IRC chat with Dream Theater edited by boerio@ichips.intel.com Q: John, were you born in Korea and do you speak Korean? JM: No, I wasn't, I was born in Chicago and I speak very little Korean. Q: Will you be touring with Fates Warning? JM: I have always WANTED to tour with Fates Warning. It's a possibility if it would happen someday and it would be fun. Q: Why a heavier album? MP: We've always had a heavy influence. This time around, we tried to compress the heavier parts into complete songs rather than just heavy parts. Although the album is heavy and aggressive, it is a very well-balanced album stylistically. People shouldn't judge the whole album by "Lie". Q: Will "Change of Seasons" or "Eve" ever be released? MP: "Eve" was recorded during the "Awake" sessions. It will be released in Japan on the Japanese version. "To Live Forever" was also recorded. Both will pop up as B-sides or as bonus tracks. As far as "A Change of Seasons," it hasn't been recorded and there are no immediate plans to do that. It haunts us and I would like to record it, but not yet. I'd love to get it off our chests. Q: Who's the keyboardist going to be for your tour? MP: The keyboardist will be Jordan Rudess. He's out with the Dixie Dregs right now and will most likely be joining us for the tour. No long range, permanent decisions have been made. We're leaving our options open and we'll see how it goes on tour. We've auditioned five people, including Jordan and Jens Johansson. We admire Jens and his playing. It was fun playing with him and we have no hard feelings about not selecting him. Q: What's the reference to 180 degrees in "Space Dye Vest" mean? MP: It's about a relationship one of us had. Q: A lot of people already have advance copies of the "Awake" album. How do you feel about that? MP: Be patient and wait for the album. It's only a couple more weeks. Q: Are you finished opening for other bands? JM: It's a matter of the right situation coming our way. None of the scenarios have ever happened the way we want. If the right situation comes along, we would consider opening gigs. Q: Who would you like to open for? JM: I would love to tour with Rush or Queensryche. Q: Will you play "A Killing Hand" live? JM: I don't think so. I don't personally have any plans of playing anything off the first album. We have enough material not to. Most of the stuff on the last tour, we tried to document on to Marquee CD or the Tokyo video. They're over and done with for awhile. MP: If we do anything, it will be something more obscure. If we pick songs from the first album, it might be "The Ones Who Help to Set The Sun" or "Light Fuse and Get Away". Q: What about "Space Dye Vest"? MP: I don't think we'd do that. It's a very studio-oriented piece. Without Kevin, we probably won't play it live. Ever. Q: What are your favorites from "Awake"? JM: My personal favorite is "Caught In A Web". MP: "Voices". I'll go on record as saying it's the best song we've ever written. Q: How was Foundations? MP: It was tough. It was awkward and you're not playing to your audience. The whole situation was very unusual. Q: How do you think you've progressed since "Images and Words"? JM: I think we've progressed just because we've been through a lot in the past three or three and a half years, going our on tour in support of the album and having to go right back into the studio. I think the fact that we've handled the pressure and come out on top taught us a lot about ourselves. Q: Why did Kevin leave? JM: The whole thing didn't come out of the blue. He felt that way for awhile and it surfaced after "Awake" was recorded. It was more along the lines of peace of mind and what he wanted to do musically that he couldn't do within the band. He's a passionate person and he wasn't being fair to the band or himself. Out of all sincerity, he didn't want to continue. It was a musical departure from Dream Theater but we still have the friendship. Q: Any chance of guest appearances from him on the tour? JM: I doubt it. Q: Have your musical tastes gotten heavier? MP: My musical tastes have always been heavy in Metallica, Slayer, and Megadeath. Through this album, Pantera, and Helmet were in my influences. We always leave the door open for everyone's influences. That's where the heaviness has come from in the drum department though. In the guitar and bass department, this is the first time John used a 6-string bass and John used a 7-string guitar. The added B-string really helps get a heavier sound. "Lie", "Mirror", and "Caught In A Web" were written with those instruments in mind. Q: Do you read much? When I first heard "When Dream and Day Unite" I was reading a lot of Isaac Asimov, and that album seemed to fit well with that. JM: I don't read very much. MP: JP reads more and has always liked writing stories such as "Metropolis". Q: Do you think James' range has improved? JM: He's doing what he's capable of and it comes out on this record. The mind-set of the producers has helped in the recording of the vocals, and what angles to take, either hard or smooth. Recording techniques and the attitude of the songs has brought out the raw part of his voice. MP: The fact that he was around since the creation of this record, he was able to contribute his thoughts and abilities, and his range of his voice. Q: Are you happier with the current production team? MP: I love them 100% better. It was a joy to make, whereas "Images and Words" was a frustrating record to make. The producers are much easier to work with. I was much more involved with what I wanted to hear on this record. Q: There's a guy out here who wants to know if he should keep buying tickets. His name's Pete. MP: *laugh* Hi Pete. If you can steal tickets, do it. I'm looking forward to seeing you on tour. Don't spend any more money on us. I collect everything, bootlegs, videos, pictures, tickets. He always buys two tickets and gives me one to keep. Q: What's your overall feeling on bootlegs? JM: At first I was a little hesitant. A lot of people are making money off us. Now that I'm sitting back and listening to some of them, I think it's a very cool way to compliment the band. It's a different way of generating and maintaining interest. It's genuine when people go out of their way to find out more about the band. I'm into it now. MP: Way to go John! I've got someone on my side now! They're not doing it for the money. They're doing it as a way to collect stuff about the band. Q: Someone wants to know if MP has a copy of the '78 Rush soundboard recording. MP: I have it. Thanks though. Q: Do you think it works well alternating the heavy and light sounds? MP: Absolutely. Our audience has broad tastes. To sit through 75 minutes of the same thing would be boring. The diversity of the album makes it so appealing. Q: Do you have plans for another live album? MP: I want to stress that "Live At The Marquee" isn't the *true live* album the way we want. It's a souvenir of our first European tour. Down the road we would love to do a real live album, which hopefully could be recorded on different nights and in different countries. Every night there's a different magic in the air that can't be captured on one particular night. We'll probably do it *way* down the road from now. Q: Was Billy Sheehan an influence? JM: Yeah definitely. He plays with a lot of soul. I've never jammed with him but met him once briefly. He's a very inspirational player, a lot of soul. We even used to play some "Talas" songs back when we did some covers. Q: What do you guys play when you're jamming? MP: Screwing around, Maiden covers are fun. They were a HUGE HUGE influence. We used to do Maiden covers all the time. When we got to play with them it was like a dream come true. We even did "The Trooper" on a radio jam broadcast in Indianapolis. Q: Mike, did you take lessons? MP: I'm pretty much self-taught. Just from listening to records through the years. When I started, I took lessons so I would know how to hold drumsticks *laugh*. At Berklee I took classes for everything, but I'm basically self-taught. Actually, I took about 5 years of lessons listening to Rush and Zappa records. Q: Where do you like to play, clubs, colleges, etc? MP: John? JM: Mike? MP: Large clubs, small theaters. It's the right environment for us. Depending on the success of the record, it will grow ... or shrink. Q: Do you think bands like Metallica and Aerosmith have sold out? MP: People think bands sell out because they're popular. We're not gonna change our style or identity. It's like this. If people love an album, they're gonna buy it. And as soon as it sells one, two million copies, they're not gonna like it as much because too many people bought it. It's the amount of people that buy it. It's out of the band's control, but you have to maintain your identity and integrity and just sell records. The new album has a 20-minute trilogy. Is that a sellout? Q: Is LaBrie going back to himself? MP: *laugh* James is going to be called "The Artist Formerly Known as James" and will be using the Majesty symbol instead of his name. Q: Do you think you'll get MTV or radio support? JM: The "Lie" video is complete. MP: We never expect MTV or radio play. The fact they've given us this much support is a shocker. Radio's been very good to us. Radio isn't trendy enough for mainstream acceptance of us. It would be nice. Q: What do you think of mainstream alternative music? JM: I just recently bought the Meat Puppets. MP: We would be lying if we say they haven't influenced us. It's constantly around us and therefore impossible to escape it. Q: Do you think that's a bad thing? MP: A lot of people come down hard on "grunge" music and its supposed simplicity. A lot of these bands are being daring and creative in a different way. A lot of it has integrity in its own way. Q: What do you think of SVT cabinets? JM: I was using them when we were doing our first two keyboardists auditions. They're great cabinets. Q: Who's the ladies man? MP: It's Kev. The rest of us are married or getting married. Q: How does LaBrie sound live as compared to the studio. JM: It's always different live because it's a different situation. He does recreate the record pretty much. MP: There's always that adrenaline live. That makes it harder to relax. Q: Are you guys Beatles fans? Do you have a favorite? MP: I'm a fanatic! I have a tattoo of a Lennon painting on my arm as a tribute to him. For me to pick a favorite is impossible. Everything from "Rubber Soul" on, I guess. Q: How do you feel about giving permission to film a concert? JM: You may not be able to. It depends on how good security is *laugh*. MP: As long as the band is divided, no one will be "allowed". I guess you got the two people who aren't against it. Q: What kind of ticket prices can we expect? MP: I don't know. Unfortunately, issues like that aren't our decisions. I've been informed that we're trying to keep a $15 cap on all tickets. Our attempt at the Pearl Jam rebellion *laugh*. Q: Mike, do you need a copy of the King's X show I met you at? MP: YES!! Absolutely! I missed the first part because of the OJ car chase! Q: What happened to Christ Collins? JM: Drank too much whiskey. MP: Actually, he called JP out of the clear blue recently. I don't think John even knows what happened to him. Q: Any chance of touring Europe? MP: We will absolutely tour again after US tour. Japan in January and Europe in February and March. We're hoping for more US dates after that. Outdoor shows are so much fun. Q: How big is the drum set? MP: I just got a new drum kit. I got six endorsements, and lets just say I got greedy. It's pretty much a 360-degree kit. Q: What about a stage show? MP: Nothing set yet. Q: Do you know Jim Hackett? MP: I think I know him. i think he used to take pictures of my wife's band. Q: Will you ever record a Maiden song? MP: Maybe. Who knows. If they ever did a Maiden tribute album, we'd love to be involved. Q: Are you Napalm Death fans? JM: Not really. That evening, our tour manager told us we'd be shooting footage for the record label. It's the cleanest shirt he had at the time. MP: I'm a Napalm Death fan. I'll be seeing them Sunday night in New York. Q: Do you have a favorite city to perform? MP: That's tough. There's so many. Every night brings a whole new evening of excitement. We've always enjoyed the major cities, and any time there's a sellout. To pick one would be impossible. Q: Will there be a solo album from JP? JM: If the timing's right. MP: We've got too many obligations with Dream Theater and that's where we need to focus. That was part of the problem with Kev, not to rehash. But there's a good chance of a Kevin solo album *laugh* Q: Will you guys do another Headbanger's Ball or even a Howard Stern show? MP: It's possible for Headbanger's Ball. Howard Stern would be great cause I'm a big fan. Q: Is there a drum machine at the end of "Space Dye Vest"? MP: Actually, the end is the only part of it with real drums! Q: Do you guys watch "Beavis and Butthead"? *laugh* MP: We're missing it right now. Q: How about passes for people with Ytse Jam T-shirts? Manager: That would be something that we could talk about at a later date. Q: What about email addresses on the information superhighway? Manager: Perhaps. We listen a lot, and if we feel we need to speak out, we do. Q: Parting comments? MP: There's a Dream Theater fanzine available that we've helped with the making of. If anyone's interested, it's a great place to find the latest. The address is: Dream Theater - Images and Words 8 Ryelands Close Caterham Surrey England CR3 5HY Manager: It's in the "Awake" packaging too. Q: What about the fan club? Manager: That's in the "Awake" packaging as well. MP: The fan club has been a constant problem. We've changed people and hopefully it will get better. Q: Thanks guys for doing this. It's really nice of you to take the time. MP: Mike: our pleasure ... it's been a lot of fun