence, or was John just playing that way this time around?

[Podaar]

1. Now that your diabolical plan to leave your contemporary rock composing peers naked and curled up in the corner whimpering for their mommies is complete do you see yourselves moving on to solving world peace?

2. Or is Hans Zimmer and John Williams your next target?

[bosk1]

Thanks for all the positive feedback, guys.  I won't go into all the details behind what went into this, but I will say that I worked hard to set this up because I thought it would be a real treat for all of you guys, as well as being some really good fan-relations and promotion for the band.  And while I don't want to get into all of the behind-the-scenes stuff, I will say this:  When I first mentioned the idea to John Petrucci, he was very enthusiastic about it right from the getgo and very eager to connect with the fans on this level.  He and the rest of the guys are looking forward to this.


Here are a couple of questions I have: 

(1) There has been a VERY wide range of speculation about Mike Mangini's involvement in writing his drum parts on A Dramatic Turn Of Events, and a lot of taking short quotes out of context to try to construct arguments about just how much involvement Mike had.  Opinions range the entire spectrum between (1) "John Petrucci programmed complete drum parts hit-for-hit, and Mike just played them as written" on one hand, to (2) "John programmed a very basic click and Mike then basically wrote everything from scratch to fit the time signatures."  Can you guys put this to bed and explain how that played out?

(2) For John Myung:  Is there any one member of the band that you find to be a particularly inspiring "writing partner" that really brings out your creativity?  Does that change from album to album?

[Whatsername]

First reaction: YOU MEAN WE'LL GET TO ASK THEM THINGS???

Second reaction: OMG BEST DAY EVER!!

Third reaction: GOTTA THINK OF GOOD QUESTIONS

Last reaction:    I'LL BE IN SCHOOL. WHY CLASSES, WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME??


I'll still have to think up some awesome questions and watch the video when I get home.

[MoraWintersoul]

2. I recall JP saying that DT writes music first, and then puts lyrics upon the finished instrumentals. I was wondering which songs were written the other way around? (Lyrics first, and then music).

I think only Lifting Shadows Off A Dream counts as that, since it was a "poem and a few chords" when it first entered the studio, but the rest, no. Not even the Kevin Moore songs, and he was a little more into writing lyrics than the rest of them.

When I first mentioned the idea to John Petrucci, he was very enthusiastic about it right from the getgo and very eager to connect with the fans on this level.

Well of course he was. JP luuuuuurvez us. but of course we love him more

[bosk1]

Last reaction:    I'LL BE IN SCHOOL. WHY CLASSES, WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME??

I feel your pain.  After all the work in getting this set, it unfortunately got scheduled on a day where I have an unavoidable scheduling conflict myself, so I won't be on either.    But the cool thing is, you still get to submit your questions, and you can watch the video afterwards.  Even though you won't be watching it live as it happens, you'll still get to see the band talking directly to the members of this forum.  Pretty cool any way you slice it, IMO.

[JPX]

This is awesome Bosk. Thanks!

My 2 questions, both for JP.

1) Of all the EBMM's you own, which is your favorite and why?
2) I know you and MP touched on this during a DVD commentary, but was the idea ever explored with Sterling and the folks at EBMM to build a guitar with your Picasso design?

[TAC]

Last reaction:    I'LL BE IN SCHOOL. WHY CLASSES, WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME??

I feel your pain.  After all the work in getting this set, it unfortunately got scheduled on a day where I have an unavoidable scheduling conflict myself, so I won't be on either.    But the cool thing is, you still get to submit your questions, and you can watch the video afterwards.  Even though you won't be watching it live as it happens, you'll still get to see the band talking directly to the members of this forum.  Pretty cool any way you slice it, IMO.

Yup, I will catch it after work. I assume it'll be on youtube by the time I get home?

[iamtheeviltwin]

Have not read through other questions to look for duplicates, but here we go:

1) On the two most recent albums (ADTOE & DT) it appears the band has moved to more concise solo sections in the songs, which is a departure from the previous albums.  Has this been a deliberate change of direction for the band or are there other reasons for the changes?

2) Over the years you have integrated many influences in your music, what are some of the more diverse musical styles that you have found inspirational?

[bosk1]

TAC:  It is going to be streaming through YouTube as it happens, and then I believe it will be available to re-watch very shortly after it ends.

[TAC]

Cool, Thank you.

Now I gotta think of some questions!

[bosk1]

I'd be happy to let you borrow some of mine if you are in need. 

[Mebert78]

Are you guys planning anything for the 20th-anniversary year of Awake in 2014 -- for example, a start-to-finish performance of the album or a one-time encore featuring a guest appearance by Kevin Moore?  It might be a nice time to reach out to him again and rebuild that bridge now that MP is gone.

[Dream Team]

For JP: When you think back to when you were first starting out as a serious musician, do you feel you have accomplished all of the musical goals you had at that time?

For MM: Which of MP's parts/songs do you like the best & think are the most fun to play? Which ones made you stop and say "wow, this is a great part"?

[vtgrad]

Wow... one more massive reason for all of us to respect DT and the admins on this board; what an awesome opportunity!

1.  How do you plan to work the Meet and Greet process for the Evening With format?  If I recall correctly, the past M&Gs for Evening With sets, took place after the show (we, as a fan base, promise not to steal JLB's drink or eat his food).

One question is really all I have.

I would like to personally thank JP for "This is the Life" and JP/JR for "State of Grace"... two songs that helped immensely during the passing of my Father in late 2012 from a sudden and very rare form of cancer.  I have heavenly peace from my father's testimony of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and the promises in the Word of God... but a great deal of earthly peace came from these two compositions.

[emtee]

Many fans think ADToE sonic qualities are not on par with previous DT albums, especially the drums and cymbals. Would you ever
consider re-mixing that album, like Rush did with Vapor Trails in an effort to make the listening experience more pleasurable?

Thanks

[Viking of the Sagas]

Everyone:

Are you going to play more songs from Awake during the tour? I've personally really been missing songs like Scarred and Lifting Shadows off a Dream live.

Did you know that the Enigma Machine sounds a lot like the Inspector Gadget theme?

[MoraWintersoul]

we, as a fan base, promise not to steal JLB's drink or eat his food

is this a real thing that happened before

[vtgrad]

I assume so... I'm referencing a portion of "Chaos in Motion" where JLB says whilst signing photos... "Fans Eat our Food... Steal Our Drinks...!"

[MoraWintersoul]

Sweet Jesus I love him

[Shadow2222]

@Bosk, will we find out which questions are chosen before September 24 (of course, before the band makes their final decision on which questions to answer)?

[bosk1]

@Bosk, will we find out which questions are chosen before September 24 (of course, before the band makes their final decision on which questions to answer)?

Probably not.  We probably won't go through the list and pare it down until close to the chat.  And then the moderator and the band may skip questions/cull the list as the chat goes on.

[Shadow2222]

@Bosk, will we find out which questions are chosen before September 24 (of course, before the band makes their final decision on which questions to answer)?

Probably not.  We probably won't go through the list and pare it down until close to the chat.  And then the moderator and the band may skip questions/cull the list as the chat goes on.

Okay No problem, it only makes me anticipate it even more! I know it has been said many times in this thread, but thank you again (and the other people responsible) for making this possible. One of the many reasons I love this community!

[Ad134]

1) Now that we've heard the album, can you point out any specific riffs or sections of songs from it that came about during the ADTOE tour?

2) Are you going to use mostly static setlists on the upcoming tour, like you did with the ADTOE tour?