DREAM
THEATER INTERVIEW
In June, long running
act Dream Theater made their long awaited return to the scene with their tenth
full-length effort 'Black Clouds & Silver Linings' - an album that's been
hailed as another masterpiece for the New York (U.S.) based progressive metal
act.
In the lead-up to the band's return to Australian shores
(after making their debut visit here in January/February 2008), I caught up with
keyboardist Jordan Rudess (who by his own account, was working on a rock 'n' roll
schedule, and was awoken by the ringing of the phone just minutes prior) in Porto
(Portugal) to talk about the band's upcoming dates, the climate within the music
scene and how it relates to Dream Theater's insular world, and the overall response
to their latest magnum opus.
"The reaction from most people
to 'Black Clouds & Silver Linings' has been kind of interesting. I think the
album has a nice balance of all the elements that make up the Dream Theater sound.
Some people have claimed that some of our albums have been too heavy, and then
there have been some that are saying that we need a little more of this, or a
little less of that. Of course, people are still saying the same things about
this album, but I think this album is just that more balanced out in regards to
having a bit of everything that we're been known to put into our music, and people
have been responding positively to that."
In a recent
chat I had with vocalist James LaBrie, he claimed that while many believed that
'Black Clouds & Silver Linings' was the band's strongest release in many years,
he was at a loss to pinpoint just what it was that many had felt give the album
something the others didn't. When asked the same question, Rudess too is a little
lost pinning the album's success to any one particular thing.
"This
album was kind of conceived in a similar way to our last album 'Systematic Chaos'
(2007), in a sense that we went into the studio with a fresh, kind of open plate
frame of mind. There were no real preconceived ideas stylistically prior to heading
into the studio. We just wanted to get in there and write some really good Dream
Theater music. So that helps in a way to open things up stylistically to whatever
comes kind of comes in. That's not to say that the output is going to sound hodgepodge
like. What it means is that we were a little more in a clearer and freer state
of mind to write our music. So that's what this album was kind of all about. Things
didn't actually become any more defined about what we wanted to create until we
had created a bunch of it. So as things were coming together, it was only then
that we could see where we needed a little more of this, and a little less of
that. For instance, if we felt that we were leaning a little too much on the heavier
side of things, then we would focus a little more on writing some quieter and
more atmospheric stuff to balance things out. We needed a ballad to help rectify
that balance, so we wrote a ballad. I think that way of working really worked
for us on this album. I also thought that 'Systematic Chaos' was a really great
album. But I guess it goes to show that you can never really know what's going
to totally hit with people."
Drummer Mike Portnoy is well
known for being the driving force behind Dream Theater. But in terms of creativity,
and particularly when it came to putting together 'Black Clouds & Silver Linings',
Dream Theater is driven creatively in the musical sense by three individuals within
the band.
"Sometimes in the past, the guys might come
in with a particular concept that they want to pursue. No so much as a concept
album kind of idea, but more of an overall concept in terms of how they want the
album to feel and sound. A lot of those ideas can come from Portnoy or John Petrucci
(Guitarist). They're always cooking up something. If there's going to be a direction,
they'll generally propose it. But on these last couple of albums, that didn't
really happen. Portnoy is definitely a driving force within the band. He does
things like devising the set lists for each show when we go out and play and he'll
come up with other ideas, like the 'Progressive Nation' tours we've been undertaking
for the last couple of years. He'll figure out which bands we'll take out with
us, and take charge of organising everything based around that. The rest of us
don't have much to do with that side of things. But at the other end, when it
comes to writing the music, then it really comes down to me, Portnoy and Petrucci.
And it's really the three of us that write the music for Dream Theater, especially
in 'Systematic Chaos' and 'Black Clouds & Silver Linings'. It was really just
the three of us. Nobody else really had anything to do with it. Portnoy kind of
takes it from there, and ensures that all the other stages come through as the
producer of the album we all start to do the tracking. That's when everyone else
starts to do their thing. John Myung (Bass) will come down and lays down his parts,
and then LaBrie puts his finishing touches to everything."
One
of the really surprising aspects of 'Black Clouds & Silver Linings' is that
upon its initial release, the album became the fastest selling Dream Theater release
to date. Although the news itself doesn't sound all that remarkable, given the
economic climate, and the fact that the album was released in a lavish three disc
set (The 'Black Clouds & Silver Linings' album, an instrumental version of
the album and a six track covers disc), it certainly defied the current trend
of diminishing C.D. sales.
"The special edition version
of the album was something that we had discussed about doing in the past. And
it's something that's currently very trendy to do. You know, putting out albums,
and letting the audience have a little more flexibility in the way they listen
to it, and what they want to do with it, is something that artists and labels
have to consider these days. And in this case, Portnoy really pushed it through
to make it happen. He pushed with both the record company and with management
to have it released in that form. And to see it released like that, and see it
get to number four on the Billboard charts in America, that's really saying something.
There's even a deluxe collector's edition box set version as well. That includes
the three discs, double vinyl, the D.V.D. audio and a whole host of other stuff.
It's the D.V.D. that really stands out, as it comes with all the stems. What I
mean is that it allows you to separate all the instruments. That big box set pretty
much gives you everything you could possibly ever want from this album! (Laughs)
And that sold really well too. There's this whole new movement these days. There's
people that want to load these files into their computers so that they can mix
things themselves. That's a big part of what's going on. That's the cutting edge
you know, and we want to be a part of that."
But while
Dream Theater is doing well for themselves within the music scene, Rudess is all
too aware that the music industry isn't the same as it once was.
"The
music business is really in a weird state right now, and it has been for some
time. It's getting harder and harder for new bands to do anything, because record
companies are just not picking up new bands like they used to. And there's nowhere
for these new bands to play either, with music venues either closing down or restricting
access to up and coming bands. You kind of heard about these things, and initially,
it kind of comes across as being pessimistic for the most part. On the one hand,
you brush it off as simply being one point of view, and rationalise with yourself
that things really can't be that bad. But after a while, you realise that things
really have changed. I really feel like it's in a messed up state right now. We
really do have more bands today than ever before. I used to think that the internet
was great, because it provided all these avenues for the bands. Bands would figure
it out and get their music out there to a whole new people of potential fans,
all the while finding new and creative ways in using the internet to get their
music out there. But as time goes on, I think a lot of bands are finding out that
it's a whole lot harder than it used to be. They're finding that their competing
against a whole lot of other bands out there that are trying to get their music
across in the same way. I don't know. I'm sure the industry will find a way to
figure and straighten things out, and become a little clearer for people out there.
But I guess for us in Dream Theater, we have this world of our own. Perhaps it's
because we've been around so long, and we have this nice, solid and strong foundation
that is there to support us in everything that we do. I think in general, Dream
Theater is on their own planet in terms of the business side of things, because
things are pretty good."
But that's not to say that the
down turn in the economy and the slow decline of the music industry hasn't had
an effect on Dream Theater while out on the road in Europe.
"This
most recent tour has been quite interesting. Although we took the 'Progressive
Nation' package to Europe (Opeth, Bigelf and Unexpect were on the bill), the concert
sales haven't really been what we wanted them to be. So I think its really telling
on that level because, you know, there's no denying that there are issues with
the economy around the world. And I think that reflects itself even in the shows.
Interestingly enough, some of the gigs that we did on the July/August U.S. leg
of this tour, you would see these big crowds of people that would be in the seats
that were not so expensive, and then you would look down at the regular seats
that were down there in front of us, and then some of those seats were empty.
That in itself is very telling as well. But despite the numbers being a little
lower than we hoped they would be, this tour has been pretty cool. We're getting
towards the end of our European tour right now. We're pushing through to the end
of October, and then we'll get to go home for a month. And then as soon as we're
back out on the road, we'll get to come and see you guys down there in Australia.
We're looking forward to coming down again. Portnoy has already done the research
into which songs to play this time. He's gone over that with a fine tooth comb
for every city that we're playing to ensure that there's something of interest
to everyone! (Laughs) So that's always good. So you're guaranteed whether you
live in Melbourne, Sydney or wherever, you'll hear something that you didn't hear
last time live. So even if you saw us last time, you'll feel like seeing this
tour is like the first time all over again!"
I would
like to thank Jordan Rudess for his generous time, and Janine Morcos at Roadrunner
Records for making the interview possible.
For more information
on Dream Theater, check out - http://www.dreamtheater.net
©
Justin Donnelly - justindonnelly@ozemail.com.au
