411 Exclusive Interview With James LaBrie
Posted by Pat Brower on 09.01.2002
Check out our exclusive interview interview with Dream Theater's James LaBrie!
James LaBrie of Dream Theater/Mullmuzzler
Vic Theatre
Belmont & Sheffeild
Chicago, IL
Conducted by Pat Brower
D: Warm up question. How far into the current tour is Dream Theater?
J: 8 or 9 shows.
D: Okay. Mullmuzzler 2 has been out for a little while, how is it doing?
J: It’s doing great. I’m happy. Obviously I want to keep bringing as much attention to it as I can. In today’s music environment it’s overwhelming how much music is out there, if you want to refer to some of it as “music” that’s your own choice. It’s really hard to make sure that you’re promoting it in such a way that distinguishes it from all the other available material. It’s persistence that gets the attention. People are coming across it in many different ways, through magazines, obviously through the Internet via Detritus, www.jameslabrie.com and www.dreamtheater.com.
D: Magna Carta seems to promoting it very well.
J: Yeah, they are. They’ve shown a lot of belief in it and they’ve been very cool with me. They’re always working on new ways to increase distribution; to get it in the face of wherever you are, whatever store you may happen to be in, and word of mouth is also a very powerful tool.
D: One of the factors that I think helps it stand apart from most of the product available today, at least visually, is the cover and interior artwork by Dave McKean. How did you hook up with him?
J: I had seen a few other albums that he’d done for Tori Amos, Fear Factory and James Murphy. I thought his work was really bizarre, really unique, very imaginative. So I talked to Pete Morichelli (sp?), the president of Magna Carta, asking who this guy was and what he’s about and would he be interested, and the next thing I know Dave is calling me up and we were collaborating.
D: On the first Mullmuzzler disc Dave is credited with working from your designs. How much input did you actually give him?
J: I gave him the ideas I had in mind and he took them and embellished upon them to make them very absurd…
D: Visually striking to say the least.
J: Yes. And with the second disc I wanted to get more into lyrical interpretation—it’s called allegoric…
D: Emotional expression through exaggerated anatomy (yeah, I’m an Art History nerd).
J: Right, with pencil and paper to express emotion, happiness, turmoil, whatever. So I told him the album cover should foreshadow the themes of the album, both musically and especially lyrically, and then I said I would like to incorporate with each song artwork that would really explain, in an abstract way, what’s going on lyrically.
D: So you gave him the songs beforehand?
J: Of course. I gave him the music and I sent him the lyrics that I wrote so he could sit down with them and get into my head, lyrically, but I told him I didn’t want him to be so literal. Before you ask me what I’m saying, first figure out what it means to you. And then take it from there. And it turned out so cool. After he did the first album, the other guys in Dream Theater thought it was so cool that we had him do “Scenes From A Memory.” At that point he asked that if I ever felt the desire to collaborate with him again, to not hesitate to ask. And I did and I think he did a fabulous job.
D: Let’s talk about the other people in Mullmuzzler. First of all, do you have to be named “Mike” to be in the band?
J: Yeah, no kidding, eh? It just so happens that the players I was really taken with, that I respect whole-heartedly, are all named Mike.
D: Just a happy coincidence.
J: I knew for a while that I wanted to work with Mike Mangini.
D: He hasn’t yet gotten the credit he deserves for the career he’s had thus far.
J: Oh yeah, the guy’s a monster as a drummer. He’s one of the best. No doubt about it, he’s an incredible drummer. And a great guy; one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. A great sense of humor, very smart, and definitely, you get him behind the kit and he’ll blow your mind every single moment.
J: And on to the other guys. I’ve been working with Matt Guillory… we’ve been writing all the material and on every Mullmuzzler album there’s two or three songs that I write with Trent Gardner and I write with Carl Cadden-James and Gary Wehrkamp. But as far as the players, I really knew who I wanted to perform the music, to really bring it to another level, to really give it as much as I possibly could. Especially with the first album, to give it as much cohesion as I could to help make it sound like a band even though it was long distance and I was flying to each city when each guy was doing his tracks, just to make sure things were progressing the way I envisioned. With the second album it was great because there was more time for Matt and I to get together and sit down and write the songs, as well as there being time for me to get together with Trent, Gary and Carl. That really helped to bring a sense of development and maturity, to show the evolution of the band. At that point I was easily able to communicate to the players what I was looking for stylistically, the feel. It really came together quite well. So much so that I’m already planning the third one.
D: Excellent.
J: So now I’m really looking forward to again sitting down with the players for an even longer time to develop the songs so it feels like the continual progression of a band. That’s the main goal behind any band, showing a sense of development, and a sense of experience with one another tends to bring that about if you’re doing things the right way.
D: How far in advance do plan the albums? As you say you’re planning another, are steps already in motion for it?
J: Absolutely. Right now I’d say Matt and I are working on four songs. It always ends up that 80% of the songs on any given Mullmuzzler album are by Matt and I so I have yet to contact Carl, Gary or Trent. Matt and I have great chemistry so we want to see how far we can take it. Who know, it might just wind up being Matt and me. It could easily turn into, and I would have absolutely no problem with it if it did, being the LeBrie and Guillory Project. But then again you get into an educational situation, like we did with the first album. People were like, “Mullmuzzler? Who the hell is that?”
D: So that’s why the second disc became “James Labrie’s Mullmuzzler.”
J: Exactly. Let’s face it, at the end of the day it’s still a business, so to alleviate the burden of trying to make it apparent to everyone that would come across it who it was and who was involved, putting my name on the front just seemed a simple solution.
D: And speaking of Trent Gardner, did your relationship with him begin with his Explorer’s Club?
J: Yeah. We first started talking when he wanted me to come in and work on Explorer’s Club, and he made it apparent that he had tremendous respect for me, and I think the guy is incredible, so talented. There’s another guy that needs more exposure to be noticed for his talents. So that was the beginning as far as sting down with each other and then we cultivated the relationship since then, into something I’m very proud of. I’m exceptionally happy at being part of his musical vision. I plan, in the future, to do more things with him, when the time is right; when we both feel that we have the schedule that permits it.
D: You are a busy guy. You wind up on so many things…
J: Now, more than ever, it seems I have a lot of people calling, asking me to be on this, to be on that, so I’m actually in the position now that I’m really starting to be much more selective. I don’t want to be in a position to be construed as a rock ‘n roll whore (laughs). Don’t get me wrong, the people that are calling me are exceptionally talented and I respect them very much, but it gets to the point where you go, y’know, there’s gotta be a hold back. There’s got to be a point where you don’t bring yourself to become so easily a part of everything and anything that’s going on before you become less appreciated for what you are if you stayed a little bit out of the limelight.
D: I would think that with a Mullmuzzler project, you have the ability to say what’s foremost on your mind through that music there than you would through someone else’s vision.
J: Absolutely. That’s why I do Mullmuzzler. I’m able to get into another head space, musically and let people hear what else entices me as a musician.
D: How differently do you approach Mullmuzzler?
J: It’s approached much differently. With Dream Theater the other four guys are constructing the music. I come in when melodies and lyrics are being put together. With Mullmuzzler, I’m producing it, I’m writing the music and I’m doing the lyrics. So there are three hats that I’m wearing. With Mullmuzzler it’s a 180-degree turn compared to Dream Theater. But when it comes down to the singing and how I approach it on both projects, that’s very parallel, that’s very similar. I always try and get myself so immersed within the lyrics that I become whatever that subject matter might be, whether it’s a character or a message I try to become sincerely a part of it and I think that’s any vocalist’s job to do so. And then you come across with much more conviction.
D: You have to believe what you’re saying. If you don’t, why should the listener?
J: If you come across with no soul or no heart, then you sound mechanical, like you’re just pumping it out for the sake of what needs to be done. Once it gets to that stage with me, I think that’s when I’ll say that’s it; that I’ve had it. But that’s far away from me right now. I’ve got a lot more to do, to say, to experience musically. So, it’ll be a while
D: Well seeing the crowd that’s waiting here tonight, I think you’ll have an audience for a long, long time.
J: With Dream Theater, we are in one of the most incredible situations. We have, if not THE most loyal fan base, one of the most incredibly loyal fan bases. It doesn’t matter where we go. Each and every album is selling more. Each and every tour has more people coming to bigger rooms. Chicago for instance, we’ve been playing the Vic for quite some time now. The time before last we played a bigger room…
D: The Riviera for the Falling Into Infinity Tour.
J: Yeah. But we wanted to come back to the Vic because we feel it has more of a personal touch with this room and it’s a great room to play. It has a great stage, great sound, you’re more connected with everyone, so we decided instead of doing one night in a bigger room, let’s do two nights.
D: And tomorrow night’s going to be a special show…
J: Yeah, there’ll be something different to throw at the people. And I think tomorrow night is sold out as well.
D: Yes it is. I was even talking to people in line from Cleveland and Detroit who drove in for both shows.
J: It’s great. We’re very grateful. None of us take it for granted what we have here. We realize what business is like; it’s very cutthroat. Without sensationalizing the situation, we realize just where we are. We never let a day go by without going, “You know? This is pretty incredible. We’re doing what we talked about as kids, wanting to some day do.” Seeing bands like Rush and Yes and going, “Oh my god.” Granted we still have some ways to go before we’re at the level of those bands that I just mentioned, but if we keep playing our cards the way we have been, there’s no reason why we can’t eventually get there. We’re getting more and more notoriety as time goes on and it’s the kind of band nowadays, and it has been since the beginning, we’re not mainstream so automatically you’re out in left field.
D: Are you going to get the chance to either perform Mullmuzzler material live or do a separate tour?
J: I feel the best plan of action for me now is to go and seriously think about doing one more album with Mullmuzzler. And then taking it out and doing select dates, maybe two weeks in the states two weeks, three weeks in Europe, a week in Japan, and where else down there. And then I’d have three albums to pick from as far as material. I wouldn’t want it to be too big a thing, either. Keep it small; keep it really personal as far as crowd sizes, maybe four or five hundred people.
D: A club tour.
J: Yeah, a little intimate club tour. And keep it really cool with tons of energy. I think this music really just blows up—especially live it would be really in your face.
J: But I say all this now but promoters will come to me and they’ll tell me where they want to put me. So we’ll see. But definitely that’s in the plans. I do want to do that at some point down the road, whether it be a year from now, two years from now, eventually, absolutely. And I know the guys, the players, they all want to do it, big time.
D: That’s great, so they’d all be part of the touring band as well?
J: Yes. Absolutely.
D: All right, now we digress… do you like cheese?
J: Do I like cheese? Like Brie? The Brie? LeBrie? The cheese? Yeah, I like cheeses. I don’t know that I like any exotic type cheeses or anything like that, but cheddar, Swiss, blue cheese. But not too much either. I’ve got be really in the mood to sit down and eat that. So there you go. Any other culinary questions (laughs)?
D: No, but what are your thoughts on orange shag carpeting?
J: Oh my god. I think that’s crazy. That’s insane. That’d be too trippy for me, to walk into a room every time and see an orange shag rug. I think that’s something that, if you build a shed out back, for you and your friends to hang out, maybe that would work. But put it on the floor AND the walls. And then you can just sit around and freak out.
D: All right, what did I miss here tonight? Anything else you want to emphasize?
J: I think that when an album is done, and you mix it, you listen to it quite a bit to get the vibe. And (with the new Mullmuzzler album) I did that. And then I got away from it for a while. And just like a week ago I listed to it again, and I hadn’t listened to it for a few months, and it was really cool. I think that if people DO grab this album, it’s something that, I think, immediately grabs you. There are definitely songs that immediately grab you and then there are other songs that grow on you and I think it’s a really well-balanced album and I think it really shows a maturing process in the writing, definitely; in the playing, absolutely. I’m very proud of it. I think it’s a really strong album.
D: Is that maturity something that comes with age or the level of comfort of the people who are involved?
J: I think it has to do with experience. The more you put yourself in a situation like that, the longer you’re around people you tend to get a better vibe for those people; the chemistry tends to evolve and because of that you’re getting yourself into a situation where the music starts to speak from that.
