JOHN PETRUCCI Says DREAM THEATER Tries To Do Something 'Unique' On Each Album

DREAM THEATER guitarist John Petrucci has confirmed to Sonic Perspectives that the band will enter the studio this fall to begin work on the follow-up to last year's "Distance Over Time" album. Asked if he and his bandmates go into the studio with ideas already mapped out or if they try to come up with stuff on the spot, Petrucci said: "With DREAM THEATER, what we like to do most of the time is have a collective type of writing — we're all in the same room. And even if guys bring in ideas, it's more like we sort of play the idea and everybody joins in and we bounce it off of each other, and that's how the songs are written. So it's always good to have some of those seeds — some places to go. Whether you use them or not — you don't have to use them — but they're good starting points. So, yeah, we'll always come in with something. And what we'll usually do, which is really helpful too, is we'll discuss, prior to those sessions, the type of record we wanna make, which I think is really important.

"We have a long career, and we have a large catalog, and we try to look at each album as being another chapter in our story," he explained. "So when we approach a new album, we try to do something that's unique and that might just make things more interesting. Why do people want to keep listening to DREAM THEATER or wanna get the new record if there's not anything new or different or exciting about it?

"So, we'll discuss that beforehand so that everybody can kind of just be on the same wavelength [when it comes to] what we [are] trying to do here. As opposed to just walking in, like, 'All right. What do you wanna do?' 'I don't know. What do you wanna do?'"

"Distance Over Time" marked DREAM THEATER's first album for for Sony Music's progressive imprint InsideOut Music. The group spent the past 25 years recording under various labels in the Warner Music Group system, most recently Roadrunner Records, which released five albums by the band between 2007 and 2016.

Petrucci released his second all-instrumental solo album, "Terminal Velocity", on all digital and streaming platforms on August 28 and will make it available on CD and vinyl on October 30 through The Orchard Music on his Sound Mind Music record label.

"Terminal Velocity" was written and produced by Petrucci, recorded by James "Jimmy T" Meslin and mixed and mastered by Andy Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, ARCH ENEMY). The artwork was created by Sean M. Smith at Echo Designlab (STONE SOUR, HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD, IN THIS MOMENT).

The album sees the return of bassist Dave LaRue (DIXIE DREGS, FLYING COLORS),who played on John's debut solo album and subsequent G3 tours, as well as, an eagerly anticipated reunion with former DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy (TRANSATLANTIC, THE WINERY DOGS, SONS OF APOLLO).