Dream Theater: Mike Portnoy
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Blistering: What would you say Roadrunner is doing differently or you guys haven't had done for you in a while when it comes to promoting and marketing this record?
Portnoy: We really [feel] like a team again. Many albums, we would deliver the record, and the label would kind of just put it out, set it up ever so slightly with some ads or whatever, and basically left us on our own, whereas now we're feeling a real team spirit again. On one hand it's great because we've maintained our artistic independence, and basically we delivered the record when it was finished and we didn't even sign with them until the record was finished, but they've given us complete creative freedom. But once we delivered the record, they're just doing all the things that a label does for their bands. They're involved with marketing and interviews and press and different ideas.
For instance, the special edition is a perfect example. [A special edition of "Systematic Chaos" contains a 90-minute DVD and a 5.1 Surround Sound mix.] I've been wanting to do a special edition for our last several albums, and the label was just never interested in going any further than what they minimally had to do. Whereas with Roadrunner immediately I said, "Hey, I want to do a special edition. I think it would be great." "OK." Boom. Done. When I went to them and said, "I want to expand the documentary that'll make it to 90 minutes," "OK." Boom. Done . . .
They basically support us with our vision and giving that much more to the fans. The setup on the Internet and offering free downloads or making-of videos, just things like that. Dream Theater has always been about catering to our fan base, and Roadrunner's giving us that ability to totally cater to our fan base, but at the same time they realize the potential of this band is so much greater than what already has been established. And they're behind it and they get it, and they're about integrity and trying to make this band even bigger and better than we've already built on our own.
Blistering: If the Internet hadn't been invented, do you think you guys would be at the success level you're at right now?
Portnoy: Ahhh. No way. Absolutely not. The Internet has played a huge part in our growth over the past 10 years. 'Cause 10 years ago, if you wanted to get information on a band like ours, you're not gonna get it from MTV or mainstream radio or media. There was nowhere to turn for a band like ours, and now with the Internet you punch in our name on a search engine, you're gonna get hundreds of different sites where you can get tour dates and information on how to buy the back catalog and where to go to chat with other fans.
Blistering: What is it about your band that has made it the prog band in the United States if not internationally?
Portnoy: Ah—I don't know. Maybe because we kind of juggle a lot of different styles. A lot of prog bands in the past kind of were just prog, whereas we're kind of incorporating prog and metal and pop. In one way it's kind of weird, because in some ways we're way too metal for the prog purists and we're way too prog for the traditional metalheads. So in one way it's been difficult for us to really truly fit into any scene. But on the other hand, maybe it's that diversity that's enabled us to draw people from a lot of different areas, and I suppose that's why some of our fans struggle with the different styles, like an album like "Train Of Thought" may be too heavy for the prog people, and an album like "Octavarium" wasn't heavy enough for the metal people because we don't have one type of audience.
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