Derek Sherinian interview (excerpts)

I would like to start talking about last night’s gig, cause I thought it was really cool. And especially for a first night of a tour!

Yeah, I thought it went really well!

How long did you rehearse?

We only had two days of band rehearsal with Mike. Billy and Tony and I got together a few times at my studio and just went over parts, but the first day of rehearsal was pretty loose. We did like ten-hour days and at some point we just had to say “Alright, it is what it is – we just have to be the best we can!” There were some mistakes, but overall I thought it was great and it had good energy. And any mistakes that we made can be fixed tonight, so I think it’s gonna be a smooth tour playing-wise.

Yeah, I think it was really good. If I hadn’t known it was the first gig, I wouldn’t have thought...

No, it’s great. Everyone sounds great and it’s an honor to play with these guys, they’re really great players.

So who put together the setlist? Did you all...?

Mike.

Yeah, I thought he did!

Yeah, that’s his thing. Mike is into setlists. All the things that he did in Dream Theater, I just let Mike run with it, cause he knows what he’s doing.

So it was his choice to play Apocalypse 1470 B.C.?

No, it was my choice. Actually, the story went...

Did you make a deal?

We made a deal!

You would play Acid Rain and he would play...

That’s right!

I knew it! (laughs)

Because when we first got together, he asked me if we could do Acid Rain and I go “You know what, I’m not really into learning Jordan’s keyboard parts”, and he goes “You know, I understand because I’m never gonna play Mike Mangini’s drum parts, so I get it.” So we didn’t play it. And then, like about six months ago, Mike goes “Hey, you know – can you throw me a bone? Can we play Acid Rain? The fans would really love it!” and I say “OK, I’ll play Acid Rain if you play Apocalypse, because I think that the fans would really love to hear that as well!” And so he agreed and there it was. And as it turned out, it’s great. I’m glad that we’re playing both songs because the set is stronger and those are both killer songs.

Those are really pretty outstanding tracks, I think. And you did great on the Jordan stuff!

Thank you!

I didn’t think I’d ever see that, actually – you playing Rudess material!

Yeah, I didn’t think so either, but hey, you know what – he’s had to play my stuff long enough, so I guess it’s only fair!

That’s true! No, it was really cool! And a huge surprise! I mean, even A Change of Seasons first, that was a big surprise, and then Acid Rain – I was like “What the fuck?! How did that happen?” I think that was really cool and many people will be very positively surprised by the setlist. And I think Apocalypse worked really, really well, so...

Yeah, Mike’s a trooper, man! He came in and learned it and it’s great. It’s different than Virgil but it’s his approach to it and it’s still exciting and great in a different way.

I interviewed him like three months ago and I asked him about Apocalypse because you had mentioned you were going to play it. And I asked him “Have you been practicing yet?” – not something he gets asked very often! People just assume he can play anything, but I knew it was gonna be hard and he was like “Uh...”

But he figured it out and you heard it last night – he sounds great!

Yeah, he sounds great! But you don’t get to hear Mike announce a track with “This song scares the shit out of me!” very often, so... (laughs)

Yeah, it’s great!

So... I talked to Tony earlier this year and asked him as well as Mike before, but they were both not quite sure, so I’m gonna ask you now: Do you think you will ever record any original material with this band?

I think so! I mean, we all like each other so far and the show is great and there is no reason why we shouldn’t make a record. And as long as we wanna keep doing it, it makes sense. So I’d say sometime next year I could see a record coming out.

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OK. Molecular Heinosity was your heaviest album so far and then the next one, Oceana, was almost entirely fusion. Was that deliberate or just...?

It just worked out that way. I mean, I was kinda metalled out a little bit and I worked with Simon again. When Simon and I write it always goes more to Jeff Beck world and when I write with Tichy it always goes to like Meshuggah, Ozzy, Van Halen world. You know, it’s cool – I have a wide range! Like, tonight you’ll hear, we play Apocalypse, which is the most progressive thing I’ve ever written, and then we play Been Here Before, which is like a Beatles song or something. So I have a wide range of what I’m into, it just depends on what I’m in the mood for at the time.

Speaking of Been Here Before, that one pretty much revisits Anna Lee...

Very much so! I thought the music was beautiful and I was never satisfied with the way it turned out on that record. I thought it was too beautiful of a song and I wanted to keep it pure and make it instrumental.