DEREK SHERINIA INTERVIEW
MARCH 2007 BY NICK HINTON OF VIRTUOSA MAGAZINE
1) Hi Derek and welcome to Virtuosa Magazine! Tell us a bit about where
your from and what its like to live there
I live in
sunny downtown Burbank, California. I have been in the Los Angeles area
for the last 23 years, I love it.
2) What got you interested in music from the very beginning
My parents would always play the Beatles, and other records in the
house.
3) How come you chose the Keyboards
there was a piano in the house. I
have pictures of me sitting on the piano still in diapers.
My mom found me a teacher when i was 5 or 6. I studied simple classical
pieces, and would experiment with figuring out beatles and elton john
songs by ear.
4) Did you have any specific practise techniques that helped you develop
a certain style of playing
I would play the Hannon excerzies,
and a lot of experimenting.
5) Were you in many bands in your younger days
I was in a few garage bands before I went to Berklee in 1982.
6) Tell us how you got the gig with Alice Cooper and what he was like to
work for
I got the Alice Cooper gig from a
recommendation from my friend that I met at Berklee Al Pitrelli who was
the guitar player and Musical Director. Alice was a very cool guy, and
I enjoyed working for him.
7) The tour must have been a blast! You should do an autobiography one
day and tell us lots of funny stories!
It was a very exciting time
because I justturned 23 , and never had been on a world tour before. We
were on MTV, playing Arenas, it was all very exciting.
8) How did the Dream Theatre gig come up...who approached you from DT to
audition
I just finished playing with Kiss,
and then the whole Seattle grunge movement came in. All of teh hard rock
bands were out of business, and I was out of work. My friend Jonathan
Mover told me about this progressive band called Dream Theater taht was
looking for a keyboardist. I called their management and set up an
audition.
9) I understand you were just going to tour with DT and then leave right?
I was initially hired to be a
hired player on the Awake tour. 6 months into the tour, they made me a
full-time member.
10) How did the tour go...presumably you got on well with the guys
during those shows. They already had a very hard-core fan base thanks to
'Images and Words' and 'Awake'.
I thought that the tour went very
well. I was very impressed with how dedicated the fans were- all over
the world. I knew that I wanted to be a part of this band.
11) You did 'A Change of Seasons' and 'Falling Into Infinity'. The music
they make is very inspirational yet disciplined....it must have been a
very creative writing and recording environment to keep things so fresh...
We spent a year in the studio
writing Falling into Infinity. It was a lot of hard work, but i grew a
lot as a recording artist in that year.
12) Those guys sure tour a lot! The 'Infinity' tour alone seemed massive
in scale...
That was a very long tour from
what I remember.
13) I know at the time Mike was unhappy as he felt managment were
striving to make DT something a little more commercially viable. Could
you see this happening
Mike was very unhappy during this
time. The record company was really pushing the band to be more
commercial which was a huge mistake because what makes Dream Theater a
great band is that they play what they want to with no regard for
commerce.
14) Moving on you played on the 2 Platypus albums. What sort of music
was this and what tempted you to play with these guys
Platypus was just a side project
started by John Myung and I. It was very spontaneous in that we wrote
and recorded the whole recod in 2 weeks.
15) You released your 'Planet X' solo album. Did you have any idea what
this would lead on to...and how on earth did you come up with some of
the most insane musical shit on the face of the planet! I mean 'Adlantis'!...tell
me you didnt sit there with a drum machine and track that! That must
have been from the mighty Virgil !
The first time i went to write
with Virgil, I told him that i wanted to write a song that was the
sickest progressive piece ever written. I wanted to stick a fork up the
ass of every Dream Theater fan that doubted me. Virgil wrote the
rhythms, and I wrote the notes for "Apocalypse" This was the nucleus of
Planet X, and helped to launch my solo career.
16) I must admit...I'm a huge Planet X fan. At what point did Tony
Macalpine get involved
When we decided to make Planet X
into a band, i knew that we would need a monsterous guitarist. Mike
Varney told me that I should check out Tony MacAlpine. When Tony came
down and played, I knew that he would be great for the band.
17) I really love the 'Universe' , 'Live in Oz' and 'Moonbabies'
albums...all masterpeices in my eyes. The Oz show came out real
well...tell us what it was like going to Oz to record that and how you
got such a great sound from the whole night captured on disc.
We were very happy on how that
recording came out, it was very spontaneous. Simon did a great job
mixing that record.
18) You have toured all over with Planet X....is that correct
We have played in the US, Canada,
Japan, Bulgaria, Romania, Holland, UK- there is still a lot more
territory to cover.
19) How come Tony left and tell us what Rufus has bought to the table
We had some shows booked, and Tony
had just joined Steve Vai's band and was unable to continue with us.
Rufus has been a lot of fun to work with, and is welcome to play with us
as long as he wants.
20) What can you tell us about the new Planet X album due out soon. We
are busting to hear it! ( I have always said that NASA should authorize
a copy of 'Moonbabies' to be sent into Deep Space to show other life
forms watching what mankind is capable of)
The new record is titled "Quantum" and will be out this summer worldwide.
It features guest musicians Brett Garsed and Allan Holdsworth on guitar,
and Rufus Philpot and Jimmy Johnson on bass.
I think the record sounds great, and am confident that the Planet X fans
will be very happy when they hear it.
21) Continuing on your solo path, what ideas and inspirations did you
have behind 'Inertia'.
Inertia was the first time that i
had the chance to work with Simon Phillips. He was a huge inspiration to
me during this period in every department. He was eresponsible for
bringing Steve Lukather in for the sessions.
22) Tell us how you hooked up with Yngwie Malmsteen
Yngwie called me in 2001 to see if I would play a South American tour
with him. I have always been a fan of his playing and accepeted his
offer. This tour ended up in me playing on his Record "Attack"and he
playing on my record "Black Utopia"
23) A lot of his band members are shall we say a little nervous at
playing with the infamous Swede because a ) they have big shoes to fill
and b) because of his fearsome reputation.
I love Yngwie, he has always been very respectful to me. He is probably
the best hard rock player that I have ever worked with.
24) I was suprised at first because I never knew that the Neo Clasical
style interested you. I thought you were more into your Progressive
Music
When I was going to Berklee, I was
very much into Yngwie.
25) I wont go into detail but I am aware that when you guys played South
America for the first time, there was some shall we say political
disputes at some of the gig....and I admire you for standing your ground.
Sounds a bit scary if I'm honest!
It was a very unfortunate
situation. i made a big mistake by posting online, because it started a
real shit storm! The bottom line is that music and politics should be
kept seperate.
26) Skipping ahead you hooked up with Yngwie again I beleive for some
more shows. Are you still a member of his band...and have you woked on
new material in his studio together
I like playing with Yngwie, If
schedules permit, I would tour with him again. He has invited me to play
on his next record.
27) Back to the solo path, tell us about 'Black Utopia' and your ideas
behind this record
I wanted to cover a lot of musical
ground in this release. I was very excited to have Yngwie, Zakk and Al
DiMeola on this record. This has been my best selling release to date.
28) 'Mythology' continued in that vein with another great set of songs.
One thing I noticed was your Keyboard sound has now become your
identifiable trademark....the same as say Jordan Ruddess sticks to
certain sound. Is the majyority of your sounds made by yourself to blend
sounds together to create the end lead synth sound
My lead sound came to life around
the recording of "Falling Into Infinity" It started with the KORG
Trinity, but it evolved when the KORG Triton came out.
29) You have your own studio I beleive....this must be a great asset so
you can record whenever you want
It is very cool to be able to
record your tracks in the comfort of your own home.
30) Tell us about your new record 'Blood of the Snake' and what fans can
expect to hear on this record.
Blood Of The Snake is very heavy
at times, but very jazzy at times as well. Everyone That plays on it
does a great job.
31) It must have been really surreal to work with Slash and Billy Idol
on this one
It was- especially when we shot the video for "In The Summertime". Very
surreal!
32) What does Derek do to relax when hes not making music
I just had a Daughter, Summer Rose
5 months ago- she takes up the remainder of my time. To relax, i love to
lay in bed And watch TV.
33) What would be your dream line up
Eddie Van Halen- Guitar
Tony Franklin - Bass
Simon Phillips- Drums
and Me on Keys
34) Can we say the future looks good for Derek Sherinien
Of course! I am blessed that I get
to play music for a living, and get to write and record with such great
players. |
