Jordan Rudess had not released a solo album with original compositions since "Rhythm Of Time" in 2004. This absence is therefore repaired with the release of "Wired Of Madness" to the multiple guests. The opportunity was too good not to miss a telephone conversation with the keyboard master.
Jordan, your news is the release of "Wired Of Madness" which is the first album of original compositions since "Rhythm Of Time", what explains this delay of almost 15 years between these two albums?
It's true that it's been a long time but since "Rhythm Of TiIme" I haven't had time off with Dream Theater and the rhythm of releases that were intense with tours but also with many parallel projects like the trio formed with Marco Minnemann and Tony Levin or participations with other artists like Steven Wilson. For the release of Dream Theater's new album, we had a slightly longer period of time between the previous and the new album and I plunged back into the composition of new songs of which I already had some ideas. I had to settle down and take the time between Dream Theater and my other projects and personal tours.
I notice that the line-up of the album brings together, in addition to prestigious guitarists (Joe Bonamassa, Guthrie Govan, Vinnie Moore[Alice Cooper, UFO]), two of your Dream Theater friends (John Petrucci and James Labrie). Why did you want to play with them, when you are already participating in Dream Theater?
Working with John and James is reassuring and since our relationship is strong, it was obvious to me to involve them in this album. Then I had the chance to work on this album with the big names you mentioned. The goal for me was to propose in this album as many styles as possible to stick to the theme of madness and my desire to make a more progressive record. One of the most beautiful encounters was having Joe Bonamassa who immediately agreed to work with me and who brings his color to the album.
We also note that the "main" drummer is Marco Minnemann, auditioned as a potential replacement for Mike Portnoy: what made him integrate the musicians of the album and not Mike Mangini?
Marco is one of the three drummers who participate in the album. In fact, since the meeting with Marco at his hearing, we have not lost contact. From then on we met several times and participated in the same project: Rudess, Minnemann and Levin who released two albums. The fact that we were able to work together made our professional and friendly ties stronger and so I could not miss the opportunity to collaborate again together on a more personal project.
You release an album about technology, the story of a man who cuts himself off from the world for a virtual world, we're not far from the story of "The Astonishing" with the Nomacs taking over music, do you think technology has something dehumanizing about it?
Oh, I have a very good relationship with technology, it's something important to me and I think it's also important for any keyboard player. However, it must remain a tool among others and not something that does in the musician's place. He must keep the last word. I use my iPad a lot... which has an impressive number of sounds that only I can assemble. I think that technology is essential today and that we have to live with it, but only the musician must remain the master on board and retain all his freedom of expression. For us, especially as keyboard players and myself in Dream Theater in particular, I explore new sounds to bring something extra that helps the compositions.
To a certain extent, in this album you follow a bit the same trajectory as Steve Hackett who in his latest productions tries to show the guitar in all its forms. Here, and especially in the opening track'Wired for Madness Pt.1', we have keyboards in all their forms. Moreover, when we talk about Jordan Rudess, we often hear that you are a monster of technique but that this technique takes precedence over emotions, are you aware of this and how do you manage to find this balance between technicality and the emotions that a musician can bring?
That's a very good question and thank you for that comparison. In fact, I don't have a formula or a ready-made recipe to lead to this balance. Most of the time and like many others, I let myself be guided by my fingers, by my inspiration of the moment and therefore sometimes they lead me very far. I am someone who also experiments as I explained earlier. When you are a musician, you want to give as much as possible and I think that technique and emotions are not incompatible, one cannot go without the other. This is what I wanted to do in "Wired For Madness", which deals with the rise of madness that goes through several emotions by addressing several sounds and styles (blues, jazz, progressive), hence the impression of being very technical.
Listening to this new album, we hear many echoes of Emerson:'Twist', but also Pt.2'Wired For Madness' which, through its symphonic impulses, strongly evokes ELP's'Pirates'. What is Emerson's influence on his career?
Thank you for your remark, it touches me because Emerson is for me the person who has influenced me the most in my approach to music. He was by far the one who most advanced the role of the keyboard in rock and especially progressive rock at the time through his propensity to explore to the maximum the technique of the time to the point of even developing his own instruments. He was not satisfied with what existed but tried to anticipate and advance his music and compositions. He was experimenting a lot and that's why I'm trying to follow in his footsteps. He is not the only keyboard player who mattered to me, I can also quote Richard Wright from Pink
Does the release of a solo album give you more freedom than with Dream Theater where you may work within a defined framework? In what way?
Not especially, look for "The Astonishing" I had a great freedom to write with John. Of course being alone brings a greater freedom because you define the story but it must take into consideration the many guests and their way of playing and therefore a little less freedom than if I were really alone on board.
Just can not Win' has a big band side with its large brass section, which shows a rather unexpected alternative side of Jordan Rudess. Did you need to explore very different worlds?
Thank you for pointing this out. In this album indeed I wish to go a little off the beaten track. The idea of'Just Can Can Not Win' came jointly with Joe Bonnamassa who immersed himself in the title and reworked it by bringing this blues note with these brass instruments. There's not only that again in this album where I sing a lot too. Yes, exploring other worlds was the starting point for proposing an album that I wanted to be more progressive with a very long opening track. Go back to something I hadn't done in a while. For me, this could only be achieved through several styles of music such as blues but also jazz, which is also very much in evidence.
We can't miss it: Dream Theater's new album has been out for a few days now. The group has often been accused of being technical monsters and leaving the emotional side on the road. It seems that with "Distance Over Time" you have become aware of this and offer a more "human" album...
Yes, it is true that we are sensitive to the opinions of social networks and the press in general. It is something that of course affects us and that we take into account while maintaining our integrity. After "The Astonishing", which was in the form of an assumed musical comedy and surprised many people, we wanted to return to a more powerful, heavy and concise music. Dream Theater's goal is to offer as many different things as possible from album to album. Our intention was to give the fans an album that returned to the fundamentals of what the band is all about and it is perhaps because of the comparison with "The Astonishing" that you have this impression of having a more "human" album.
Compared to "The Astonishing", have you changed the way you compose?
In fact the previous album was composed by me and John Petrucci with passages that were imposed on the other members. For "Distance Over Time" we were all involved in the composition and writing process. We spent many weeks by the lake, all at the same time. We shared many moments in addition to the music, we had barbecues, fishing, we had a lot of fun. This I think has allowed the members to get closer around Dream Theater and thus develop our inspiration. I think it was important to us. Everyone was able to express what they wanted, especially John Myung who has some interesting parts on this album.
You seem more discreet in this new album, how do you explain it?
In fact, in the previous album, as a reminder composed in pairs, I had a much more important dimension to bring this musical and symphonic comedy side as I explained it. For "Distance Over Time" there was more involvement of the other members because of the starting point, i.e. going back to an album composed by several people. In fact, my role seems less obvious than before. And so I find a more balanced place, which makes this new album appear as a group record more than a record of one or two members if we compare it to "The Astonishing".
In Dream Theater you pushed the role of the keyboard player to its climax. You're not only there to support the melody, you're the melody just like the guitar more than in any other progressive metal band. The fact of having this freedom, this role was one of the conditions for you to join the group at the time and to stay today?
You know, I feel lucky to be part of Dream Theater and to be able to be around such musicians of John Petrucci's calibre, Mike Mangini, before Mike Portnoy, John Myung... The group helped me to make myself known and so I was able to develop my own projects in parallel. I think that there is no role to have but just the will to be able to express oneself within a collective and to have the possibility next to being free to be able to participate in other projects, it is precious for me to have had this opportunity and to be able to continue to operate in this way.
Did your new solo album have an influence on "Distance Over Time" and vice versa?
No. "Wired For Madness" was written before and had no influence on Dream Theater's new album, which has a heavier sound. If you want, it's a bit like its progressive counterpart.
And will we ever be able to see one of your songs on tour, maybe Dream Theater, one of your songs played?
This is not planned for the Dream Theater tour. There we will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of "Scene From A Memory: Metropolis Part.2" which we will play in its entirety and I am very excited about it, there will be new arrangements and new projections. We will of course play songs from the new album, it will be a great tour. For my solo project, why not one day, I would really like to be able to play my songs. I just finished a tour in South America, so to see for the rest of the tour, but for the moment, for the live shows, I'm focusing on the Dream Theater tour.
This double news between the release of "Distance over Time" and your solo album makes you nervous as if they were the first albums or do you now have some perspective on that?
We're always a little nervous when a new album is released, maybe not as much as at the beginning, but it's always an event.
What do you expect from this album?
The fact that it can appeal to fans and listeners, I think that goes without saying.
Thank you Jordan
Thanks to you I really appreciated it.
Thanks to Abaddon for his contribution