Peter Wildoer interview (excerpt)

How was it to audition for Dream Theater?

PW: That was an amazing experience to me! James contacted me through mail and asked me if I was interested in auditioning for them. That was honoring right there, just to get asked! This was only days after Portnoy left Dream Theater. A couple weeks later I got all the info about the audition, what songs we were to learn, who the other drummers were, date and time, etc. When I saw the names of the other drummer my jaws dropped to the floor and I just laughed out loud! Those drummers are the absolute elite of modern contemporary drumming. Just to be mentioned among those names was unreal to me.

[The other drummers: Marco Minnemann, Thomas Lang, Mike Mangini, Virgil Donati, Derek Roddy, and Aquiels Priester. -Ed.]

I had one month to prepare and at least two of those songs (particularly one song, The Dance of Eternity) are hard to learn as there are lots and lots of riffs and parts to memorize. I think I spent almost three weeks learning the parts and figuring out what Portnoy was playing. Then the last week or 10 days I practiced the songs every day. I knew I would be nervous at the actual audition and I wanted to be able to play the songs in my sleep — even if my mind wouldn’t be present, my muscles would play the songs anyway, hahaha. I also spent about an hour each day leading up to the audition for working on speed and stamina on the technical side.

Once in New York for the audition, it was like walking in a vacuum. I was nervous even days before the audition day. Finally at the rehearsal space at S.I.R. NY I got more than a friendly welcome and time to set up my drums and warm up. Petrucci started jamming and we just went into this nice jam session that probably lasted for 15 minutes. After that we talked a bit and the guys are very down to earth and nice so I felt way more comfortable. We then played through the three songs, that sums up to total of close to 30 minutes!, and that went flawlessly. They even told me that they could have gone on stage that same day with me and it would have been great! I was extremely happy to say the least, hahaha.

Mike Mangini landed the spot as Dream Theater’s new drummer, but I’m both honored and proud to have auditioned. To me, I think Mangini is the perfect fit for the band.