Dream Theater: James LaBrie

Before stopping off in Cardiff as part of their Images And Words tour, and promoting their latest album The Astonishing, Dream Theater’s lead singer James LaBrie laughs about the first time he visited Wales. “We’ve always had loyal fans in the UK for years since we started playing there in 1992, 93, so it’s always been an amazing experience. Although, the very first time we came into Cardiff, I went out for a walk, checking out your town, and I got lost. I couldn’t figure out how to get back to the hotel.

“So I bumped into this guy, and I said ‘hey man, listen, I’m not from around here, this is my first time in England and I can’t find my way back’, and he said to me, ‘well, that’s your fucking problem right there! You’re not in England. You’re in WALES!’”

25 years after the release of Images And Words, have they found anything new while revisiting it in their tour? “We’ve sat around as a band and thought about the way we wrote music back then. It’s kind of a reminder of where we were; you start to recall where we were at that point as a band, what was inspiring us. The way the human mind works, once you internalise something and let it reside within you for a while, those are the things that naturally come out in a new way.”

How challenging was it to release their latest album The Astonishing? “In today’s musical environment, it was a very bold statement for a band to release a double album concept album that’s over two hours long. But a band like ourselves and with our fans, they understand who we are, so it’s not really that big a surprise to them that we would do something like that. I think that’s what makes us who we are. It’s not about playing things safe, we’ve always gone outside the box.”

So, what’s next for Dream Theater and James? “We’ll be supporting the 25th anniversary until December 2017, and by that point we’ll want to take some time off. At some point in 2018 we’re going to start working on a new album. Also at this point, I’ve begun to write another solo album with Matt Guillory, so I’m hoping to have that done by this fall and have that released.”

—Fedor Tot