When John Myung, bassist and co-founder of Dream Theater, displays on the band’s newest chapter, there is a quiet sense of rediscovery behind his phrases. The reunion with authentic drummer Mike Portnoy has, by all accounts, remodeled the dynamic inside the band – and never simply when it comes to vitality.
“Getting a distinct drummer truly impacts all people in Dream Theater, as a result of all of us play off the timekeeper within the band, however having Mike again simply felt proper,” Myung informed Bass Player journal, “There have been so many magical moments the place all the things got here collectively. We’re like household.”
This sense of familial consolation has introduced Dream Theater into what some followers and critics are calling a second golden period. Their sixteenth studio album, Parasomnia, launched alongside the band’s fortieth anniversary, was extensively praised as a robust return to their heavier roots. With Portnoy again behind the package – a job he initially held from the group’s Berklee School of Music beginnings in 1985 till 2010 – the band’s chemistry seems to have reignited.
“In a whole lot of methods it nonetheless feels similar to it did once we first hit it off at Berkelee,” Myung says, “We would at all times e book out room E19, which is the place we’d follow Monday by Friday. We’d be there each night time, six till midnight. A whole lot of these songs we have been engaged on turned the songs on Pictures and Phrases.”
Myung’s function in Dream Theater has at all times leaned extra towards foundational than flashy. Amid searing guitar leads and Portnoy’s return to his signature drum theatrics, Myung continues to prioritize groove and construction: “A whole lot of instances, if there are a whole lot of rhythms and buildings, my half might be closely dictated in direction of supporting the chords and enjoying the foundation,” he explains, “Step one of writing a bassline for a technical track is simply choosing the notes and being on high of what is going on on.”
This mindset speaks to Myung’s broader philosophy as a musician – one centered not on extra however on service to the track, “A few of my favourite basslines are essentially the most stable, purposeful ones,” he mentioned. “I do not imply to say you want to restrict your self, however on the subject of constructing a track, I feel your job as a bass participant is to search out the right supportive line.”
This openness has additionally helped him keep away from inventive ruts: “At any time when that occurs, I attempt to change the best way I take a look at the instrument. Usually, you are taking a scale or chord and be taught it, and that is nice – nevertheless it’s additionally necessary to spend time making use of it in a musical method. I’ve discovered that when you discover a new method to take a look at one thing, that is when concepts begin coming to you.”
He credit his development to early influences like Steve Harris, Geddy Lee, and Chris Squire,“I preferred the spirit of Steve Harris’ sound and the best way the Iron Maiden songs have been constructed off his basslines. I began stepping into them on the Piece of Thoughts stage.”
However with the band’s inventive spirit newly rekindled, Myung is retaining issues easy – and soulful. Parasomnia would possibly push technical boundaries, however Myung insists that its energy lies in restraint – “Each album challenges the thresholds of technicality. I feel the issue with making actually technical music inside a rock sense is that you just lose a number of the energy. Our previous couple of data have been super-technical, however with Parasomnia, we’ve been much more aware of that.”
Trying again on the making of that breakthrough album, Myung recalled a humble starting: “I bear in mind the expectations have been low! It wasn’t like we had an enormous push behind it. There was a track referred to as ‘Pull Me Beneath’, and every time that track received performed on the radio, the telephone traces would simply gentle up. Everybody wished to find out about this new band.”
The momentum solely grew when the label responded to that spotlight, “That’s when the label booked us to make a music video in Chicago. As soon as MTV began exhibiting that video, all the things modified. The facility of MTV actually put us on the map.”
Apparently, whilst Myung displays on the rigorous approach developed over years of enjoying 6-string bass, he is contemplating a shift, “I am truly fascinated by it for the following report. There is a sure freedom that you just really feel while you return to a 4-string,” he admits, “Having the self-discipline to have the ability to play a 6-string bass is nice. It’s undoubtedly pressured me to develop a sure approach and a method of enjoying that I get pleasure from, however now I really feel prefer it could be time to use that data to a 4-string bass, and simply have some enjoyable with it.”
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