John Myung Interview: Building Dream Theater
John Myung interviewed by Paul Rigg
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DREAM THEATER - JOHN MYUNG during Dream Theater - Top of the world tour, Music Concert in Naples, Italy, January 23 2023 · Source: Independent Photo Agency / Alamy Live News
We catch up with the legendary John Myung, a renowned bass guitar virtuoso and co-founder of the progressive rock band, Dream Theater.
This interview was originally conducted by Paul Rigg for Planet Guitar.
Some say that John Myung – the co-founder of Dream Theater and widely considered among the best bass guitarists in the world – is reticent.
Gearnews wonders if this reputation is undeserved, as Myung happily and openly chats about his recent head injury, his relationship with the Far East, and his lifetime bond with his creative partner John Petrucci…
John Myung: The Team Player
Gearnews: Fans were concerned to see you performing recently with your head bandaged; how are you?
John Myung: I’m doing great. That event was triggered by dehydration on tour. We were just constantly traveling, and on the 13th night we were on the bus, and I just wasn’t drinking enough water.
Around 2.30 am, I woke up at a border checkpoint and went inside the building, and the next thing I knew I passed out and hit a metal post with the right side of my forehead, which cut me open.
I went to a hospital in Bellingham, Washington, and they stitched me back up. We got through the show, and I’ve been feeling normal ever since.
So… don’t underestimate the benefits of water. Your life will not flow without it!
John’s Early Days…
GN: Going back to your roots, you were raised in Long Island, but your parents are from South Korea; were they musical at all?
JM: My mom was. She grew up listening to classical music and piano and got me into the Shinichi Suzuki violin method at five years old.
About 10 or 11 years later, I got really drawn to rock music. And something connected when I was listening to bands like Rush; they were everything for me, a real powerful connection.
Growing up in Chicago and NY
GN: What was your childhood relationship with South Korea?
JM: Well, my mother’s side of the family fled from the war. To get into America you had to have a sponsor, so a nun sponsored her, but you also had to be in a profession, so she came over as a nurse, and my father as a student. They met in Chicago, where I was born.
GN: Did you return as a youngster with them to Seoul?
JM: No, I was a few years in Chicago and then we moved to New York and lived near Columbia University. They wanted to Americanize me, to really focus on learning American English, and not confuse me. Little did they know that you can’t confuse a child; a child will soak everything up like a sponge!
“…founding principles that bind us all…”
GN: Is Eastern philosophy important to you?
JM: I don’t separate people by where they come from or what their religion is. It’s more about connecting with people: if they treat me right, I treat them right. It’s more of a respect thing.
There’s a great book called ‘The Power of Myth‘ by the religious scholar Joseph Campbell, who boiled everything down to one central idea. There are founding principles that bind us all together. So, it’s all sort of one. That makes a lot of sense to me.
Meeting John Petrucci
GN: How old were you when you met John Petrucci?
JM: 12 or 13. And then around 15 the whole idea of wanting to be in a band started. I’d go to my friend’s house and there would be a drum set, guitars and bass amps set up in a room.
We would pick up an instrument and one thing led to another. A guy who lived down the street from me needed a bass player and I gave it a try and loved it.
GN: What was the brand?
JM: The first was a tobacco sunburst generic version, but once I started getting really into it, I got a Rickenbacker, and then I was playing nonstop, all the time!
GN: And now you’re wedded to your signature Bongo bass – is this marriage forever?
JM: I think so. In terms of having something that really works on all levels it has everything that I need. I love it and I’m very appreciative to have something like this.
Dropping out of Berklee
GN: You, Petrucci, and Mike Portnoy all decided to drop out of Berklee College of Music at the same time – would you have left anyway?
JM: I don’t know. We were all ready to go back that fall. But then we realized it would detract from our ability to do what we were doing. We would get together between 6 p.m. and 12 a.m. every night, Monday through Friday, and work on an idea and build it into a song.
So, we had many years of sitting with the material that went into our breakthrough album, ‘Images and Words‘. And ever since then, it’s all been built on deadlines.
You never get that period that you had before you became successful. Once the machine gets turning, it’s very demanding and a whole different mindset. But that’s one of the transitions that had to happen for us to do what we do.
GN: That must have been a tremendous rush to give it all up for music…
JM: Yeah, I look back on those years and we were very motivated. I mean, we still are. But it’s amazing how when you’re young, how you could just push yourself and just bounce back. That’s one of the things I miss. But as you get older, you see more things and learn a lot more, too. So, it’s a trade-off.
John’s Influences
GN: You’ve cited bassists from Rush, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Yes as influences, but also Jaco Pastorius – are you a jazz fan?
JM: Jazz is great…I used to listen to a lot of Miles Davis, Yellow Jackets, Weather Report, and Jaco, at Berklee. But I like the energy and immediacy of rock. It’s more the way I’m wired musically.
GN: Many fans would choose ‘Images and Words’, ‘Awake’, ‘Metropolis part II’, and ‘Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence’ as favourites – what’s your view on that?
JM: I understand it… there’s something special about the early part of a band’s career and the material there. And then things change, because life changes…
GN: But it was ‘The Alien’ from ‘A View from the Top of the World’ that won you a Grammy, which is far more recent…
JM: Right, there you go. I mean, it’s all timing, with things like that, finding the right track at the right time.
Collaborating with Platypus and Jelly Jam
GN: Outside of Dream Theater, you’ve collaborated with Platypus and Jelly Jam – might you work with Ty Tabor and Rod Morgenstein again?
JM: I don’t see why not. That’s more of something that we do when there’s extra time. But the older that you get, that’s what you realize you have less of… I feel the need to be more focused. It’s certainly a rewarding experience, but it’s a lot of work…
GN: Are you and John in regular contact with Mike Portnoy?
JM: We stay in touch and get together every so often for dinner here and there, for birthday occasions, and things like that.
GN: And do your conversations ever extend to possible future music collaborations?
JM: Well, the future’s always open. We’ll leave it at that. [both laugh]
“Sometimes, something magical will just happen…”
GN: Many regard you as one of the world’s best bassists – how do you keep challenging yourself?
JM: The main thing is trying to figure out what it is that I do, and try to direct it, because a lot of it in the beginning is spontaneous. I’m now questioning, ‘Why do these set of notes and the way I played it hit me as a strong idea?’ And ‘why are the group of notes around them notes that [say something] to me?’
Sometimes, something magical will just happen, but mostly it’s a result of the time that you put in. And that’s one of the great things about being in Dream Theater, we are all thinking along those lines; you just have this melting pot of energy.
The interview closes with Gearnews asking about Dream Theater’s strong team spirit, and specifically Myung’s lifelong demonstration of that with Petrucci.
“Yeah, I remember having conversations with John in school and stuff, and we always kind of connected; he was always someone that you could just talk to about anything,” he concludes. “And it’s a real kind of special relationship that we have.”
More about John Myung:
- Dream Theatre Official Band Page
- More Interviews
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One response to “John Myung Interview: Building Dream Theater”
Great interview! I love Dream Theatre…saw them 4 times to date. Looking forward to many more times!!