Dream Theater: “We Knew That We Wanted To Make An Extremely Bold Statement”

Tell us about the new video for “The Enemy Inside” off of the Dream Theater album and the reasoning behind why you guys wrote the song, and how it led into working with the PTSD and Disabled Warrior Project?

James LaBrie: The Enemy Inside, was put together obviously while we were in the studio. It was going to be probably the big metal track of the album because the rest of the album is more or less, in the vein of the two predominant or primary elements in our music the metal and the progressive side of music. So, those two elements are always kind of presenting themselves pretty much within each song composition. Once we finalized the arrangement and it was completed; John started to pen some words, and was very much intrigued by the post-traumatic stress being put on military or anybody serving our country in a conflicting way. At that point, he started to talk to me about what the message was. He was really focusing on discussing the stories that are out there and the truths our women and men that are serving our country and what is happening to them personally on a peripheral sense; be it relationships at home, with friends, family, relatives, however far it spans from there. It’s very destructive, and it’s something that leaves a scar on the individual and on the members of family and so on. It was something that he really wanted to talk about. I think with this song, the subject matter is of a very political nature. I remember saying we’ve got to walk that fine line, and he said, “Absolutely, but I think it needs to be known, and it’s something that affects millions of people around the world.” As far as supporting the cause and that it’s just something that kind of materialized from when the video was being talked about and what we thought was important to include in the video, and then we thought let’s take it even further. We want to leave it to the listener to come to their conclusion, but at the same time be enlightened to the reality of what is actually going on here and just how important it is and how vital it is so that we can continue to live our lives of liberty so to speak. If it wasn’t for the men and women that are representing us in democracy, then none of this would exist. I think to a certain extent it is taken for granted because the average human being does not have to deal with that.

Let’s talk about the album as a whole. How do you guys feel?

We are ecstatic! That’s definitely how we all feel and our label Roadrunner as well. We’re all over the moon about how it’s going, but they were there from day one. When they were coming in and listening to the songs as we were creating them in the studio, they were completely pumped and psyched, and they really thought there was something going on here album-wise that was really going to even push our notoriety and our awareness around the world even further. A lot of what made this album really work for us was the fact that we brought in Mike Mangini from the very beginning. On A Dramatic Turn of Events, granted he was involved when it came time for him to lay down his drum tracks, but he wasn’t there while the music was being written. This time, he was, and I think it really, really brought in a completely different feel from the very beginning, from day one just because of the way that he interprets, the way that he responds, he’s very intuitive, and spontaneous, that’s the kind of musician he is. Beyond that, I think it was a matter of us consciously being aware that we wanted this album to include certain aspects of the band that we know have always been the more palatable, attractive, or appealing parts of the band. We’ve been talking for quite some time about writing a track that would be perfect for opening each and every night that we go on stage to perform a show. We were talking about a song being very cinematic and very movie or story-like, we did that with the False Awakening, the opening track. Then we also knew that on this album we wanted to include an instrumental; which we haven’t done in almost a decade, that too has always been a part of Dream Theater that the fans have always embraced. We also knew that we wanted to do another Epic song, which we haven’t done for quite some time, coming out with Illumination Theory (which is 22 minutes long). I think having those three songs on the album really kind of brought it to a whole new level once again, but also keeping it relevant and contemporary sounding as well as the other songs.

My favorite track is The Bigger Picture, that’s a classic progressive Dream Theater song with strong melody. The way that this album – the sequencing of the album makes it very dynamic. The melody and harmonies really stand out on there. We knew that we wanted to make an extremely bold statement musically, and we had to be courageous enough to say that we’re going to self-title the album this far into our career.

A Dramatic Turn of Events – that album, we knew there was going to be a lot of scrutiny, a lot of apprehensive feelings from the fans, but I think at the same time, it was a matter of us saying, you know, we are the same band. Listen to this music. Nothing has changed. Nothing has been lost. There’s a new drummer in the band, granted, but once again, the identity and the music that has always been who we are has not been lost. That was proven, not only with the release of the album, but when everyone saw the shows throughout the world tour, it was taken even further that there’s a great spirit in the band. There was camaraderie. With this album, it was like, okay, let’s just get in the studio and be who we are and put out the most amazing album that we can possibly write, and take it into the next chapter of Dream Theater, we achieve that.

It’s amazing to hear you say that you after all these years together and with the super talented guys that make up your band that you would have to prove anything, but that’s the shame of it. I think fans are always going to be that way when a member leaves.

You know, there’s a lot of controversy out there. We knew that as far as “Are these guys really going to go on?” “What’s the situation there? Is it going to have the same vibe?” Yes. Unfortunately, that’s the way people are when they see one of the original members leave from any band. That’s the first thing they’re going to jump to no matter who it might be as far as somebody. “Is it going to be this band that I grew up with or that I have been a part of their ride for so many years?” “Is it still going to feel the same to me?” That’s fine. That’s a natural reaction. I don’t fault anyone for that. You need to deal with that, and you need to go through that process, and you need to prove yourself. We’re just as excited, pumped, and hungry at making it go down with something that is memorable, and something that you will want to continue listening to, and something that you will want to continue going on for quite some time into the future. That’s who we are. We’ll all know at some point it will end, but I don’t see that happening for quite some time.

Will Dream Theater be in the states in 2014?

Yes. I think that first of all, we just recently have been having big production meetings with the actual set up for the tour. What can the U.S. fans expect? It’s going to be an amazing tour. We’re really working on the show and it will be spectacular, we want everyone to leave with that feeling that there’s something that resonates with them, and it stays with them for quite some time. From the production end of things and the actual visual and obviously the music aspects of a concert, we’re thrilled, and it’s really exciting what we’re going to be doing with the next tour. I can’t really say exactly what we are doing, but I can’t wait till people see it and experience it. Realistically, I can’t see us starting a North American tour until I would say April of 2014 just because we start in Europe. January 15th we start in Portugal. We’re going to be over there until I think March 1st we come home. Then at that point, we’re going to want to take a little bit of a breather and recharge our batteries, so usually it’s a three or four week down time, and then we’ll start up again. It should be North America next spring. It’s either us going back and doing lot of summer festival shows over in Europe or going to Asia, India and possibly the Middle East, stuff like that, going over into those parts of the world. From there, South America obviously, and getting down into those areas. Usually, the tour is around anywhere 14 months to 18 months, so there’s quite a bit of touring ahead of us.

That’s exciting. That’s the way it should be, especially these days. It’s great that the fans are still there. I think it’s going to be awesome.

Our fans are phenomenal, and I think we as a band were reminded of that just recently with the album release. We came in number 7 on Billboard, and number 5 in Canada on charts, and in the top 5 pretty much around the world, number 1 in Japan, and throughout Europe it was just phenomenal. We’re blessed. There’s no doubt about it. We have a phenomenal fan base around the world that are always there and have always been, through many years have supported us, and continue to do so. We’re very fortunate to have the kind of longevity that we’ve garnered in this industry and career, it’s incredible.