John Petrucci chat

[deleted]: Hey John. By this point you’ve probably checked a lot of items off of your “musical bucket list”. What else would you like to accomplish?

JohnPetrucciDT: A collaboration with Peter Gabriel!

RicDan: Will we see a liquid tension experiment reunion anytime soon?

JohnPetrucciDT: There are no plans for that right now.

PeepingPeter: What’s your opinion on the Petrucci Psycho Exercises videos?

JohnPetrucciDT: I think they’re hysterical, I have no idea who made them but whoever it is has a great sense of humor. And yes my guitars ARE painted by Michaelangelo.

[deleted]: Would you guys ever consider doing a soundtrack?

JohnPetrucciDT: Absolute that’s something that we have talked about for many years and would love to do. We’ve always felt our music would lend itself perfectly so Sci-fi or Fantasy type movies.

[deleted]: Did you consider rebranding as Dream Theatre for us UK fans?

JohnPetrucciDT: We did considre

Scott674: After playing guitar for many years as a hobby I have recently gotten to the point where I can “feel” what I’m playing. I don’t need to look at the fretboard, and when I hear licks or notes in my head I can more or less play it... In certain contexts anyways (mostly pentatnoic stuff). I was wondering if you hand any comments regarding what playing the guitar feels like to you. As an immensely talented and skilled guitarist, what does it feel like, to you, to play the guitar? How often are you thinking about your fingers, or what notes or chords you are playing, or what scales you are using? How often are you thinking “Dang that was a good hamburger” while you are mid-solo? Do you see the fretboard as patterns, or notes, or something else?

JohnPetrucciDT: What I aim to do while performing is connect with the pure expressive side of music and use the guitar as the vehicle of communication. At time during the show that level of relaxed concentration, which I call my nirvana moment, but sometimes it’s easy to get distracted by wandering thoughts - the trick is to always bring yourself back to the connection of the music and your expression as a musician. There are tricks I use to do this, such as focusing in/on another instrument, breathing, visualization of patterns but they’re all meant to focus my attention.

[deleted]: Hi John - My husband has a Dream Theater tattoo on his leg that he uses as a beacon to attract all other Dream Theater fans. Your fans seem to be pretty chill, but also maybe a little too devoted. Have you had any funny or scary run-ins with fans?

JohnPetrucciDT: Yes, our fans are very devoted! Some of the Dream Theater tattoos I have seen are incredible and a huge commitment. Tell your husband I say hi! One of the funniest things that has recently happened - we were depicted as cartoon ducks in a Disney Italian comic book. I think they called us “Duck Theater” or something along those lines. I never thought we’d fit the bill!

Zathu: SCENARIO: You are to be stranded on an small island with electricity. You can only bring ONE of your guitars and ONE of your amps. Which do you bring?

JohnPetrucciDT: I bring my Music Man Arctic Dream finish Majesty 7-string and my Mesa Boogie MK IIC+.

empw: I have always wondered:

On Images and Words, why does Pull Me Under stop so abruptly?

Who are some contemporary bands that you enjoy?

JohnPetrucciDT: Images and Words was mixed by our producer and engineer without the band being present. When we first heard the mix, that is how it ended. It surprised us just the same! We purposely wrote it that way - but the way it came out on the album was more dramatic than expected but was very very cool.

ElectricFred: Good morning Man! just a few questions Ive been tossing about.

1.) Do you have all your solos memorized/muscle memory? Or do you need consistent practice before a gig just to remember which solos go where (not meaning to offend, I play guitar as well and Im entering the territory of “Too many songs”).

2.) Whats your opinion on babymetal?

3.) Hows your day been so far?

JohnPetrucciDT: 1.) I review my solos very often during the tour and for the most part the muscle memory takes over while performing so it’s important for boosting musical self-esteem on stage - one of the worst mental enemies is to be unsure of yourself or what comes next.

2.)The music is actually pretty shredding - you can always count on something unique to come out of Japan. You are actually chatting with a hologram of myself right now!

3.) It’s been great. I’m currently in Brazil - have a show tonight and am looking forward to playing - although I am pretty hungry right now.

DChrisS: Is it true that one knob on your guitar controls the rotation of the earth? Can you shred faster than the speed of light?

JohnPetrucciDT: Yes it’s all true, I have to be very careful when handling my guitars.With great power comes with great responsibility.

SwB129: Hardest song you’ve written/ had to learn?

JohnPetrucciDT: There’s not really one particular song that stands out as being the most difficult, but there are difficult musical sections in a lot of our songs that I have to practice beforehand so I can play them. Lost Not Forgotten, The Dark Eternal Night & Stream Of Consciousness are a few examples.

perpetualjoe: Have you considered getting someone really renown for producing great sounding records, like Steven Wilson, to mix and master one of your records? I love all your music but I’ve always thought it would sound even better with a great producer at the helm.

JohnPetrucciDT: Dream theater has worked with outside producers before and it is a lot of fun, working with Kevin Shirley was great. Having said that my beard and I have really enjoyed our role as the band’s producers over the years and plan on continuing that.

Bath-salt-zombie: What’s you’re favorite hobby when you are not making music?

JohnPetrucciDT: In the last few years I got into BBQ/Smoking thanks to Sterling Ball. It’s a great way to bring the family together and also delicious. Also into bearding

troxnor: What is your biggest “Guilty Pleasure” song, band, and/or genre? Also Dream Theater was the catalyst that formed my musical tastes, and I appreciate it every day. Thank you.

JohnPetrucciDT: I’m a huge Disney fan. That is awesome - Thank you!

zeldanerd12: Hey John. Just want to say I’m a huge fan of yours. I was wondering what is your favorite Dream Theater song to perform?

JohnPetrucciDT: Thank you! Currently I look forward to playing ‘Illumination Theory’ every night. It’s very dramatic and powerful. It’s definitely a high-point of the night for me.

yakman5: What is your favorite Rush album?

JohnPetrucciDT: Tough to say because they’re are so many great ones, but Hemispheres has always been a standout for me and is a huge influence as a musician, guitarist and songwriter.

zhound: What was it like for you on the G3 tour working with Joe and Steve? I still go back to watch that show often.

JohnPetrucciDT: It was absolutely amazing and a dream come true, both Joe and Steve are huge influences on my playing. To get the opportunity to play and jam with them every night and ultimately become friends with them over the years is one of the things i value most in my professional life.

xfreshxcrispyx: Berklee College of Music Student here- I was just curious as to what were some of your favorite classes here? What was your major? Also, did you form the band during your time at Berklee? You guys have left quite the legacy behind! One random question- how difficult was ear training for you

JohnPetrucciDT: One of my favorite classes was Arranging, I really had fun with the assignments. Yes, Dream Theater was formed at Berklee and my major was Performance. Ear training came fairly easy to me but as it got more complex it definitely was challenging. I value my time spent at Berklee and it’s great to know we’ve helped motivate young musicians to pursue an education in music. Bringing it full circle, my son is actually a student there now.

Zathu: You bring a ton of your MusicMan guitars on tour. I’ve always wondered, why don’t you use a JP7 for your regular tuning 6-strings songs? Do you just prefer having the smaller neck when possible?

JohnPetrucciDT: Leaves less room for error!

pacquan: How was your overall experience working with the Symphonic Theatre of Dreams orchestra?

JohnPetrucciDT: We didn’t actually work with them it’s something they did entirely themselves and it came out beautiful

raoulduke25: Good morning, Mr Petrucci! My children are all very big fans of your music, and my ten-year-old daughter would like to know what the song “Wither” is about. We all listen to your music frequently and I appreciate the influence Dream Theater has had on my children’s musical interest.

JohnPetrucciDT: “Wither” is actually a song about nothing. The inspiration for the lyrics came from talking to my wife about the Seinfeld episode when they speak about a show about nothing. It morphed it’s way into the struggle you face staring at a blank page as a writer and knowing where to take it.

NomosAlpha: As a musician myself I’m very interested in practice habits - how do you stay sharp? Do you have a particular routine?

JohnPetrucciDT: The key is to practice consistently. My routine changes in order to keep it interesting and to stay well rounded as a player. Similar mentality to use with body building - where you always need to challenge your muscles and change things up to see results.