The Explorer's Club - James
LaBrie
Source: Blistering Entertainment, Interviewer: David Lee
At first glance The EXPLORER'S CLUB project would appear to be
yet another one of the beautiful yet powerful works to spin off of
the individual members of DREAM THEATER, in actual fact, it is the
brain child of MAGELLAN main man Trent Gardner and it features a
veritable who's who of progressive rock royalty. Steve Howe, Terry
Bozzio, D.C. Cooper and Billy Sheehan join Gardner and DREAM THEATER
members LaBrie, Derek Sherinian, and John Petrucci in taking an
audio exploration that covers all the territories from Jazz to
Metal.
"AGE OF IMPACT" is easily the best conceived and performed work
that Gardner has yet to place his stamp upon and, it would seem,
that both critics and the public agree. Sales have been respectable
and it has been rumored that this is but the first in a line of
future EXPLORER'S CLUB projects. Whatever happens this one is a
definite must have for all fans of intelligent, insightful and
passionate music.
Recently I had the chance to sit with James LaBrie and discuss
his role in this project and how it relates to the rest of the ever
expanding world of DREAM THEATER..
DAVID LEE This EXPLORER's CLUB project is
interesting to listen to and would seem to be something that you
enjoyed doing?
JAMES LaBRIE Well, I'll tell you how it
came about. We (DREAM THEATER) were doing a show in Palo Alto and
Trent Gardner, it was pretty much his baby, it was his vision this
whole "AGE OF IMPACT" thing. He was there with Mike Varney and they
came up to me after the show and said "Listen, we would like you to
do these sections on this big opus song that we are doing. Would you
be interested?" I had heard the song because John Petrucci had
played me some roughs of the stuff that he was doing for it, the
guitar parts and I really liked it and I said "Sure! Let me know
where you want me to sing and what it is that I am singing." and
that was it. From there I just went in and sang the sections that
were mine.
DL Was the
lyrical content and the entire vocal approach to it all from Trent
Gardner?
JL All the lyrics and that where pretty well
written by Trent. Trent pretty well wrote the whole thing aside from
John Petrucci coming in and writing all the guitar melodies, which
he is very much a part of, on his own. He just sent me roughs and
then what I did was just take the basic melody that he gave me and I
kinda went with it and built it from there. I put my own inflections
and nuances in .
DL
Did you have the chance to be in the studio at the same time as any
of the other players on the record?
JL I recorded my
parts while we were on the road during the last U.S. tour so, it was
a day off and I got trucked off to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then
I went in and did my parts then they drove me to the hotel where the
rest of the band was. A lot of these things, like when I did the
RUSH tribute thing, when I did the QUEEN tribute thing, it is
basically, everybody is separated and they just add their own self
to it. More than likely with this and with projects such as these
everyone just goes in on their own and works right out of wherever
they are all over the country. You rarely come in and have a couple
of you their doing something. It's never happened yet.(laughs)
DL One of the magical
things about these records is that this collection of players do
only exist for this record. Do you ever wish that you could perform
with this lineup live if only just once?
JL Bringing it
on the road? It would be nice and that is a great idea but I really
don't see how something like that could really happen because when
you do look at the collection of players on something like this,
everybodies schedule is like, Terry Bozzio would be off here but
then we would be on the road there and then when Terry is on the
road we would be off and it goes on down the list. I mean, everybody
wouldn't be available at the same time and if they were it could
only be like a one show thing where you could organize it so far in
advance and everybody could keep that date open. I think that the
only way that could be a reality is if something like that(points to
("AGE OF IMPACT" CD) went right through the roof. If it was just
gigantic it would make perfect sense for us to consider taking this
thing out on the road and doing a huge production behind it and
touring it for a while.
DL It seems that everyone DREAM THEATER is experiencing
massive bursts of creative energy these days. I mean, each of you
has some sort of side project going beside all of the recording and
touring that you are doing with DREAM THEATER itself.
JL
Yeah.
DL Is that
something that you ever worry may detract from the focus on your
focus on DREAM THEATER?
JL No, because it has never been
a problem for us when we get together and we write. It is just that
the stuff, there is so much of it you know? When we sit down it has
never been a really difficult situation and it usually happens real
quick and very effortlessly so we have been very lucky in that
sense. I think that the day that we get together and say "Wow, I am
having writer's block." then we might consider slowing down.(laughs)
But there is just so much because each guy individually is bringing
stuff in and then collectively we are jamming out ideas so I really
don't see that as being a problem. I will say one thing, I mean, the
guys who did LIQUID TENSION and their would be certain riffs here
and there and I would go "Oh Shit! I would have loved to had worked
that into a DREAM THEATER song!" And "I can here a melody going over
that." Stuff like that will happen but you know that when we all get
together it is always a very easy process, luckily it is.
DL I take it that you like the LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT project?
JL I love it! I love it. I mean, the guys they had rough, we were on
tour at the time, and they played me some of the roughs and I was like
"Wow! I think that stuff is great!" As soon the copies were made, Mike
came in and said "Here is a copy man." to each member of the band. I
think that it is great. Tony Levin is an excellent player and Rudess is
a great, great keyboard player. He is probably one of the best out there
really. He is just an incredible player. I thought that the stuff was
really cool for an instrumental album and one great thing about an
instrumental album is that you have the freedom of not really having to
have something structured so that it accommodate the vocal. That is one
thing that when you are writing for a band like DREAM THEATER you always
have to be consciously aware of. "O.K. where does it make sense to have
the vocals come in?" And "Is this really setting up a strong melody?"
and so on and so forth. When you are doing an instrumental album it is
kind of like, "Let's get on to this riff or this groove." As long as it
seems to have somewhat of a structure it doesn't really matter as long as
it is showing some kind of a really cool vibe then that is all that
matters.
DL The record was so incredibly naturally flowing and very alive.
JL Yeah. I mean, they wrote that very quick. I think it was like seven
days working it out and another two weeks recording it or something like
that. They put it together real, real quick.
DL I was speaking with Steve Morse yesterday...
JL He is an incredible player.
DL Yeah, he is. He was relating to me his occasional frustration of
being in a band with a singer versus fronting his own instrumental band
because you always have to worry about the singers voice giving out. Is
that something that you are concerned with a lot seeing as how your voice
is your only instrument?
JL No, I mean, I know my limits. I am the kind of vocalist where I like
to do three nights in a row, take a day off, two nights in a row, take a
day off. So, I have found that I don't like to do any more than five or
six shows in a week and that is my limit and I know that if I stay within
my boundaries that I will be fine, I will be O.K. Unless, if I get
sick, if I get a bad cold or I get the flu, then I am screwed. Even if
it is one night on and one night off it doesn't matter because it is an
organic instrument and so you are kind of powerless when it comes to
ills. It's a bit of a drag and your convalescence, when you are on the
road, isn't something that comes around quite easily because you are
constantly traveling and sleep deprivation is a reality and that is a
huge must for a singer because a singer should try and get at least ten
hours of sleep a night, it is just imperative. These guys are really
cool because they realize that I am not just singing, (begins to sing)"I
need somebody." you know?(laughs) It is taxing but the thing that has
helped me is that I studied opera for four and a half years and that
really helped me. It is something that later on in my career that I
would really like to pursue and get into more theatrical productions and
use that knowledge that I have in voice. I mean that would show a
completely different side of me. But, I know where I am coming from and
they know where I am coming from and everybody is very respectful in that
sense so it has never been a problem. I understand with Steve Morse that
he will go out for three weeks but in those three weeks he will do
twenty-one nights. Ian (Gillan) is the same way as me, if he does more
than three nights in a row he is capped. Just recently we had to cancel
a night because Ian got fried and unfortunately that happens. Once in a
blue moon it happens. I've had to cancel two shows in the last seven
years that we have been touring. One was because I had a sinus infection
and that was back in ‘92 that, that happened and the other time that it
happened was when we were in Europe, we were in the U.K. and I got a
bronchial infection and I had to cancel that night because there was
nothing, there was just nothing there(points to throat) but then I was
fine a day later and I was able do go out and do the show. Luckily, I
have only had to do that twice in my career with DREAM THEATER and that
is not bad.
DL Being the kids on this tour(with DEEP PURPLE and EMERSON LAKE and
PALMER) do you ever get a chance to powwow with any of the older guys?
JL I have spoken with Carl palmer a bit. He seems to be a really cool
guy. I really don't know what he is like but on the surface he was
really cool to sit down with and talk to. I've spoken very, very briefly
with Keith Emerson and I have said a few words to Jon Lord but, I mean,
it is just a very relaxed atmosphere. These guys have been doing it for
twenty-five or thirty years so they are really cool and laid back. They
are very comfortable and seasoned and they just seem to hang out and do
their own thing. If you see them you can say "Hi." but that is about it.
I would love to sit down and talk to Ian because he is a huge influence.
Growing up listening to him doing "Child in Time" and a lot of their
other great songs. The albums like "MACHINE HEAD" and "IN ROCK" and
"FIREBALL" that was all cool. To be honest with you, there is a guy who
just shows up and goes on stage and does his own thing. It is not like
he is trying to be aloof, he is out here with his wife and his little
girl and so he is just kind of chilling out. Hopefully before the end of
this tour I can just sit down and rap with him. I don't want to just sit
by him and talk shop because I am sure that he is burnt out talking shop
with people because that is all anybody ever wants to talk about with
him. I just want to go sit down with him and shoot the shit basically.
DL Do you see yourself taking over that role of elder statesman where you
take out the younger band and they are the ones giving interviews where
they say "I'd just love to go and chill out with James LaBRIE?"
JL I'll tell you one thing that I have learned on this tour is just how
cool that these guys are. They are completely aware of us and completely
respect us as a band. When I have said "Hi." to them they have said
"Hey, how are you doing? We really love your stuff." And that is really
cool. They have been unbelievable for us in that they have been letting
us sound check every night and they haven't been cramming us right up to
the front of the stage every night so that we have no room to move. It
just goes to show you that these guys are very humble and very modest in
the sense that these guys may be rock and roll legends but they can be
really cool to a band that they really don't have to be. I mean, they
can say "DREAM THEATER? Who cares?" but they have been really cool.
What I have learned form this is that if in twenty years we are out there
and we are headlining big sheds and there is somebody new coming up, I
will be completely cool to them. Completely. Actually, this is the
first time that we have been going out as an opening act, we are usually
the headliners and we have always been cool to the opening acts. We have
always let them sound check and given them as much room on the stage as
we can.
DL Just seems like basic politeness to me.
JL Yeah. What I think it all boils down to is, is being real. It
doesn't matter if you are a success, it doesn't matter if you are a multi
millionaire it's about "How are you as a human being?" I think that is
what matters at the end of the day. Who gives a shit about who and what
you do? It like, how do you interact and socialize. As many assholes as
there are in this industry I think that there are more people that are
cool or at least among those who I have come into contact with.
DL You have been quite fortunate!(laughs)
JL Yeah, I guess it might be because of my situation in the industry and
they know who I am so they approach me completely differently. I know
that there are a lot of people who are complete jerks but you know what?
It will all come back around to slap them in the face.
Interview conducted by David Lee
Source: Blistering
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