Originally published in Gigantour.com · July 2005
Interview With Ray Amico, Production Manager For Dream Theater
Interview2 min read
Interviewer: Sarge
07.19.05
Sarge: How long have you been with Dream Theater?
Ray: I've been Dream Theater's Production Manager for 3 years.
Sarge: 3 years? That's a long time...
Ray: Long time...I've done a lot of touring with these guys; they are an international act and they do incredibly well over the entire world. They've got a huge following. Europe is fantastic for them...Asia..a lot of big, big Dream Theater fans all over the world.
Sarge: Now what are they coming off of right now?
Ray: We just kind of started this year. They released a new album just a couple of months ago, Octavarium, and we started our touring cycle this year in June with a bunch of European metal and rock festivals and we just got back from that and are heading straight into this.
Sarge: Are you excited about this tour?
Ray: Yeah, we're all really excited because everybody being big Megadeth fans to begin with, ears all perked up when they said we'd be doing this. We're looking forward to a really good, heavy, rockin tour because Dream Theater is the kind of band who is very, very diverse. They go from a very progressive kind of rock to very heavy stuff...very, very diverse kinds of music. This is a good chance for them to really show their heavy side.
Sarge: So I'm guessing that they [the band] are stoked about doing this...you said their ears perked up
Ray: Mike [Portnoy] has been psyched about this. Him and Dave [Mustaine] started talking about this months ago. When he [Dave] first approached him about it, I remember Mike telling me that this was a perfect, perfect place for Dream Theater to be at this time so they are very psyched about the whole thing.
Sarge: What can we expect to see on this tour?
Ray: I would say on Dream Theater's side, expect a little bit of difference from the other bands. They're the kind of band where they really expand themselves. I don't know how many other bands on this leg actually have keyboards involved and things like that. Maybe they have a little bit of a different flavor than some of the other bands. Their new album and their last album, Train of Thought, have a lot of very, very intricate and heavy music on them. I think what they are going to do is really be able to show their chops and show their rock.
Sarge: Outstanding. Well, I guess we will be seeing you out there on the road and we'll be talking to you again.
Ray: Cool...Rock on.