James LaBrie (Dream Theater)
June 2007
You have released a solo album in 2005. How do you see it if you look back now?
I'm still very proud of it. I think it was a really good release and it did really well for me. It's basically a project of Matt Guillory, the keyboard player, and myself. We've already written a whole bunch of new songs for the next one. It's just the matter of me finding the time to actually do it. But yeah, I thought it was a great album, I thought it was very strong and all the players did a fantastic job and the production on it is excellent, so yeah, it was a good thing.
How was the reaction of the media and the Dream Theater fans?
It was great. I didn't read one bad review about it. And as far as I know most of the fans that I met or talked to online said it was really cool. It was a good reaction. I'm sure some people there that didn't like it but you can't satisfy everyone.
So, you don't even have the slightest of ideas of when the next one can be made and released?
If it was to happen I can't see myself recording it not until the end of this year and maybe the beginning of next year and then it would be out in 2008 sometime.
Because you're busy touring...
Yeah, we're doing that. And I still want to finish the melodies and the lyrics to all the songs that Matt and I wrote. I gotta do that while I'm touring and it's kinda little hectic. Especially right now because we're just starting up. But it'll come out and the new songs are really cool. There's a really cool vibe and groove to it. It's pretty heavy at times and atmospheric at times, so it's cool.
Okay, now let's see the Dream Theater related things. You have switched record labels and left Atlantic for Roadrunner. How come?
Because we had finished our contractual obligations with Atlantic. We have done with them 15 years and basically we wanted to look at other labels because we just felt that there were labels out there that better understood Dream Theater and that could promote and market us with much more focus and determination. We've been aware of Roadrunner for a very long time and we realised that they totally get behind any of their artists. No matter who they'd signed, whether be Slipknot or Trivium or Stone Sour, they always got behind their artists and they are a really great labels. They have the same mentality that all the labels used to have and that is that you develop your artist and you do whatever you can to make people to come aware of that artist or that group. So that was really attractive to us. I mean we've met with other labels and they were all excited to sign us but we felt that Roadrunner really best understood Dream Theater and knew what we were going after.
But right now both Atlantic and Roadrunner belongs to Warner...
Yeah, but Roadrunner is still a separate entity, so they might be under that umbrella but they still have their people that run Roadrunner and they have the final say. It's not like they are told of what they can or can't do. They're still their own entity.
After doing it for a really long time how can you keep the music of Dream Theater fresh and challenging?
Well, I think one of the ways we keep it fresh is that we all have our finger on the pulse of what's going on in music today and the bands that are interesting and unique. But I think too that just as a band we always continued to grow and what's been really important to all of us is that we feel that we're exploring new areas, new waters. We're always experimenting, we're always pushing the envelope, but at the same time we feel that we still have so much to offer. We've never had a situation where we've been in a studio writing that we had a mental block or a writer's block. It's never been like that. It's always been that we have ideas and communicate well. We've been together for so long that there's a chemistry and a synergy that's going on that really enables us to come up with new music and each and every album make it somewhat different and interesting and exciting.
My first impression of your new album was that it's kinda like a mix between the aggression of "Train of Thought" and the more progressive stuff of "Octavarium". How do you see that?
Yeah, absolutely. "Train of Thought" was what it was. It was our heaviest album and that's what we set off to do: we wanted it to be extremely relentless and aggressive and bombastic and all that. With "Octavarium" it was a bit more of a progressive angle on things. With this album it's kind of a collection of how our albums have all been, bringing it all together but keeping it contemporary sounding. So, you're right, there's the progressive and the heavy and some of the other styles and it creates a deeper presentation of the music and keeps everything balanced because of that.
You mentioned that you wanted "Train of Thought" to be an aggressive album from the beginning. Did you decide early on the style of the new one as well?
No, it wasn't like that with this album. With this album it was a very organic beginning. We basically went into the room, we sat down as a band and we just started jamming. Whereas with the other albums we were rather feeding off of demos like stuff from soundchecks that we might have been rocking around on with ideas. Or with "Octavarium" we were coming in and talking about a direction and wanting to do a specific kind of angle for each and every song. With this album it was different, we were just like, "Let's just see what comes out" and then once you start to establish something that you like and something that you feel that you're making ground with, that's when everything starts to come together and you feed from those seeds and then it kind of directs where the rest of the music is gonna go.
I've heard that last year was the first in many that you had a proper summer holiday...
Oh yeah, we needed that break. We took six months off. We just said, "See you later, have a good life and wee you in six months." It was really necessary because we have been going full throttle since 1992 basically not taking that much time off in between albums and it was just crazy. We needed to get away from it and recharge the batteries and come back and I think it was really really important and necessary.
Do you think you can stick to this formula next time as well?
Probably we will. This tour is going on until at least next May and maybe even into June depending if they want us to come back and do some festivals, so it would probably work its way into next summer and we'd say "see you later" and take six months off and get back in the studio. We all needed it and we all need to have some time to spend in the summer months with our families.
Ever since the release of "Train of Thought" we know that you like bands like Metallica and Pantera and their influence is also on the new album. How's the reception of these songs by the fans?
It's mixed and it surprises me because it's almost like people say, "That might be too Metallica or Slayer" or "That sounds very similar to Muse, Tool" and I'm like, "Well, do they have the rights to that kind of style of music?" Is that mean that we can't go into those areas of music and we can't show the way that we would like to express ourselves with a more heavier based song or a more alternative approach to songs? It really surprises me, but for the most part there's a really good reception to those. But you do get those comparison and I think a lot of it stands from the fact that people just wanna be able to make comparisons to something that they are familiar with.
They say, "It sounds like Metallica"? So what?
Yeah, who gives a shit? No, I mean I love Metallica but it's so us at the end of the day because we wrote that song.
It's Mike's continuation of the 12 step program he started long time ago. He had mentioned it to the band before the music was even written of what sort of song he needed for this step. He said that he needed a more mellow approach to his 8th or 9th step. He wanted something melancholic, so we brought it down and made it more atmospheric and I guess a bit sad in a way and hypnotic as well.
What do the spoken words stand for?
The spoken words are the guest speakers that came in and spoke. It was their own words. "Repentance" is like you wanna make amends for any wrongdoings that you've done in the past. So you want to be able to say something that you'll be able to reflect on so that you won't linger in the past and you'll be able to move forward on a more positive energy. It was let up to each guy that spoke on the album to say their own thing, how they wanted to express their regret for anything that they've ever done in the past that they're not proud of.
One of the most surprising songs on the album "Prophets of War" with it's nineties pop vibe. How come?
Why not? (Laughs) It's something that we wanted to write. It definitely has more mainstream pop kind of feel to it, even a techno feel to it, but it's something that we've always appreciated in bands. Anyway, it's just our take on it and I think it fits well. That's part of the balancing within the album is that you come up with a song like this. You cannot put the same songs on the album. You listen to three songs and put on another disc.
Does the album title "Systematic Chaos" reflect to the band's music in a way?
To be honest with you the album title was taken from songs of the album. There's a word "systematic" in one song and there's a word "chaos", so we just kinda thought that we'd put that into the title and make it "Systematic Chaos". We'd rather just put it out there and leave it up to the listener to interpret it as to what it says to them. But yeah, I mean you can make those connections and analogies and they are probably valid. There's always a process and there's always a reasoning behind what we do and it's always thought out and that's the "system". And at times it might sound like we're just going off on a tension and we're just being crazy and that's the "chaos". But really there's a method to the madness, so to speak. Believe it or not there's a reason behind everything.
I think this can also be interpreted for the world we're living in...
Yeah, absolutely. Sure. If you think about it we all have a system that we kinda stay within those parameters and that's what keeps us civil to one another. But then around us there's always turmoil, unrest and hatred and war and that's the unfortunate other side of it. That's the chaos.
I noticed that you don't really like to touch upon political things but you kinda relate to that in a personal way in your lyrics.
Yeah, that's true. With "Prophets of War" the one thing that I do... I like to talk about social issues and I did that with "Sacrificed Sons" as well. But I never am the voice for any one particular side, so I always stay neutral and I just kind of enlighten everyone to actually the reality and what is going on. And let other people to make up their minds as to what they think is right and what they think is wrong. So, it's best to keep it neutral and more just to telling them of what's going on.
Do you have a favourite song on the album?
Yeah, "In Presence of Enemies Part 2" is probably my favourite and "The Ministry of Lost Souls" is probably the other one right now.
The epic song was split into two. Is there a special reason for it?
Well, it's not a masterminded thing, it's just made sense for the tracklist this way. In a way it kinda presents each as a separate chapter. You have the first chapter and you have time to set with that and when you get to the end of the album you can hear the second part.
What do you think is the best song to play live off the album?
"Prophets of War" would be a lot of fun to play live just because of all the chants. And I also think that "In The Presence of Enemies Part 2" is really cool to play just because it's just a great song. I love the way it builds, it's just very dynamic.
Are you gonna be playing the entire new album at some shows?
Not right now. We're just playing a few songs off the album. I think we'll probably be playing more in the fall when we come back to Europe for the second leg of the tour. That's when we're gonna concentrate more on the new songs. Really this current leg is more festivals with the odd shows in between, so we're just kind of concentrating on playing songs from various albums and just keeping it fun.
How can you decide on the setlist?
We never decide at the setlist. Mike does. Mike has from the very beginning. When we started out touring with "Images and Words" he was writing the setlist and he has written every single setlist from day one. There's no reason to ask the other guys as I think he does a great job. he writes a setlist and it's great. he's very very particular of what goes on and it's very scientific because he has every set on his computer that we've ever played in every city. So he goes back in that city and he sees the songs that we've played and he makes sure that we don't repeat. So the fans are always getting something new and the cannot say "Oh my god, it's the same damn set", it's not gonna happen. He's always been that way and I think that's what's really enabled us to put on a show that isn't like a typical show. Because I know - I'm not gonna say any names - there are several bands out there, and they get a setlist together and they play the same setlist every single night. I don't know how they do it really, because we're so used to playing different setlists every night that it keeps it exciting and interesting and makes it a lot more fun for us and as well as the fans.
Is there any song that you would never play live for some reason?
There's probably one song we haven't played... "Space-Dye Vest" from "Awake", which was pretty much a Kevin Moore song. It was a foreshadowing of where he was gonna go. But I think we've played everything else basically.
The album was just released a few days ago and you're already touring. IsnÂ’t it a problem?
No, because I think of the history of Dream Theater a lot of people even if they don't know the new songs it's all the other songs that they're already familiar with. It's an event and our fans unbelievable. I'm sure every band says that but our fans are exceptional in the sense that they don't come out to one show, a several of them come out to many shows. It's just so passionate that night when we're doing the show as they are singing along and excited. It's a great relationship that we have with our fans. They are really unbelievable.
Today it is Charlie Dominici opening up for your band. How did this come together?
I think what really set the flame on fire was when Charlie did the show with us a couple of years ago when we did that whole DVD. He had come on stage and sung a few songs with us. I think that put the fire back in him, so he recorded one album and then he started to work on another album with an actual band with him. He started staying in touch with Mike and Mike put him in touch with a label, and then the label signed him to a record deal, so basically one thing led to another. Now he lives in Hungary and his band is from Sardinia, so it's like a universal community. But it's great, he's pretty excited to be here and able doing this. He's very grateful that he can come out and do a few shows with us. It's great. I spoke to him briefly after the show last night and he had a great time.
You've been to Hungary more than a couple of times...
Is there any other venue we can play? (Laughs) My god, we always play this place. I think one time we played here Mike was wearing the Kiss mask. I think it was about ten years ago. Every time we come here the shows have been great and the fans are totally enthusiastic. We did an instore one time and the last one was pretty crazy.
Can you always keep track of where you are at the moment?
Oh yeah. But some days I will wake up on the bus like "Where the hell am I? Which city?" but the bus driver is always there and he tells ya. When I'm on stage I always make sure that the city is written on the setlist (Laughs). But for the most part unless I'm extremely tired I know where I am.
So, you won't say "Good afternoon Bucharest" tonight...
Yeah, yeah. (Laughs) "Alright San Francisco, hope you have a good time here." (Laughs) It hasn't happened yet.