Dream Theater's Vocalist James LaBrie Reveals the Key to the Band's Longevity
Fans of the band, whether casual or rabid, have always considered Dream Theater to be perfectionists. Whether it’s in their studio work or on stage, the progressive metal mainstays have always strived to better themselves on each album they put out and in each city their concert tours make a much-demanded stop in. They’re perennially on a game of one-upmanship with themselves—which is how the band (and their music) keeps aging like fine wine. But James LaBrie and the rest of his bandmates know that the ride won’t last forever.
Dream Theater, as a collective, has been leaving their loyal fans’ mouths agape with their technical mastery and wizardry since 1985. Most of their contemporaries have already dissolved or disbanded, and what Dream Theater has done to remain in the conversation almost four decades later is something so simple that some people might consider it a lost art.
ALSO READ
Alex Turner Is One of the Last True Rock Stars
Ebe Dancel Always Wanted to Be a Comedian
When asked about songwriting, vocalist LaBrie says he and guitarist John Petrucci, bassist John Myung, drummer Mike Mangini, and keyboardist Jordan Rudess have, over the years, developed an almost telepathic approach to the process.
“We know where each guy is coming from,” he says. “It becomes an unspoken language.” It wasn’t something that came naturally. Nothing is perfected overnight, after all. The process has changed over time, and layers upon layers of experience gathered over the years eventually made the process much easier and almost second nature. The 15 studio albums they’ve put out will certainly attest to that.
Despite going in and out of studios for almost four decades, there still seems to be that desire to keep improving with each studio album released. “We still want to challenge one another,” LaBrie says. “And we still want to create something that we can stand behind 100 percent and feel that this is our best effort right now at this particular moment in time.” A work’s perfection is deemed as such only by its creators, and that’s certainly what happens with Dream Theater and their music. Each result can be considered their best. Whether it’s in their recorded music or in the stages they hit, the band gives the fans what they deserve—only their best.
It does seem like the constant changes and decades of experience have benefited the band. LaBrie confesses that they are now in a much better state and that every member is healthy, adding that each individual is at the best they have ever been, especially when they’re playing live.
“We’re in a very powerful and confident place,” he says. “That’s always a great thing to be able to acknowledge and to be able to embrace.”
Asked about what the band’s career highlight is, LaBrie says it’s essentially their whole career. “With bands…each moment becomes this catalyst that puts you in another tier, it puts you onto another level of appreciation and notoriety.” It was their landmark album, Images and Words, that acted as the initial catalyst that put Dream Theater into the world’s consciousness and undoubtedly helped turn them into an international success. Each album released has become a rung in Dream Theater’s never-ending ladder to the top. And each tour and stage time—whether it’s in New York’s famed Radio City Music Hall in 2006, or touring with Page & Plant in 1995, or last year’s Grammy win for their song “The Alien”—each moment for Dream Theater is a pinnacle moment.
There is no doubt that Dream Theater has remained a solid unit for decades. What makes a band endure unnatural longevity in an environment where infighting and pride causes a band to call it quits a lot quicker than searching for new members? According to LaBrie, it’s accepting and embracing the intricacies of each member, as well as acknowledging and appreciating each other’s differences and their own way of communication, expression, and reaction.
“Once you accept that in each person,” says LaBrie, “then it allows you to really focus on what the great things are about being in a band.”
The beauty of the band’s longevity, the vocalist adds, is that the longer the individuals get together as the entity known around the world as “Dream Theater,” the more the band’s relationship gets deeper and richer. The longer and higher the ride goes, the more profound and meaningful it gets. For them, it's not prolonging an already faded glory. It’s not delaying the inevitable. It’s not running on autopilot while raking in the money. The individuals that comprise of Dream Theater aren’t in denial: they know full well that they won’t be able to do what they do forever. They have the acknowledgment, and even appreciation, of impermanence. But the band says they’ll keep being Dream Theater for as long as they are still able to do what they love well. “That’s something to appreciate and never ever take for granted,” LaBrie says.
“We come back because we have an amazing following in the Philippines,” LaBrie answers when asked why they keep coming back to the country. “Our Filipino fans have shown us that they love us, and that says everything to us.” He assures that when they hit the Philippine stage once again, Dream Theater is going to put on a show that will certainly leave an indelible mark. He assures that it will be another moment that the Filipino fans will love.
“We’re very blessed to be able to do what we do,” LaBrie says. He considers it a blessing that the band has opportunities to play their songs and do what they love for a worldwide audience. “That’s a huge blessing and we never take it for granted.”
There are lessons to be learned from Dream Theater: mutual respect, being appreciative and not taking things for granted, loving what you do so much that each output you consider your best. And perhaps the key to longevity isn’t just one thing, but multiple keys unlocking various rungs of life. Perhaps it’s one master key that opens all the ascending rungs of life. Whatever the answer is, it seems Dream Theater has certainly got it all figured out.
The Manila stop of Dream Theater’s Top of The World tour is made possible by Ovation Productions. The Manila leg happens on May 4, 2023 at the Araneta Coliseum. Tickets are available at Ticketnet.
