마이크 포트노이 인터뷰 (2007 12 31)

[Anti-Prince]

systematic chaos

How did you feel when you learned that "Systematic Chaos" had leaked onto the web weeks or months after its release? What's your opinion on this whole MP3-file-sharing thing that's been going on?

"Honestly, I understand the fans. They are willing to have an album as soon as they can. I feel the same when one of my favorite bands finishes an album. I can't wait to get my hands on it, so I totally understand that. But for me, on the other side of the fence, it's frustrating sometimes because you want people to hear it directly in its full fidelity presentation. You want them to see the artwork, and the booklet, and kinda get the whole big picture, so it's frustrating that that can't always be maintained, but, you know, it's uncontrollable. I can't get crazy about it.

When I read it leaked I was actually very calm because we expected that to happen, and to be honest I was surprised that we held it so long without a leak, cause we delivered the record in mid February, and it leaked 3 months after. I think we held it pretty well."

Which were your main objectives with "Systematic Chaos"? What kind of fans have you been trying to reach?

"Our objective is always to do the best record we can, and to make it a different record from the last. So, we made this record, we got into the studio and the immediate reaction was to try to do something different from "Octavarium", which had some kind of pop kind of songs, so I think from the get-go of this album, at least for me, I knew I wanted the album to be darker and more aggressive and powerful. Not really get very pop at all. I wanted this to be very cool and have balls, so I think there's a lot to achieve that, you know. I mean, it's pretty diverse.

"Train Of Thought" was darker and aggressive and had balls, but it was kind of that way thru the whole record, while in this album it has a lot of different styles, still got mellow songs and progressive songs, but even those songs are still kinda dark and powerful.

What we always try to reach are new fans, but I think our audience is pretty varied, because our music and our styles are pretty varied. It's not like we have one audience. We have very different kind of audiences, heavy metal people, we have progressive rock people, and we've got musicians, people that like that kind of pop. We are always tying to reach all of them and trying to satisfy a lot of different people. And on one way it's tough because we never get really into one category, but on the other hand it's good because we are able to appeal to a lot of different people, and I like to think that these people have broad musical taste. I know I have broad musical taste. I love everything from Lamb Of God to Coldplay to The Mars Volta to Mastodon. I'd like to think that there are other people with broader taste that runs that spectrum as well, and those are the type of people we are trying to reach."

What was the inspiration to make this record? Which were the albums/bands that were on the "Inspiration Corner" during the composition and recording sessions of "Systematic Chaos"?

"There's no real "Inspiration Corner". Everybody says that because we showed that on the video, but the reality is the other guys in the band don't really listen to a lot of new bands, so, they're kind of in their own little bubbles when it comes to their personal listening tastes. For me, I listen to a lot of different thing, so I can tell you what I've been listening to. However, that's only gonna be what's running thru my brain throughout the making of the record, but by the time I've kinda shake things with the rest of the guys things to throughout different directions. It's hard to really pinpoint it."

How do you incorporate the elements of those new things you listen to and maybe those new influences to Dream Theater's style and writing process?

"I am a music fan and I am always listening to music, so when I am driving to the studio every day I'm listening to these bands, Muse, Lamb Of God, Coldplay. They are gonna be naturally swimming thru my head and my subconscious and I'm inevitably going to have that influencing my musical taste, kinda driving a lot of ideas and direction, but how do we apply them? You know, we'd be writing something and we work together when we write the music and some will say: "check this out". Then somebody else would say: "let's try to twist that and let's make three/four and then let's go to the chorus". We kinda work it out together and build these arrangements as a band.

As far as the influences goes, my head is like a giant library or a giant jukebox, so I can hear any riff at any time and say that it reminds me of Queen, or Led Zeppelin, only because I'm such a fan, and I have so much music running thru my brain that when something comes up and reminds me of something, we'll embrace it and just try to make it our own. We will try to turn it into something that ultimately sounds like Dream Theater. But, there are going to be sounds and influences from all over the world, inevitably."

We mentioned the different styles in "Systematic Chaos"… how does the band deal with the constant changes and experiments in its sound? Your albums have been so different one from the other that it is hard to believe that everyone in the band agreed with everything. Isn't this "constant motion" in the musical direction a challenge in terms of keeping a good relationship between you guys?

"Honestly, we actually get along better now than ever. I think as we get older and the longer we are together we understand each other more, we accept each other's personalities, which are all very different. The five of us are incredible different people. But thru the years it's taken time to get comfortable with how the band works and functions, and in the early days we'd fight and pick and argument on every single decision because we were uncomfortable. In the past 10 years or so, we run the band very differently, I mean, a lot of stuff is just ran by me and decided by me without having to discuss it with the band, and those guys are totally comfortable with that because they trust my vision and direction and they are thrilled to be a success for this band. Rather than fighting it and discussing everything, which inevitably is gonna cause disagreements and some arguments, we have a very comfortable chemistry now, and everybody is very happy with it."

What did inspire you, John Petrucci, and James LaBrie for the lyrics of "Systematic Chaos"?

"There are three different lyricists and all three with very different styles, so we are all kind of different from each other, but when we write the music we very much do that together; it's a collaborative process. When it comes to the lyrics, though, we kinda go off as individuals, and everybody is free to have his own individual voice or style, without having to collaborate.

So, in the case of "Systematic Chaos", I'd say that John Petrucci's lyrics are very kinda fantasy-driven and they are kinda fictional histories about vampires and monsters and the battle between good and evil. He wanted to write in that theme just because the darkness of the music kinda called for it.

My lyrics are very kinda personal, and things out of my life. "Constant Motion" and "Repentance" deal with this. On one side, this obsessive-compulsive-workaholic-nature, and on the other side, the 12-step program I've been dealing with on the past couple songs, so all stuff like that in my life.

Then James' lyrics on this album are kind of the reality days, the political part of the world, his thinking of what's going on in the world. Between the three lyricists you have three very different styles: one is fictional, one is personal and one is political."

This album is coming right after "Score", and it marked the 20th anniversary of the band. Would you say that "Score" marked also the end of an era to Dream Theater?

"This definitely feels like the beginning of a new era for us, only because "Score" really felt like such a definitive ending of an era. Yeah, the "Score" DVD and the concert at the Radio City Music Hall… that was such a finale that after that we took a break and went home and just really felt that that was the end of the first 20 years. When we started the "Systematic Chaos" recording sessions in September of 2006, it just really felt like: "OK, this is the start of the next 20 years, where do we go from here?" It just felt like a clean slate to work with, and signing with a new record company. Having all new people working with us really helps and gives that feel as well. It's nice.

After "Score" and later the Radio City show, it kinda felt like: "what the hell do we do now?" So we took a break and when we started making the new record it was nice to just take a deep breath and say: "OK, let's start from scratch and just go wherever we go."

label

Talking of the new deal, you're basically the very first band in the world that left your former label and ended up joining your former label weeks after. Technically it is like that, because Warner now owns the majority of Roadrunner, right? Do you feel like still being on Warner? What has changed?

"Warner distributing Roadrunner really only have to do with the way that the product is put in the store, but has nothing to do with our relationship with the people. It's a completely different label, from Roadrunner to Atlantic or Elektra, where we previously were. So it really has to do with the relationships. We have signed our previous deals 15 years ago. It was a 7-albums-deal, and we signed it before "Images And Words". It was a very corporate-major-label situation, and when we finally made a new record, people at the label were constantly getting fired or laid-off, or the brand on the CD would change from Atco to East/West to Elektra to Atlantic, and there was no consistency, there was no relationships between us and the label. We were just a name to them, and they kept re-signing us every time and picking up the option because we sold a lot of records each time, and they could make money out of it. But there was no personal relationship and no respect for what we did artistically, because we were just getting shuffled around each album.

With Roadrunner now, they are a great family, they are a great group of people that are consistently working with their bands, and they don't shuttle their personnel every month like major labels. They have a nice little family there, and they respect the artist. Every single band they sign gets care, attention and respect, and it's nice to actually have a team again, that believes in us, and admire and respect what we've built throughout all this time. A team that can actually take our music and promote it and market it like it's supposed to."

Do you feel like Roadrunner treats you like a big band?

"Absolutely, it's a monumental difference. I mean, if you look past on Elektra we were mixed in with a bunch of pop acts, and rap acts, and R&B acts and mainstream rock acts. We were just a small fish of a big pond previously, and now with Roadrunner, their cast is all bands that are part of this one kind of music that we are in; metal and progressive music; they sign bands like Opeth, Black Label Society, and Megadeth. This is all stuff that is part of our world, and within that world, we've built up a lot of respect throughout all the years we've been doing this. We are now kind of a big fish on a medium pond."

What's your stance on video-clips nowadays? I believe you were not very positive about this topic some years ago.

"We were against it 10 years ago. It didn't make sense to us, because places like MTV were not going to play us. It was just a waste of time and money. But since then, and the age of the Internet, it's grown to so many new places that the last couple of albums we actually would have liked to had done videos, but the label just wasn't supportive on that point anymore. Nowadays we can post things on YouTube and on your website, iTunes and all new applications. When we started making videos 10 years ago, the Internet was barely around, so it's a much different world for us now."

What about the relationship between the band and the fans? I heard you had some problems with a fan in your forum. I believe he was requesting you guys to play "Scenes From A Memory" in its entirely in South America, and you were not very happy about the way he requested it. How was that?

"We deal with a lot of passionate fans. Our fans are the best fans in the world, but that also means that they do the craziest and the most passionate things, and there are always gonna be fans that make requests like that. I pay so close attention to them, that I think some fans mistake that relationship for something like friendship or familiarity, and sometimes they neglect the fact that we are the band and they are the fans. Because of the forum they start to think that they are the ones calling the shots and making the decisions and controlling our moves. So, you know, I understand that sometimes the lines get blurred by the fans pretty easily, and I can respect their passion. When they post things and requests and want us to play this album or want us to play that album, I can relate to that passion because I am like that to my favorite bands. But because of my contact and presence online I think that they maybe take that relationship for granted and maybe cross that line sometimes. But, you know, I can appreciate it, I'm a fan, and I can totally relate to our fans. That's why I do all the stuff that I do for the band. It's because I'm trying to give them what I've always wanted my favorite bands to give to me."

live

Why did you decide to have an opening act with you again down the road after so long?

"I think there are a couple of reasons: First, it was incredibly exhausting to be playing 3-hours shows every single night, especially with me writing a different set-list every night. It's a tremendous amount of work for us to be constantly playing and rehearsing and having all this music up and running, so it was exhausting and we were finding ourselves in the end of the night just absolutely dead-tired and passing out. So, one side of it is just trying to catch our breathe and get a break from that.

The other side of it is that I don't like doing the same thing every tour over and over. We've done 3 world tours now with "an evening with", so I just felt it was time to mix it up and do something different. It's not the same old thing. That's not to say we won't go back doing any of it in the future, because we do really enjoy that, but I think we just needed a break from it for now.

And then the third aspect is that having an opening act gives a chance to lot of great younger bands. It's an opportunity for them to play for a great audience. The bands that are in this gender of music don't necessarily get the chance to have a lot of exposure because of the nature of the music, so playing for Dream Theater gives them a chance to play in front of a lot of people and make some new fans. I've always prided myself on picking really quality opening bands that I really like. In the past I've picked bands like Fates Warning, Porcupine Tree, Pain Of Salvation, and Spock's Beard. So these are all bands I really admire and think our fans will really enjoy. Symphony X were an obvious choice to fall under that category."

Charlie Dominici and his band opened some shows along the tour. What do you feel about his return to the scene? Have you listened to his new album?

"Yeah, and I'm very very proud of him and I'm happy for him. He'll be probably the first to tell you that. I helped him get back on his feet, I helped him find the band, I helped him find his record deal, and I've been very supportive of trying to help him in any way I can. And inviting him to open the shows for us was is another step in that direction as well, so, I'm supportive of him. Other ex-members like Derek Sherinian and Kevin Moore went on to have careers on their own, so, I figure it's great that Charlie, after 15 years away from it all, is finally getting back into it."

kevin moore

Talking of Kevin, I think a lot of Dream Theater fans were looking forward to seeing him onstage with you on the 20th anniversary tour. Taking your relationship with him as a musician and a person into account, which would you say that are the reasons for his always kind-of-reserved-defensive attitude when it comes to talking about Dream Theater and getting involved in things related to the band?

"Well, I was disappointed he didn't do it as well, It's not like he wasn't invited. I did invite him to participate with us at the 20th anniversary. I invited him to participate on the 15th anniversary of "When Dream And Day Unite". The invitation has always been there but he always turned it down, so any disappointment should not be pointed at us, it should be pointed at him. That's just his nature, he's the type of person that is very strong-minded, and I have to say the word stubborn. Once he sets his mind to something he sticks to it and you can't change it. It was because of that that I realized that if he had stayed in Dream Theater, the band would have probably broken up. People look back and comment about "Images And Words" and "Awake", and look at Kevin like there was this great formula and chemistry; that's not the reality. The reality is that the personal chemistry and the working and creative chemistry would not have lasted another year or two. He's not at all interested in progressive music, he's not at all interested in heavy music, so there was absolutely no place for his taste vision in Dream Theater anymore."

Would you say that he is a difficult person to work with?

"On a personal level, yes, he's very very difficult to work with, and that would probably have broken the band up. So, the people that are kind of waiting and wishing so see him back in the picture have a kind of fantasy in their head which is actually not at all reality. I think the band is bigger and better than ever, and it's just unfortunate that Kevin does not acknowledge his past. Charlie Dominici and Derek have both been actively participating on stage with us. They participated in the "Score" documentary, they participated in the upcoming book-biography that is coming up, and Kevin time and time again has refused to participate in this activities because he just doesn't acknowledge his past, such a shame. It's a shame for the fans."

the legacy

Albums like "Images And Words", "Awake", and "Scenes From A Memory" stood the test of time. Could you feel that they would be so significant and important to progressive metal at the time you wrote them? Do you see "Train Of Thought", "Octavarium", and "Systematic Chaos" standing the test of time as well?

"If we did realize we were making it? No, we were just making the best album we possibly could, and that's how we do every single album. We are not trying to change the world, we are just trying to make music that we feel artistically satisfied with. As far as the recent albums standing the test of time, well, really, the only way to know that is to move forward and keep moving and see where we stand 10 years from now. But I do think that they are as artistically satisfying for us as any albums we've made. Every time we make a record we are trying to make the best record we possibly can. That's the way it's been from day one and that's the way it is still today. We do the best we can and we'll see where we will stand in the history books down the road."

www.dreamtheater.net

www.roadrunnerrecords.com

www.bonnieramigo.no

Composed by Adriana Califano & Thiago Sarkis

Support: Gilberto Bressan Jr.

특별한 내용이 있는 것 같진 않고.. 케빈 무어에 대해 언급한 내용이 좀 눈에 띄네요.

같이 작업하기 아주 어려운 사람이라고도 하고, 케빈이 밴드를 떠나지 않았더라면 밴드가 곧 해체되었을거라는 둥

케빈을 좋게 생각하고 있진 않나보네요=ㅁ=;;

[꿈선율]

늘 생각하는 것이지만, 한 멤버에 대해 팬들의 입장에선 실력이랄까 취향에 따라 선호도가 차이가 생기지만, 역시 실제 밴드의 멤버로 함께 활동하는 당사자들의 입장에선 그 멤버와의 인간적인 유대감이 더 크게 작용하는 거를 다시 한번 확인하게 되었네요. 팬들은 단지 팬들이 생각하는 환상으로만 케빈 무어를 원한다는 거에 대해서도 포트노이는 아쉬워 하고 있네요. Score가 그들의 20년을 결산하는 거였다면, Systematic Chaos는 앞으로의 20년의 시작이라고 말하는 부분이 참 감동적이네요. ㅋㅋㅋ

[뷁트루치]

음.. 케빈이 계속 있었다면 밴드가 깨졌을거라니.. 제 생각과 똑같네요; ㅋㄷ 근데 포트노이가 이렇게까지 케빈을 싫어할줄은 몰랐는데;;;

[F.I.D (Falling Into Dream)]

케빈이 좀 까칠하게 생겼잖아요 그래도 인간적으로 싫어하거나 하진 않을껍니다. 음악적 성향의 차이가 너무 커서 끊임없이 충돌이 생기다 최악의 상황에 해산까지 갈수도 있다는 것뿐이지

[entropia]

3,4번씩이나 게스트로 초대했는데, 케빈이 매번 거절하니까 이젠 싫어할수밖에요.ㅡㅡ;; 케빈이 탈퇴한후에도 친했더라도 저러면, 싫어지겠죠..

[싱클레어]

케빈은 매우 섬세하고 예민한 사람이었나 보네요...;;

[신들린기타]

인터뷰내용들이 참 흥미롭군요~ 특히 글 후반부쪽에있는 주제들이ㅋㅋ

[Nixazure]

글 잘읽었습니다. 20년후에도 여전하길...