#guiarist

I love this photo.

The hair, the lighting, the show we played that night, he amount of people who were there...

i downloaded the pdf and threw the entire interview into google translate for yall

John, you know we can't help but ask. What was it like to be back in the rehearsal room with Mike Portnoy on drums for the new album? You've played together a few times in the past few years, but this time there was a "Dream Theater" sign outside the door… It was great, fantastic, just like having your brother back in the band; we met when we were 18, we're soul mates, very close; so being in the same room again, writing music and rehearsing was a fantastic feeling.

:') this has gotta be a bit of a translation anomaly but it's still very sweet, i'll take it!!

Parasomnia seems to be a return to the Dream Theater sound of the past. Was that intentional? I think it was natural, now that we're all back together. And the music that came out of it is great; I wanted to make an album that was nostalgic in some ways, but also moved forward and felt more modern in other ways. I think we've found a good balance.

interesting he says this because this is one of the first impressions i had when i heard the album for the first time!! very 2000s metal but very modern at the same time

Listening to the first single, Night Terror, released in October, you immediately noticed a strong impact. Well, there's always a lot of guitar on Dream Theater records. That's how I like it. I think this album is very impactful; it deals with a very dark subject matter. And since we're writing again with Mike, we tend to write something heavier together. So there are a lot of riffs, the writing is riff-based; therefore, the guitar has definitely taken on a leading role.

there were other interviews that said JP was the one who brought dark, heavy riffs to the writing but AWW he did it for mike!?! <3

Forty years of Dream Theater. Would you have ever thought that at the beginning of this adventure? Oh, man. I know, it seems impossible, right? I can't believe it's been forty years. The great thing is that not only do we have such a long history behind us, with all the music we've created and all the experiences on tour and in concert, but we still love doing it so much. And we're happy when we walk out on stage every night on this tour and see the fans smile and people singing, crying, and simply loving our music. I love this feeling of passion and fun we get from doing this, even after forty years. I know it's crazy, it's incredible. Many memories from the past are still very vivid. I still remember the first time we played in Italy. I'll never forget it: we came to Rome, it was the first time we played here. And it was incredible. We always love coming to Italy, we love your country, and we love the fans in Italy. She also has roots here in Italy… Yes, my family, my mother and father, are both Italian. So it's always been very special to me. My mother is Sicilian, from Sciacca, my father is from the Naples area.

i'm just happy they're happy

All the musicians in Dream Theater have great technical skills, each on their own instrument. And that allows you to express yourself completely. Is that right? Yes, I agree. When I was young and practiced guitar a lot, I always wanted to be able to play whatever I heard in my head. A bit like classical music; if you listen to classical music, it really takes you on a journey, and there are so many different levels of skill a classical musician needs to play; technical passages, but also emotional passages and things like that. I think having a higher level of technical skill has allowed me to express myself better. In fact, he holds the guitar like a classical musician, leaning on his left leg… Yes, for me, it's the most comfortable way to play correctly. The most important thing is that it puts my right arm in front of my body without twisting my torso to play.

i love everything about his attitude towards the guitar! "more skills = more ways to express yourself" "i hold the guitar this way because this is just the way that physically works the best for me"

such a contrast to the way some JP fans see him as a God Of Perfect Shred LMAO when he himself just wants to express himself with music

Do you think some of your songs have created memories for people? Of course. I think music in general is the soundtrack to many of our lives. Every day when we're on tour, I meet people who tell me exactly that: that they grew up listening to our music since they were kids and that it's been the soundtrack to their lives; some people have had really difficult times, and our music has helped them get through them. Others have had joyful, celebratory moments in their lives that our music has been a part of. So it's really wonderful to be a part of that. It's incredible.

How do you see the current landscape? Is rock, in a broader sense, still alive and will it survive computers and artificial intelligence? Well… I think rock is definitely still alive. When we started playing, they didn't call it progressive metal, and now there are so many different facets and fragments of that style in the world that have expanded so much. But I will say this: we can't let artificial intelligence start creating art, creating music; that's definitely not the way forward. Music must be created by real people, expressing real emotions and creating real connections with other people. It's not for artificial intelligence or computers.

GO OFF KING!!!!!! 👑 🤘❤️‍🔥 fucking GETTEEMMMMM

i can't tell how much of this is shit getting warped in translation (english > italian > back again) butttt the tone of this whole thing comes off so sweet and real

im love john petrucci with all my heart