Derek Sherinian interview (excerpt)

Keith: So what are your personal feelings towards Moonbabies as opposed to the previous Planet X albums?

Derek: Moonbabies is a lot more Virgil-dominant in the composition and as a result of that, the music is way more complex that Universe, if you can imagine that. It's really just…I’ve never heard music like this before, harmonically or rhythmically. Simon Phillips has said the same thing. There's just a unique quality to this music in that I don't think there's ever been anything recorded as technical as this Planet X Moonbabies album. I'm speaking from mathematical standpoint. I can't take credit for it because as I said, Virgil was the main writer on Moonbabies. But you have to understand that Virgil is as we speak right now rewriting the text rhythmically all over the world. His comprehension of polyrhythms and independence of the limbs and superimposition of time signatures and polyrhythms is just beyond anything that we've heard, all of us. I'm fascinated from a standpoint even though I'm the founder of Planet X; I'm in awe of Virgil’s talent as like a freak show! It's funny, I find myself a lot of times like a carnival barker or promoter, “Look at him on the drums!” That's what I feel like! If you listen to me on some of the bootleg shows, that's what I sound like when I'm announcing him. That's how he inspires me. I think that's great to have that in your band and constantly have that inspiration because as a result, it's making me a much better player.

And here's the thing…I gotta give Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci a lot of credit because before I was in Dream Theater, if you looked at my track record, I had played in Kiss and Alice Cooper. I'd never played in any fusion or progressive bands whatsoever. All of my chops that I developed was a result of playing in Dream Theater. I had some chops from Berklee but I had never utilized them in a band situation. Dream Theater definitely showed me the light as far as developing a style on my instrument, forcing me to step up and really project. The difference between a guy that plays really good and being a great player is that the guy who's a great player has figured out a way to impose his personality into the music where a guy who plays really good is just playin’ the notes. He may be playing in tune and it may be in time but there's no personality to it a lot of times. That's the difference.