When Did The Dream Theater Guys Stop Working Day Jobs?

[Herrick]

I was thinking about how successful the band has been over all these years in a genre that isn't mainstream. They must make enough money where they can go away to a nice place in upstate New York and hang out to write and record an album for a few weeks. But they did something similar (the music was already written though) way back when they were recording Images and Words. That must've cost a lot of money.

I know they've been playing music full time for at least 25 years but when were they able to quit their day jobs? Was it when Pull Me Under started getting radio play?

[Progmetty]

I remember an interview, possibly on a podcast, with JLB around the time The Astonishing was released, where he talked about how long it took for him to know for sure the singing career thing was gonna work out and when would he need to look for something else. But I don't remember if mentioned whether or not he was already with DT when he was making that consideration.

[ytsejam89]

I would think possibly around the time Pull Me Under Blew up? I can't pin point exact dates but I know Kevin Moore was teaching keyboard lessons from his parents house up until they recorded Images and Words atleast. They would have booked the recording session for Images and Words at beartracks from the advance that ATCO gave them, although I do believe they recorded the 3 ATCO demos at beartracks out of their own pocket, which would have been a little pricey.

[Setlist Scotty]

I don't know for a certainty, but I would imagine around the time that IaW was released, or perhaps even around the time that they started recording it. No idea how much of their tour schedule was arranged by the time it dropped, but I know that they planned on doing a huge tour. In fact, I do recall an interview where the guys laid out what would be expected of JL if he were to join the band, and one of those things was being on the road for long periods of time, since they didn't expect to get any radio support. So I doubt they spoke with their respective bosses about taking a leave of absence so they could go on tour - they probably quit their jobs outright and figured if things didn't pan out, they'd get new jobs when they had to, which they never needed to do.

[JiM-Xtreme]

I would think possibly around the time Pull Me Under Blew up?

I have a feeling this is correct, at least in MP's case and probably for a couple of the others. I recall a moment in the Score documentary when MP talks about quitting his job delivering chinese food around that time.

[Madman Shepherd]

I would think possibly around the time Pull Me Under Blew up?

I have a feeling this is correct, at least in MP's case and probably for a couple of the others. I recall a moment in the Score documentary when MP talks about quitting his job delivering chinese food around that time.

I believe in the official bootlegs he mentioned that that was the moment when the became professional musicians and they quit their jobs, started touring in a bus rather than a van, etc.

[Architeuthis]

That's what I love about Dream Theater. They built themselves from the ground up with very little support from radio play. The never compromised and they stuck to their guns writing and playing the kind of music they love to play. I'm sure they are one of the most hardest working bands in the business and have always put out quality music! It is so hard to to quit your day job and leave your comfort zone,  believing enough in your music and band members and that it's all gonna work.
    I know from personal experience, that it's hard to keep people on the same page.  I've been in bands where we were pretty much on the same page musically, but everyone's schedules clashed so it was hard to complete a project or get quality practice time.
 We did manage to make two albums in the past 20 years (LOL!) , but they were mediocre at best because of time restraints and work schedules. So I've never had the opportunity to quit my day job and really focus on something great musically, and that is DAMN frustrating! I would love to do that more than anything, but this busy and demanding world pretty much takes the wind out of my sails.
  I just had to hawk my Hughes and Kettner half stack to pay bills this month since work got cancelled due to over three feet of snow in the last two weeks..
  I'm just really thankful to bands like DT that put out great music to listen to. That helps me maintain my sanity since I can't really focus on making my own music to its potential. My back's against the wall in that regard.
DT's new album is coming out just at the right time. I really need some inspiration and something fun to listen to,  just to lift my spirits if anything.. Thank you Dream Theater!!! 

 Sorry I made this post kind of personal, but I'm sure that there are alot of musicians that can relate. I admire bands like DT that stick it out and become successful, yet consistently deliver good music..

[Herrick]

I would think possibly around the time Pull Me Under Blew up? I can't pin point exact dates but I know Kevin Moore was teaching keyboard lessons from his parents house up until they recorded Images and Words atleast. They would have booked the recording session for Images and Words at beartracks from the advance that ATCO gave them, although I do believe they recorded the 3 ATCO demos at beartracks out of their own pocket, which would have been a little pricey.

That must've been a big advance and I find that weird. It's not like the band looked like they were going to be the next huge thing.

[pg1067]

We can set the absolute outside date as late September 1992.  The first leg of the I&W tour started with an NYC show on 9/27/92, and they couldn't possibly have maintained "day jobs" after that.

I&W was recorded from October through December 1991, but the album wasn't released until July 7, 1992 (with PMU being released as a single in late August 1992).

During the period between the recording and release of I&W, they played only four shows, from June 2-8, 1992, in and around NYC.

Given all of this, my guess would be that they probably still had to work "day jobs" at least through the first half of 1992.  Of course, that's just an educated guess, and there may be some specific information in Lifting Shadows.

[Dedalus]

 We did manage to make two albums in the past 20 years (LOL!)

Let me guess the band's name: Tool.

[Architeuthis]

 We did manage to make two albums in the past 20 years (LOL!)

Let me guess the band's name: Tool.

Close,,  our band name was Trid during the mid to late nineties..  Dirt spelled backwards. We never did make a CD at that time. We made our cd's under a different name which I won't post here.

[ytsejam89]

I would think possibly around the time Pull Me Under Blew up? I can't pin point exact dates but I know Kevin Moore was teaching keyboard lessons from his parents house up until they recorded Images and Words atleast. They would have booked the recording session for Images and Words at beartracks from the advance that ATCO gave them, although I do believe they recorded the 3 ATCO demos at beartracks out of their own pocket, which would have been a little pricey.

That must've been a big advance and I find that weird. It's not like the band looked like they were going to be the next huge thing.

Not necessarily, you've got to remember that the band did have a fanbase at the time, so it wasn't a major risk for the label to take them on and invest in them knowing they would make the advance back over a set period. As well as the producer they only used one engineer, which would keep costs down. It's likely they used all of the budget on the recording, which is why they basically had nothing for The Pull Me Under video.

[Herrick]

I would think possibly around the time Pull Me Under Blew up? I can't pin point exact dates but I know Kevin Moore was teaching keyboard lessons from his parents house up until they recorded Images and Words atleast. They would have booked the recording session for Images and Words at beartracks from the advance that ATCO gave them, although I do believe they recorded the 3 ATCO demos at beartracks out of their own pocket, which would have been a little pricey.

That must've been a big advance and I find that weird. It's not like the band looked like they were going to be the next huge thing.

Not necessarily, you've got to remember that the band did have a fanbase at the time, so it wasn't a major risk for the label to take them on and invest in them knowing they would make the advance back over a set period. As well as the producer they only used one engineer, which would keep costs down. It's likely they used all of the budget on the recording, which is why they basically had nothing for The Pull Me Under video.

That makes sense. It's the whole paying for the band to stay in a house/studio thing that makes me think it was very expensive. I don't know. It seemed like a nice place too. That must've been very exciting for the band being in their mid 20s and having that opportunity.