MIKE PORTNOY 'Couldn't Relate' To DREAM THEATER's New Material

In the October 2013 issue of Modern Drummer magazine, drummer Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS, DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ADRENALINE MOB) spoke about how the combination of his obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and having a memory unlike most other people's would make him an obvious choice for taking on more of a leadership role in a band setting. "With DREAM THEATER, I very much ran the show because my OCD allowed me to handle the additional roles," he explained. "Luckily, those guys [the other members of DREAM THEATER] always trusted my direction. OCD can be a detriment, though. I know it sometimes makes my wife crazy, and I'm sure it must have driven the guys in DREAM THEATER crazy at times too, but they rolled with it." He continued: "It was never about being a control freak because I was an egomaniac. It was just my obsessive-compulsive nature. "When I first met [future DREAM THEATER bandmates) John Petrucci and John Myung when we were eighteen years old, I think they immediately recognized that part of my personality, and they were very comfortable with that dynamic. John Petrucci and I balanced each other out through the years with our strengths and weaknesses. He never cared much for all the little details and organizational stuff, and I never cared about the business or financial aspects, which he was very good at. "When you're in a band, you have to understand each other's roles and you have to delegate, and I don't think those guys ever resented the role I played. And … you can't create that type of personality. People like me and [METALLICA drummer] Lars [Ulrich] — it's just our personality, and we happen to apply it to our careers, our bands, and our music. I now find that I have to shift and mold with different personalities, and my role changes depending on the particular project. I haven't been in a leadership role to the capacity I was in DREAM THEATER in anything else I've done since." Portnoy also spoke about the public backlash that followed his split with DREAM THEATER and his reluctance to discuss the band because of how it might be interpreted by the fans. "I feel bad that I can't talk openly about DREAM THEATER anymore without being torn to shreds," he said. "I wish I could without there being a backlash, but it's become the reality that I've now accepted, because I feel it's a no-win situation." When the interviewer suggested to Portnoy that that over time the drummer naturally grew out of his place in DREAM THEATER, or perhaps he simply grew apart from where the rest of the band was going musically, Portnoy agreed, telling the magazine: "Yes! Thank you! That's a big reason why I left DREAM THEATER — I changed. I mean thls totally diplomatically, but when I heard the new material, it simply wasn't my cup of tea. It's great, but I couldn't relate to it anymore. Like you said, people change, whether it be as a listener or as an artist."

OVERKILL, STRATOVARIUS, MASTERPLAN, JON OLIVA'S PAIN Confirmed For PROGPOWER USA Festival

OVERKILL, STRATOVARIUS, JON OLIVA'S PAIN, PAIN OF SALVATION, MASTERPLAN and SEVENTH WONDER are among the confirmed bands for next year's edition of the ProgPower USA festival, set to take place Septemebr 12-13, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia. Confirmed acts: Friday, September 12, 2014 DISCOURSE ORDEN OGAN LEPROUS OVERKILL SEVENTH WONDER (performing "Mercy Falls" in its entirety) STRATOVARIUS Saturday, September 13, 2014 WITHEM DIVIDED MULTITUDE VOODOO CIRCLE MASTERPLAN PAIN OF SALVATION (performing "Remedy Lane" in its entirety) JON OLIVA'S PAIN (performing SAVATAGE's "Streets: A Rock Opera" in its entirety) Tickets will go on sale on October 1.

DREAM THEATER: Complete 'Live At Luna Park' Details Revealed

 

On November 5, Eagle Rock Entertainment will release "Dream Theater: Live At Luna Park" on 2DVD, Blu-ray, visual digital formats and a deluxe edition. The deluxe edition is an 11.5" square 60 page hardback photobook containing the Blu-ray, 2 DVDs and 3 CDs presenting all the key physical formats in one release; the CDs are only available in this deluxe edition. These releases boast the 160 minute main show — accompanied by a wealth of bonus material — and feature many of the band's classic tracks, including "Metropolis Pt. 1", "The Silent Man", "Pull Me Under", "The Root Of All Evil", "The Test That Stumped Them All", "The Spirit Carries On" and the recent "On The Backs Of Angels". DREAM THEATER began their mammoth "A Dramatic Tour Of Events" world trek in July 2011 with the final leg in South America taking place in August 2012. It was here at the Luna Park Arena in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that they decided to film the two nights that make up this DVD release. The "Live At Luna Park" band lineup for this show is James LaBrie (vocals); John Petrucci (guitar); Jordan Rudess (keyboards); John Myung (bass); and Mike Mangini (drums). This was DREAM THEATER's first tour and album with their new drummer and all the tracks from that album, "A Dramatic Turn Of Events", are included in either the main show or the bonus performances. The bonus features offer live versions of six great tracks: "These Walls"; "Build Me Up, Break Me Down"; "Caught In A Web"; "Wait For Sleep"; "Far From Heaven"; and "Pull Me Under". Also on "Live At Luna Park" is a documentary, the trailer for the cinema release of the film, a "behind-the-scenes" feature and the cartoon intro that ran on big screens prior to the band taking to the stage in Buenos Aires. The Blu-ray additionally features six multi-angle options on "Outcry". "Dream Theater: Live At Luna Park" track listing: 01. Bridges In The Sky 02. 6:00 03. The Dark Eternal Night 04. This Is The Life 05. The Root Of All Evil 06. Lost Not Forgotten 07. Drum Solo 08. A Fortune In Lies 09. The Silent Man 10. Beneath The Surface 11. Outcry 12. Piano Solo 13. Surrounded 14. On The Backs Of Angels 15. War Inside My Head 16. The Test That Stumped Them All 17. Guitar Solo 18. The Spirit Carries On 19. Breaking All Illusions 20. Metropolis Pt. 1 Roadrunner Records e-mailed guitarist John Petrucci and keyboardist Jordan Rudess to get their thoughts on these special shows. Roadrunner Records: You played four songs with a string quartet over the two nights. Who did the arrangements? Jordan Rudess: All the string parts were written by Eren Basbug, the young and talented Turkish musician that I discovered online through his beautiful orchestrations of DREAM THEATER's music and then his great work orchestrating and conducting the premiere of my own composition, "Explorations For Keyboard And Orchestra". For two of the songs we did live with the quartet ("Beneath The Surface" and "Far From Heaven") I had originally arranged and recorded quartet-like string parts from my keyboard, and that is what you hear on "A Dramatic Turn Of Events". Eren was able to take those two songs and really make sure what I wrote worked for real players, as well as add some nice touches! For the other two songs, "The Silent Man" and "Wait For Sleep", he created original quartet arrangements. Roadrunner Records: How much rehearsal time did you have with the quartet? John Petrucci: We played through each song with them a couple of times at soundcheck. We probably spent about an hour in total making sure they were comfortable and that they knew certain cues, etc. Jordan Rudess: We had one rehearsal before the first show. I had sent all the music to coordinator Luis Gorelik (who is a well known conductor in South America) and he helped organize the players. Roadrunner Records: How did their presence alter the way you guys in the band played those songs? Obviously they weren't just sawing away in the background; they were integral to the music, so…in what ways? John Petrucci: Honestly, we played the songs just as we have been and they followed us. On "Beneath The Surface" and "Far From Heaven", they basically played the arrangements that are on the album. Original arrangements were created for "The Silent Man" and "Wait For Sleep". Jordan Rudess: In our rehearsal, I was literally conducting them and we all worked quickly to get things into shape and make sure the players really understood the music and what was going to happen in the chain of events on stage. The good thing was that these four songs all really are totally suitable for real strings, so it was an easy conceptual/musical addition to our presentation. Roadrunner Records: Other than the new album (which was played almost in its entirety each night), the albums you played the most material from were "Images And Words", "Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence" and "Awake". Why those albums, from your perspective? John Petrucci: We try to create a show that has a certain curve to it. The way that it begins, unfolds and concludes are all carefully thought about. We have so much material at this point that it's difficult to fit in songs from each album. Based on what we played on past tours as well as the flow and arc of the show, we thought these were the strongest choices. Jordan Rudess: There are so many factors that are in play to create a setlist. Generally, we all felt that we offered a night of music that was a well-balanced mixture of our material that not only spanned a lot of our albums but also flowed really well for the course of the evening. Roadrunner Records: On the second night, you guys played "Pull Me Under" as the encore, which you've been playing a lot more on tour this year than in the past few years… but only outside the U.S. Is that a song foreign audiences want to hear more than fans at home? John Petrucci: "Pull Me Under" always goes over, no matter what country we are in. It just has that kind of power and familiarity, I guess. We really thought that it sounded great with [new drummer] Mike Mangini playing it and wanted to share that with our listeners. Jordan Rudess: I don't know — but I will tell you that they literally were trying to rush the stage in Buenos Aires when we played it. It was nuts!

SEVENTH KEY: 'I Will Survive' Details Revealed

Fans of melodic, progressive hard rock have been waiting a long time for this: "I Will Survive", the new album by SEVENTH KEY, and the first new CD of studio recordings since 2004's "The Raging Fire". Spearheaded by longtime KANSAS bassist/vocalist Billy Greer and guitarist/keyboardist Mike Slamer (ex-CITY BOY, STREETS, STEELHOUSE LANDE), they are joined by drummer Chet Wynd and a slew of special guests. "I think the new CD is maybe a little bit more hard-edged and a little more progressive," says Greer, who remains an active member of KANSAS. " I was also able to enlist my KANSAS bandmate and friend, David Ragsdale, to play on four tracks. That, in itself, added a whole new element to the album." Formed in 2001 as a side project for Greer and Slamer (the two had played together in the early 1980s in STREETS with KANSAS vocalist Steve Walsh), SEVENTH KEY released an acclaimed self-titled debut but then went dormant again due to the member's previous commitments. The group resurfaced in 2004 with the compelling album "The Raging Fire" and a live CD/DVD the following year. "I Will Survive", with its prophetic title, re-establishes Greer and Slamer's commitment to SEVENTH KEY. "I wanted to do more music with Mike," said Greer. "We have a great friendship and we have a strong work ethic. When we get in the studio, things seem to always click." Part of SEVENTH KEY's musical magic comes in its ability to effectively blend both melodic hard rock and intricate progressive music. They deliver powerful songs and production values that always include big sonic landscapes. "I Will Survive" is scheduled for release on Frontiers Records on November 1 in Europe and November 5 in North America and will include the following songs: 01. I Will Survive 02. Lay In On The Line 03. I See You There 04. It's Just A State Of Mind 05. Sea Of Dreams 06. Time And Time Again 07. When Love Sets You Free 08. Down 09. The Only One 10. What Love's Supposed To Be 11. I Want It All SEVENTH KEY is: * Billy Greer: Bass, Lead Vocals * Mike Slamer: Guitars, Keyboards, Programming * Chet Wynd: Drums Special Guests: * David Ragsdale: Violin * Billy Trudel, Terry Brock, Bobby Capps, Barry "The Blade" Johnson: Background Vocals * David Manion: Keyboards

Trey Gunn and Markus Reuter offer Seattle Tapping Workshop

Trey Gunn and Markus Reuter Music and the Tapping Technique For all tapping instruments and all levels Seattle, WA, USA Seattle Creative Arts Center October 16-20, 2013

Tapping technique on the guitar -- using the fingers of both hands on the strings -- is now common practice amongst players of all styles and instruments. Two of the most celebrated, and boundary-pushing, touch guitarists will be leading this intensive workshop, previously only available in Europe. This is an opportunity not to be missed. For this five-day course, we will be presenting a variety of work in tapping mechanics, ear training, fret board knowledge, improvisation, alternate approaches of the touch techniques, and other challenges that will help to focus your own musical vision. A special addition to the course will be a daily class with Bruce Bookman Sensei of the Tenzan Aikido dojo. He will be giving a basic introduction to aikido practice, especially focused to connect with our work as musicians. Trey has been working with Bookman Sensei for the last seven years. For contact and registration info send email to info@quodia.com. Details are available at www.treygunn.com/tapping-courses2013. About Trey and Markus: In addition to his eleven solo recordings, touch-guitarist Trey Gunn has worked with King Crimson, David Sylvian, Robert Fripp, Vernon Reid, Brian Eno, TOOL, Azam Ali, and Puscifer. Based in Seattle, he runs a media label and coaches musicians in the creative process. Markus Reuter is a professional player, contemporary classical composer, and psychologist who's researched and studied the touch/tapping technique for over 20 years. The result of this work is "The Family," a systematic and practical approach to the touch technique. He's worked with many groups including Centrozoon, TUNER, Stick Men, The Crimson ProjeKCt and with The Colorado Chamber Orchestra.