John Petrucci Answers Readers’ Questions: ‘Thanks to All the People Who Submitted’

Well, UG fans, freaks and aficionados. It’s time for another special presentation of the Readers’ Questions with Dream Theater guitar player John Petrucci. We put out the word for you to send in your queries and we’ve chosen some of the more interesting questions submitted. John was delighted to have been chosen for this special honor and his enthusiasm is reflected in his thoughtful responses. “Thanks again for the honor and I know it’s not everybody who gets this,” Petrucci said. “So I really appreciate that opportunity. Thanks to all the people who submitted questions.”

tjompiskompis: Would you like to do the Nightmare Cinema project again? Jordan can play guitar and Mike could plucka da bass.

JP: [laughs] Yeah, we have no plans of doing that again but everybody is certainly capable. That’s for sure.

You became Johnny James in that incarnation.

Yeah, exactly. That whole thing kind of imploded upon itself. It was funny for a while and then it became not funny, hah hah hah.

You covered Deep Purple’s “Perfect Strangers.” Is that one of your favorite Purple songs?

Yeah, that’s a great Purple song. I love that one. I love how when they came out with that and how that sound was so powerful for them. But it was pretty deep into their career at the same time. I thought that was really cool.

eatfresh1736: What are some non-prog bands that inspire you?

Well it depends on how you view prog. Because sometimes I categorize bands like Metallica for example as being a form of prog. If you listen to their music and song forms and especially earlier on, it was very out of the ordinary from what was going on in the length and arrangements and things like that. But if you just wanna call that metal, that would be a big influence. That’s always been a big one. In fact I’ve always said Dream Theater’s whole style kind of emanated from two kinds of fields.

What were the two styles?

One was prog and we were really into Rush, Yes and [Pink] Floyd. But at the same time because of our age and what was being played on the radio, it was everything from Ozzy to Metallica. So we had that whole influence of metal and that combined is really what crafted our sound and our style. It’s been that way ever since and that kind of philosophy of where a prog band plays in a metal style. It’s kind of fun so it’s sort of the best of both worlds.

You talk about Metallica being a major influence on the band. Did you ever see Dream Theater following in that tradition as a two-guitar group?

Yeah, I always did. A lot of bands we were influenced by that I was certainly into like Iron Maiden and Metallica, they did have two guitar players. But in a few different situations whether it be with Return to Forever with DiMeola and Chick [Corea] or even when we got into Yngwie and his band came out and he had Jens [Johansson] on keyboards. Even back to the Doors and the early stuff I was listening to with Kevin Moore, there was always a guitar/keyboard thing. Floyd was like that and as much as I was into the two-guitar bands, I always found it more interesting to interact with keyboards. I thought you could cover a broader spectrum that way so that’s what I drifted towards.

Spenner2810: How did you develop (a) your speed and (b) your style? When you hear a piece of a solo, you always know it’s a John Petrucci solo?

Thanks for the question. That’s really nice for somebody to say. I think it’s one of the most important things for guitar players and in particular because of the popularity of the instrument and how many people play the guitar and how different from one player to the next people can be. It’s one of those instruments where you really could have an identity or you can blend right in. So developing a style is so important. People ask me, “What’s your advice? How to you become successful or break through in the music business?” It’s not only your skill but it’s all about having an original and unique voice either on your instrument or in your songwriting.

That’s where a lot of bands fall down – they have all the technique in the world but they’re not saying anything new.

You have to have something that will make you stand out, separate you and make you identifiable. I mean I did that probably from being influenced by a range of players and maybe not just one style. I’d pick up stuff from Stevie Ray Vaughan and his approach to blues here and I’d pick up shred stuff from Al DiMeola and Allan Holdsworth and I’d listen to metal and Randy Rhoads and pick up that whole neo-classical thing. At some point in going to Berklee and listening to players like Mike Stern and John Schofield, I picked up some of that.

Your guitar style is really a blend of a lot of different influences?

I kind of mixed it all together and gravitated towards things I related to musically and that eventually helped develop my style. But a lot of also comes through writing and not just playing other people’s music but writing your own music. That’s one of the ways you can find your voice.

What about developing speed on the guitar?

As far as developing speed? I’ve said this so many times and I’ll say it again – the key component for me and I’ll never forget discovering this was finding out the benefits of playing to a metronome. How to take something you can play because maybe it was too advanced or too fast and just by working very methodically with a metronome, going slow and focusing on the cleanliness and the division of the beats and your technique and then gradually building up over a course of time. Whether that be during a half-hour or hour or 10 minutes.

Working with a metronome was really the key for you?

Your growth in technique and speed is just exponential. It’s unbelievable. So that’s how I developed my speed was by focusing on a very specific technique to get the most out of what I was doing. Then religiously using a metronome to gradually increase the speed of things until I could play them up to speed.

There is no shortcut or easy way to do it?

It’s consistency and you have to practice every day and you’ve got to put a lot of hours in. So all that combined is how I developed my speed. By doing that you kind of find these spots in your hands where the speed kid of locks in. It’s like starting a motor and then it kicks in and that’s when you kid of find your comfort zone.

You had mentioned Berklee earlier – you just recorded a new live album and film called Breaking the Fourth Wall when you went back to the school and recorded there. What was that like?

It’s out on September 30th and it was so cool. So many things were great about that. One was the venue itself and the setting. Doing it in Boston, which is a great city and at the Boston Opera House is a beautiful, beautiful venue just set the vibe and the backdrop for something very, very special. So that was cool in itself. Reconnecting with Berklee after so many years was amazing. It was amazing being involved with the members of the Berklee faculty and to have the students put so much effort, work and time into doing it. It wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for the arranger and conductor, Eren Basbug Who’s a student there. He’s a Turkish guy who came in on a full scholarship and is incredibly talented and did all the arrangements, rehearsed the orchestra and everything else. So he had a big part of it.

It sounds like a huge undertaking.

Our management, Frank Solomon, worked closely with Berklee and they put all the details together. It was difficult to do because you had three different components: You had us and we were just a band on tour and that was one of the stops on the tour. So we had to make sure everything in a lot of ways was business as usual for us, our crew and our organization because we were on an ongoing tour that was moving quickly throughout North America. The second component was we started to film it so we had all the production components of the DVD crew. So recording the audio and recording the video; getting that all arranged; the licenses; the fees. Everything involved with setting up everything you need to record a successful DVD. Then you had the Berklee component so everything involved with them and their organization, efforts and logistics. So it was a combination really of those three camps working together: our production crew; the DVD crew that was headed by Pierre Lamoureux; and the Berklee crew. So it was a big, big project.

Did you want to do anything special for that performance?

To be honest, for the band we wanted to make it the most like just another show on the tour as far as the way we are able to play and perform. Because one of the things that can really mess up a show is when you put some sort of monkey wrench in that takes you off your game mentally. So everybody was so cool to make that happen and it all worked out amazing. The DVD came out great and it looks beautiful and sounds great.

As you said, “Breaking the Fourth Wall” will be out at the end of September?

Personally the timing was amazing for me because my son just started Berklee. Yeah, it was really full circle. He’s a freshman there. We reconnected with Berklee, played with the students and then they just dropped him off a couple weeks and it reminds me of when I went there in ‘86. So a long time ago.

Could you have achieved the career you’ve created with Dream Theater if you hadn’t gone to Berklee?

No, definitely not. I look at every step in my career as being an essential step that led me to where I am now. If one of those was taken out of the equation, there’s no way it would be the same. The fact that John Myung went there out of high school and as 18-year old kids we met Mike there and we started something really special. That was kind of where it all began and a lot of the influence of what we learned there and the philosophy of learning, teaching and absorbing and being in that environment as young musicians had a huge impact on my outlook and development as a player.

BlackRose93: Are there any songs you like that might surprise your fans?

Sure, yeah. There’s always something that seems out of my comfort zone. I guess maybe people might picture me listening to prog all, which really isn’t the case. The truth is I don’t listen to a lot of music and I’ve sort of always been that way. There are some musicians who are always searching out new music and constantly have music playing. For some reason, I’ve always been drawn to playing and I love to play. Of course listening to great music is an incredible experience but it’s probably not as much as you would imagine. In fact a lot of times we’ll get in the car and go somewhere and all my kids immediately plug in their iPhone and start playing music. A lot of times I’m like, “Do we have to listen to something right now?” Maybe I’m just turning into an old man, hah hah hah. I’ve kind of always been that way. It’s a funny thing.

Shredder666: How has Mike Portnoy quitting the band chanted the creative process? Are you mostly in control now?

Songwriting has always been for me a focus and a strong point. I always approached guitar that way and taking advantage of the fact it is a compositional instrument. So my approach and perspective of writing music as a guitar player really hasn’t changed.

Has anything changed since Mike Portnoy left?

The things that do change along the way with different bandmembers is the interaction of yourself and other writers and how that dynamic changes the outcome of the music. For example, when we started out and Kevin [Moore] was in the band and we were writing music together, there was a certain dynamic there. It’s not like I changed my approach to guitar or my compositional approach but it’s the collective outcome that changes because you’re interacting with another musician.

Musicians coming and going affect the chemistry of the band.

Yeah, it was the same when Derek [Sherinian] joined the band and of course my long-term interaction with Mike for many, many years since the beginning definitely paved the road for all the Dream Theater music that came while he was in the band. Again, now that there’s a new bandmember, there’s gonna be a different dynamic interaction. I find what happens is the personality and the way that new person responds to what you’re doing creatively and contributes in their energy and their background and their history, it just changes the dynamic a bit. That’s why the music is always gonna sound different. So it’s gonna be coming from a place as far as I’m concerned where it’s always been from the beginning. From the core from when John and I were young and first met and going to Berklee. So it’s gonna come from that place but the interaction musically is now different.

That happens every time a musician joins or leaves the band?

Yeah, a lot changed too when Jordan [Rudess] joined the band almost 15 years ago. I had experience writing with him with Liquid Tension Experiment for two albums and then of course when he joined Dream Theater for the [“Metropolis Pt. 2:”] “Scenes From a Memory” album. Again, he’s a brilliant player and composer and writing together with him there’s a different dynamic and stuff comes out differently. But I find my role kind of stays consistent. I write lyrics and that’s a big passion of mine. I stepped up more in the producer role, which is something I found I really love to do as well. I guess since Mike left that’s probably something that’s become, well it definitely is something that’s become more of just my single effort on my behalf as being the sole producer. But yeah, I hope that answers the question. It’s a complicated answer but it’s also simple.

That was terrific. But the last two records Mike Mangini played on – “A Dramatic Turn of Events” and “Dream Theater” – don’t sound anything like the albums Mike Portnoy played on. Is that because of this organic interaction you’re talking about? Or are you specifically writing different kinds of drum parts and grooves you know Mike Mangini can play that you wouldn’t have written for Mike Portnoy?

It’s a little bit of both. I think generally there’s more of an organic thing. Like a good example is when we did the auditions with the drummers, the guys were all amazing. We had these jams and we would just jam straight with all these different guys and every one of those jams was awesome. You could pick stuff out of it that could have been a song you worked on. Because everybody has this great spirit of improvisation and creating on the spot and interacting and listening. But they all have just different ways of doing it and different styles. You find yourself shifting a little bit depending on how that interaction is going. So that’s the organic part and like I said before that’s gonna change with each musician you play with. Fortunately with Mike Mangini, it was a very, very natural thing and he was the one guy when we played with that we were like, “This is just it. This works. This is so natural.”

You instantly felt that connection with Mike Mangini when he auditioned?

I felt like I grew up with the guy and I’ve been playing with him forever. Incidentally that sort of jamming and organic interaction thing is how I also developed my style as a young guitar player because I would always jam with all different bands and styles and things. In my neighborhood there were like five or six different groups of people I’d go jam with.

What about the idea of tailoring parts for a musician?

The part of writing for a specific person, yeah, there’s always gonna be some of that for sure. If somebody has a strength in a certain area and there’s something they want to contribute then yeah, you’re gonna write different things in that sense. Again the same thing happened with Jordan and his abilities coming in. You can expand upon somebody’s area of expertise and carve different compositional elements towards that. Yeah, that’s definitely happened as well so it’s a combination. It’s also a sonic thing and how the drums are produced and mixed and that’s another big element.

EvilRocker2: Has it been difficult balancing your professional career with your personal life? Has that affected your practice regimen since the “Rock Discipline” [DVD] days?

In the very beginning when I really got the bug as a young teenager and I was just putting so much time aside, it would literally be six hours or more a day. Putting in all that time on a consistent level was what got me to the point where I was on that “Rock Discipline” taping, which was a long time ago. My career wasn’t as developed then and I was certainly younger. Throughout the years since then obviously with the growth of my family and three kids who are now all teenagers – two of ‘em are in college – and married 21 years to my wife and everything else and all these Dream Theater tours, albums and solo albums and G3s, my life has gotten way more full.

Can your personal life get in the way of what you do with Dream Theater?

My time is definitely not as forgiving as far as being able to literally sit there for six hours a day unless you’re practicing from 2:00 AM to 8:00 AM, hah hah hah. But having said that, practicing is still a huge part of my life and what I do and it’s for two reasons. One is whatever that sick part of my brain is, I love to do it and I just have to do it. I know a lot of musicians who are like that. Mangini is like that and so are Jordan and John. You just have this loose screw that you have to practice. It feels good and you feel satisfied and a sense of accomplishment.

Practicing really fills up an important part of you.

The other part of it is there’s a need because of the things I’m doing. Whether it’s being able to play the songs we’re doing on tour or preparing to record. You’re physically just like an athlete but it’s all relying on your fingers and hands. That conditioning has to always be there in order to be able to do what you do. It’s the same as an off-season athlete sitting on a couch – you’re not gonna be able to run as fast and play as hard. So there’s that necessity part of it as well. So those are the motivators. It’s funny because anytime I go through any period whether it’s coming back from a tour where you just want to relax and put the guitar down, that urge comes back like, “Ah, I’ve gotta play” and that’s what’s great about it. That’s never gone away for all the years I’ve been playing, which is a very long time now.

Turuliki: What is your favorite song to play live?

Umm, hmm. That’s a hard question. They’re all fun in certain ways. On the latest tour, the song “Illumination Theory” has been a lot of fun to play. I look forward to that. It’s a long song but the diversity of the sections and the epic nature of it and the power, it’s really fun to play. For me, a song that kind of lifts the audience or where we feel the involvement and the presence and the spirit of the people we’re playing to, those are the ones that usually the most fun. They don’t necessarily have to be the most challenging or whatever. So, that’s one of ‘em. It’s just such a great moment during the current show.

Kamitchkov: What is your advice for young metal bands wanting to resurrect the worldwide metal scene from the ‘70s and the ‘80s?

I think and in fact I know from being a touring musician who plays all over the world that there is a huge metal scene. If it’s not in your backyard and currently on the radio or popular, it doesn’t mean it’s not out there. There’s a huge metal scene out there; there’s huge metal festivals all over the world where tons of metal fans get together and bands you didn’t even think were still together are playing and strong. So 100 percent there is a scene. I don’t think you should equate whether or not it’s popular music as far as it being a fashion thing or being played on the radio or whatever it is that makes something popular, but it’s a scene for sure that’s huge.

You believe there is still a place for new metal bands to find an audience?

I think it’s tough for new bands doing it because there’s so many musicians. It goes back to what I said before and even if your style is like the question just asked about ‘80s metal or whatever it’s gonna be, the important thing is not just to mimic it but you need to offer something that’s new. There has to be something that’s unique about it. It could be in the style of it and in the spirit of it but the thing that’s gonna make somebody turn around and say, “What was that? I want to hear that again” is the uniqueness of it. That’s the hard part.

What you’ve just described is the reason that Dream Theater still remains an important band almost 30 years after they began.

That’s so cool. It’s really cool. The thing is people asked me before, “How did you come to play this style?” and it is something that just came out naturally when we all got together. I think it’s because of the common interests and common bands we had in our favor. You got kids who were super Rush fans and would go to every concert and at the same time they were like really, really into Metallica and Maiden. When we got together it’s like we just combined that in a very natural way and kept that spirit. It’s so cool.

It’s all part of the chemistry and that undefined element certain bands have.

One of the cool things about is when you see it come full circle meaning in playing a style like that it’s obviously not what’s popular and it’s not the easy road and it’s very difficult. But by doing it in the way that we did, we were able to develop really strong and deep roots that have grounded our career and made it a long-term and long lasting career with fans that give us so much and are so dedicated throughout the years. Then you see it turn to where there are young musicians who are influenced by us the way we were when we were younger. And they’re infusing elements of prog and metal and what we’re doing into their stuff and that music is growing ever moreso.

It’s like the student becoming the teacher.

To be part of that kind of family tree is really, really gratifying. We just found out we won the Prog magazine Band of the Year [Band/Artist of the Year], which I thought was really cool and speaks to what I’m talking about.

That is very cool.

Yeah, and it’s so great especially when you’re recognized after doing things on your own terms you just love to do and that you’re naturally drawn to do. It’s a great kind of satisfaction.

Talking about doing things on your own terms, you recently released the box set The Studio Albums 1992 – 2011, which includes “Images and Words” through “A Dramatic Turn of Events.” It’s difficult to quantify your own music but when you look at that body of work, how do you see it?

It’s so cool. It’s great. The point you’re at in your life has a big impact on how you perceive and receive music and why you’re drawn to certain songs and when you’re drawn to them. Those songs become associated with a time of your life or a memory and they kind of become these little bookmarks in your life.

Whenever you hear a song, you think back on where you were in your life when you first heard that music.

For me looking back on those albums, all of those albums do that for me. When I think about them or even when you just mention a title or something, my mind immediately goes back to when it was recorded; what we did and what we were doing; how we did it; what was going on in our lives; the meaning behind the songs; and the different bandmembers. All those memories are just sparked by that so when I see them all together like that, it really tells the complete story for me. Maybe in a different way than the listeners but just from being in the band, it’s gonna be all these proud moments in different parts of my life. The cool thing is they’re there for eternity.

Archer250: Steve Vai has his bees, Brian May has his astronomy, Jeff Beck has his cars and Marty Friedman is a celebrity in Japan. Do you have any notable hobbies outside of guitar?

I have a couple. For a while now, I’ve really been into weight training and it’s something that’s been an integral part of my life. It’s something I got into a while back and I’ve maintained and it’s helped me to just feel good physically. I associate the same disciplines of playing guitar and developing your craft upon the instrument that I do with weight training. In the discipline of it, the form and the consistency and how you see results based on it. So it’s something I make a huge parallel towards.

What else?

Another thing I got into a few years ago thanks to Sterling Ball is barbeque and smoking. Because he besides being the president and owner of Ernie Ball/Music Man is a competitive barbeque champion and he sells American-made smokers all over the world. He turned me onto that and then I just got hooked. That’s something I love to do as well. It’s funny ‘cause sometimes you find something you never thought you would be into and then you just get hooked.

When you’re doing your weight training, are you ever afraid of dropping a weight on your fingers?

Yeah, I am afraid of hurting my hands and my fingers every time I go into the gym. I’m really, really super cautious about that. Everything I do is deliberate and I never do quick moments or go to grab something or drop something. Most of the times I train by myself so I have to be careful. It’s using the Smith machine as opposed to free weights and things like that, which can control the motion and not let you get yourself in trouble. Because yeah, it’s very hurt your wrists or tweak something or lift something a little too heavy and then you feel it. Any day I’ve ever done that I say, “OK, not gonna do that again,” hah hah hah. “Guitar playing is way more important” so yeah, I’m very cautious and very careful.

There’s always been talk about if you build up your biceps too much it can hamper your playing or big forearms can get in the way of your speed.

I know a lot of guitar players that are fit and in much better shape than me that shred. So I think that’s a myth that muscle building is gonna hurt your playing. Now having said that, I do sort of stay away from things that might tighten up my wrists or forearms or stuff like that.

Campion95: Would you ever consider Steven Wilson to produce a Dream Theater album?

That would be fun. He’s a great producer and I love his work and certainly it would be a great collaboration. He’s really talented for sure.

qraqerjaque: If you went back in time to the beginning of your guitar career but had to play a style other than prog metal, what would you play?

Umm, other than prog metal? That’s a good question. I’m kind of driven to challenging stuff so I guess that could be in any genre but it would probably be jazz. Or maybe it’s a little bit too closed but the whole fusion thing. There was a big period where I was really into DiMeola and Jean-Luc Ponty and Return to Forever and all that stuff. Chick Corea. So I could picture that kinda style as well. Frank Gambali I got into. It’s interesting and fun and really advanced harmonically and very challenging.

Conceivably could you have seen yourself in a band like Deep Purple or Aerosmith that was a bit more blues-based?

As much as I love all that stuff and in so many ways how could blues rock not be an influence on any contemporary guitar player? It’s a part of my style but it represents a more fun [thing]. Even when we covered the Purple “Made in Japan” album, it made me realize how much blues influence Ritchie had in his playing. It’s kind of more of an improvisational kind of vibe and there’s a ton of attitude. It’s not so much worried about a lot of the details of the technique. In fact part of the attitude is the recklessness of it.

But you’re obviously interested in the details of the playing as well.

I’ve learned to infuse that into my playing and that’s just the rock and roll part. If you’ve ever heard a player that maybe sounds a little too stiff or they don’t get that, you know they’re missing that. Guys that have that recklessness, I think it’s such an important part. But for me I always felt that was an element and a very important element. That’s the very human side and the very relatable side and it equates to playing with balls and attitude and it’s so important when playing rock and metal guitar. But on top of that, I always felt like I needed something more. It’s funny because all my favorite guitar players have that element. But to only play that, I think I would feel like I’m missing something.

sunburstshredde: When you record solos, do you have a clear and defined idea of what they should sound like beforehand?

Not really. Depending on the solo section, I have a general idea as to the approach. Meaning that – and maybe this is just obvious – if it’s a slower sort of section that’s kind of extended out, I can kind of visualize where it might go and stylistically what’s gonna happen. But it’s not a very clear picture. I like to play and improvise over the section and develop it and then it becomes a compositional work much like the writing of the song does. And the reason I like to do that is just so when those solo sections come around, they sound like interesting parts of the song and not just an excuse to have a solo, hah hah hah.

Which solos by other guitarists do you wish you’d played?

There’s a lot of ‘em. “Comfortably Numb” is one because it’s so classic and so amazing. “For the Love of God,” I think Vai’s solo there is ridiculous. I love that. Satriani has such a huge body of stuff but I’ve always loved what he did with “Always With Me, Always With You.” It was just so beautiful and just the epitome of expressive, beautiful playing. I don’t know. There’s tons and I could go on.

grim1: I really enjoyed your album you put out with Jordan Rudess [“An Evening with John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess”]. Do you have any plans on releasing another album like that?

There are no plans of doing that. That was kind of a one-off thing we did as a benefit to the theater [Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center]. It’s something that was very improvisational. We wrote a few different heads while we were on tour to have starting points. It was a ton of fun. I would love to do something like that with Jordan again. Every once in a while we’ll be sitting in an airport and he goes, “Hey, remember that album? We should do that again.” So who knows. Maybe that’s something we’ll do again. But it did come up very spontaneously and it wasn’t really a pre-planned thing. I’m so glad we did it and recorded it.

Has there been any talk about a new Dream Theater record?

Yeah, it’s something we’ll be commencing work on next year. We’re still touring throughout this year and we’re still going to South America, Asia and Australia. Then we’ll begin on that next year at some point.

Has there ever been a moment when you go into writing mode and you think, “What am I going to write?”

I mean fortunately that doesn’t happen. I think the reason is because earlier as I said my approach to the guitar and the thing I love about it is that it is a compositional instrument. So whenever you picking it up, you’re potentially writing if that’s the way your mind works and you approach it that way. From all of the time spent on the road, all of the soundchecks, time in hotel rooms, time at home, there’s so many opportunities to write. So therefore, I’m constantly writing and I know the other guys are the same way. Those wheels just don’t stop spinning once an album is done. They’re kind of constantly going. Because of that, a lot of times those kinds of seeds that you’re writing could spark complete directions or concepts for the next album way ahead of the time and that is usually what happens.

You don’t go into the studio with a blank slate?

We never just enter the studio scratching our heads like, “What are we gonna do?” All the time there is pre-thought out ideas. Even if it’s a general idea that we want the album to have a certain sound or if it’s a really specific idea that, “These are the kinds of songs we’re gonna write” or whatever. There is always a plan and that’s great. The cool thing about that is there’s a lot of communication back and forth with the guys and everybody’s on the same page. Everybody knows the sort of spirit and attitude in what we’re trying to accomplish and I think we do our best work that way. Yeah, so fortunately we never get into that position.

It is hard to believe that you wouldn’t have song ideas.

I should say this too that even when we’ve been in that position, it’s still fun. Even if you walk in like, “Uh, what are we gonna do today?” It’s just been playing with those guys who are so great and so talented and so creative that as soon as you start playing together, you know something cool is gonna come out of it.

You were nominated in the Dimebag Darrell Best Guitarist category at the Golden Gods Awards alongside Jerry Cantrell, Tony Iommi, Munky and Head from Korn, Zoltan Bathory and Jason Hook from Five Finger Death Punch and Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance from Avenged Sevenfold. That must have felt pretty amazing to be the only prog guy in there, right?

Absolutely. I’m really proud as I said of the roots of the style that Dream Theater has created and where that comes from. It comes from the prog roots and the recognition of that Prog magazine award and is a great nod towards that. And it comes from the metal roots and my style of guitar playing as much as all these things we’ve mentioned with jazz and blues. I have a metal spirit about my playing I guess. That’s in my sound and how I produce the guitar and it’s what I go for in the heaviness and the chunkiness and why I use Music Man and Boogies and all that. To be recognized in that arena, is just as satisfying and meaningful because that’s a huge part of my guitar playing identity.

Have you had a chance to meet your heroes?

Fortunately due to being involved with G3, I have and not only that but played with them, which is even better. In most cases and in fact all the cases, I’ve become friends with them as well. So yeah, that’s been something that’s been incredible.

Everything else in your life is going well?

Everything’s going good. It’s been a real busy year. We started touring in January for the self-titled album and it’s doing real well. Obviously we’ve been out there supporting it majorly throughout Europe and the US and now these other territories and we have the DVD coming out so it’s been a real busy year. Which is generally the way we like. We like to stay busy and working. At the start of the year, Music Man introduced my Majesty guitar, which has been a big project we were working on for a few years and that we were so proud to finally get out. So that guitar has been a big part of the year and presenting it on the tour and you see it in the DVD.

That must feel remarkable to have your own Signature guitar.

Something like that is just as satisfying because it is an artistic creation and it’s something for me that is so meaningful and it plays a huge in how I play and write and it inspires me. Everybody knows the feeling when you get a new instrument whether it’s an amp, pedal or guitar and how it lights up your inspiration and you just can’t wait to get to it. So that’s been something I’ve been really excited about that finally came to fruition and was released this year well.

No one deserve that more than you. Thank you so much for participating in our Readers’ Questions interview.

That’s cool.

Play all the good notes.

Hah hah hah, I try. It doesn’t always happen that way.

I think you hit most of them.

Well, I appreciate that. It’s really nice to talk to you and really interesting to get to answer. I love all the questions and great job. Thank you so much.