New DREAM THEATER Drummer: 'I'm So Happy To Be A Part Of All This Joy'

August 3, 2011

New DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Mangini has issued the following update from the band's current European tour:

"I'm stunned at the crowds on this tour. I really am having so much fun that I can't wait to get back on stage. One more show: Budapest. As the rest of shows were [great], too, the Athens crowd just rocked the Earth all the way to Africa tonight. EVERY crowd has simply gotten the band's message loud and clear and I'm so happy to be a part of all this joy."

"A Dramatic Turn Of Events", the much-anticipated new album from DREAM THEATER, which marks Mangini's recorded debut, will be released on September 13 via Roadrunner Records.

In a recent interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, DREAM THEATER guitarist John Petrucci was asked how the recent lineup change affected the songwriting responsibilities for the new CD. "We didn't write the music with Mike Mangini," he said. "We decided to go in and just write it amongst ourselves without a drummer [to] get more in touch with the intimates of the compositional process that every guitarist, keyboard player and bassist does when they're sitting around in a bedroom or hotel room or studio. Just writing and pulling out the best music that you can, exploring different areas. We decided to do it that way, which was great a really great environment for being creative."

When asked if the band ended up writing things that were really hard for Mangini to play, Petrucci said, "It's funny that you say that, because I programmed all the drums with a program, which was a lot of fun. I came up with some wicked stuff. When we finished, I sent it, asking, 'Is this something that you can actually play? I don't know, I'm not a drummer, is this a physically possible thing?' But then he came in a couple of months later, and here he was, a human being doing this stuff. I was blown away. It's fun doing that kind of thing because you can just come up with stuff that's beyond your wildest imagination, drum-wise, and then make it happen in real life."

Fan-filmed video footage of Mangini's drum solo from DREAM THEATER's August 2, 2011 concert at Terra Vibe in Athens, Greece can be seen below.

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