DREAM THEATER Keyboardist: 'European Audiences Are More Willing To Go Along For The Ride'

Italy's "Heavy Demons" radio show recently conducted an interview with keyboardist Jordan Rudess of progressive metal giants DREAM THEATER. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below.

Asked how it feels to be back on the road in Italy, Rudess said: "Europe is a hotspot for DREAM THEATER, and Italy is probably among the hottest spots, so it's great to be here. I know the fans are really excited about everything, and we are too. And personally, I love coming to Italy, 'cause it's probably my favorite place of all the choices of where we can go. I have a lot of friends [here], and there's a lot of pluses [to being in Italy], as you know."

Regarding whether there has been a difference in reactions to DREAM THEATER's new, self-titled album between the audiences in America and those in Europe, Rudess said: "This album's been very well received, but I guess the main difference that I would say is the general difference that happens all the time at the shows, and even as reaction to the music, which is that there's certain places in the world, like where we are right now, that it is more passionate about things, and especially with music that's a little bit more demanding, more challenging, that you need to invest more personal energy into to get back the satisfaction, I find that the European audiences are more willing to go along for the ride than the American audiences. That's not to say that there aren't a lot of people in the U.S. that will go along for the ride, but I find it more happening around here."

Rudess spoke to GetYourRockOut at this year's Sonisphere festival about whether the band has already begun thinking about the follow-up to last year's self-titled release. He said: "We haven't really gotten into serious band discussions about what's gonna happen next, although we've had little discussions between some of us about what we would like to see happen next. At the same, if I get a good idea in the middle of the night, or whatever, I'll record it onto my iPhone. I elected James [LaBrie, vocals] to kind of be the keeper of some of my ideas; I'll send him little YouTube clips of me playing something I think is cool. And then when it wraps around and we get into writing again and start our process, then we'll go back an see what we've got and kind of figure it out."

Rudess also reassured fans that there are no plans for DREAM THEATER to stop making new music and become a nostalgia act. He said: "Oh, no no no. We love what we do. We're passionate about making music and as composers; that's just who we are. DREAM THEATER has never been a band that hit at a particular fashionable point and said, 'OK, that's basically it.' We're a band that really… It's important to us to write music and put it out there and to work together. And we love it. And that's why we keep going."

DREAM THEATER's latest, self-titled album sold around 34,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 7 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD arrived in stores on September 24, 2013 via Roadrunner.