John Petrucci interview

Music Shots Live: How was the experience of visiting and meeting new audiences and countries like Guatemala and El Salvador?

John Petrucci: The first time we went to those countries – Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica – the reception was amazing. The day before last, played a great show in Costa Rica. It was really, really incredible, and the fans were happy that we finally came there. It took a while, but we got a great reception, and concerts were great, and we had a lot of fun.

MSL: The band is planning to record a DVD live in Argentina; what expectations do they have, and why did they choose this country?

JP: Well, we wanted to shoot two nights, and we are playing two nights in Buenos Aires. We’re very familiar with the venue, Luna Park. And we always have such a great audience in Argentina. So all the things put together made for it to be the perfect location. But I’m sure we could have shot it anywhere in South America. We have so much fun in Colombia and Brazil and Argentina and Chile. We have such a good time down here. It would have all been great, but we picked that venue. It’s gonna be great. It’s gonna be two different shows. Each show is about two hours and 40 minutes long, so it’s a lot of music. We have some special additions, so it should be a lot of fun.

MSL: Do you have plans to record videos from other countries to include on the DVD?

JP: Maybe. I’m not sure what the final content is gonna be on the DVD, but there’s a lot of things that we can do. We’re going to try to capture some of our experience in South America. So maybe.

MSL: What projects do you have as a band? Have you thought about making a concept album, like Metropolis II?

JP: It’s hard to tell yet. We’re not gonna be in the studio until next year. We will begin talking about the kind of album that we’re gonna do, but we haven’t really decided that yet. But I’m sure something like that would be fun. We just haven’t decided.

MSL: Apart from working with Dream Theater, what other projects does John Petrucci have for this year?

JP: Yeah, I’m working on that. I’m actually coming to South America again in October with G3. So I’ll be with Joe Satriani and Steve Morse in October. It’s always an amazing and fun tour for me as a guitar player. So that’s going to be really cool.

MSL: Will the G3 visit Colombia?

JP: Not on that tour, no. I think there’s only about eight or ten shows.

MSL: In the making of the album A Dramatic Turn Of Events, what changed in the creation and recording process, without Mike Portnoy in the studio?

JP: Well, we went into the studio without a drummer – it was just the four of us. We wrote and demoed for about two and a half months, and then went in and recorded, and I produced myself. So it was just different. Obviously, we have Mike Mangini in the band now, and we’ve been having a great time with him. The response from the fans all over the world has been great – in response to the record. Of course, we got the Grammy nomination last year, and it’s just been a successful world tour, and we’re very happy and very lucky to be able to do this.

MSL: How has the public reception with Mike Mangini been on the world tour?

JP: It’s been incredible. They really welcomed him. I mean, everywhere that we’ve gone through North America, through Europe and Asia, and now in South America, the reaction to Mike has been really incredible. We’re so happy that we have such great fans, such gracious fans. Everybody is just really appreciative and enjoys seeing Mike perform. He’s an amazing drummer. You’ll see him if you come to the show tomorrow in Colombia. He’s really, really out of this world. So, yeah, the reaction has been incredible.

MSL: What surprises await those attending your show in Colombia?

JP: We have a big show planned. We have a brand-new light and video show, and the video is projected on these floating cubes. There’s three of them across the stage – it looks really cool. Great light show, long set. Like I said, about two hours and 40 minutes. Many, many songs from all the albums, the drum solo and a lot of fun and cool stuff. There’s even a quiet moment on stage, an acoustic moment. So it should be a really, really good time for the audience.

MSL: What opinion do you have about the decline of the music market as you face it in the future?

JP: Well, there’s a lot of things. Since the technology has changed so rapidly, it’s hard for the industry to keep up. So it’s important to try to find new avenues. You see bands doing things that are more and more creative to try to get out there and get the music out there and get people educated. Social media has played a much larger role. It became a marketing tool for bands. Hopefully, as far as the intellectual property, the industry will keep up and we’ll be able to embrace the technology. But it’s difficult. It’s definitely had a negative impact on the music industry. Everybody’s out there trying their best, and you see a lot of bands doing more touring and relying on live income a lot more, which is something that we’ve always done from the beginning.