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Dream Theater vocalist James LaBrie has always anticipated doing a solo album,
but it was not until Magna Carta Records approached him that that dream became a
reality. Ironically, it was not at all what he had thought it would be.
He says
“Originally I was thinking, when I do want to do something like a side project
or a James LaBrie solo project, I was actually going to go more in the vein of
something like Sting – or even George Michael…music with still a lot of
intensity, but I think more of a pop element going on or a more accessible
element, 'cause I wanted to do something completely different from Dream
Theater.”
But, when he
started considering Magna Carta’s offer, thinking about the bands that they’re
affiliated with, and talking with the people he was going to write the songs
with, LaBrie says, “For some reason, it just naturally went in a more hard
rock/progressive direction,” and at that point he knew it was time to blow out
that whole pop approach, freak everyone out, and come out with a real hard rock
album.
What’s in a
name?
“Basically,
with the first album, Elektra (Dream Theater’s record label) was aware that I
was going to do a solo album, and at that point in time didn’t want me to use my
name. They didn’t mind it being inside, they didn’t mind my picture being on
the back and so on and so forth. But they were basically saying at that point,
if you do an album with us, then you can have James LaBrie wherever you want it.
So a that point
I started thinking, ‘well ok, I’ve got to come up with a moniker, a band name,’
which I didn’t have a problem with, because in a way it gives it more of a band
outlook…If you put someone’s name on it then you become the focal point and it's
basically based around you, which to a certain degree that is true. But, I
wanted from the very beginning of this – I wanted it to be approached in every
possible way as a band, like a new band starting.”
LaBrie says
that when he began thinking about names, he had to start thinking about the way
the whole project was coming together, which he admits, was kind of bazaar.
“Getting together with people to write songs that I had never really worked with
before – doing a lot of it from long distance like via FedEx,” he explains.
“So, I thought
it was kind of a hybrid experience, and I started thinking about the lyrics too
that I was writing, and they were dealing with a lot of communication problems:
like people who just had problems expressing themselves or on the other side
people not allowing people the time to actually express themselves or get to
really know the person before placing judgment.”
According to
LaBrie, all of this lead him to just sort of pondering everything that he was
thinking about, which can quickly be defined as MULL, and the lyrics he was
writing sparked the idea of sniffling or gagging and lead him to the term
MUZZLE. Joining the two as MULLMUZZLER, LaBrie made sense of it all, putting an
explanation behind the name summing up the whole experience of the project and
the lyrical meanings behind the songs on the band's debut.
Yet, when
LaBrie once again had an opportunity to plead his case with the business people
at Elektra prior to the release of his second Mullmuzzler album, he still sought
after and finally earned their approval to add his own name to that unique
title, and the band officially became "James LaBrie's Mullmuzzler."
He explains,
“Obviously I’m able to do something that I’m very passionate about, and it
allows me to have a very charmed life to a certain extent, that I’m able to do
what I dreamt of doing as a child. But, you still have to be able to sell.
The label Magna
Carta and everyone else affiliated around the world, when we were selling the
first Mullmuzzler, found that there was an educational process going on as far
as people not really putting it together and going ‘Who the hell is this
Mullmuzzler? What would that be, what kind of music?’ And they thought that
with the name around it, it would have been more immediate because people would
obviously know my connection with Dream Theater and think that the music at
least has to be somewhat in that vein or that style basically.”
Closer Quarters
When it came
time for Mullmuzzler 2, the band’s moniker was not the only immediate change for
the better. Instead of the “bazaar” writing efforts taken with the band’s first
release, they worked more closely, setting aside time together for the second
release, and developing a more mature release than their first.
“I think the
benefit of actually getting together is that you’re in the room and you’re
‘vibeing’ - there’s that connection, and I just think that you get a lot further
too because you’re able to communicate that much quicker and you’re able to
experiment with ideas a lot quicker. It seems to be a healthier situation to be
in the same room with people.”
LaBrie points
out that his working relationship with Matt
Guillory
became much stronger with that proximity since they were able to let their ideas
evolve. “I had time to internalize them – sit with them a while and then digest
them and go further with the idea and keep progressing that way and really
developing the ideas to a point where we say, ‘well this is it, that idea is
complete.’ That was a really advantageous situation with this making of the
album and I think reflect that. I think the songs are much more mature, there’s
more focus, more direction, more of an immediate infectious groove to it...”
In addition to
that maturity in the writing, there is also a level of comfort between the
musicians knowing each of their bandmate's styles and how they approached their
instruments. "The players feel more comfortable because we knew where each
guy was coming from, and what each person more or less expected from one
another..."
LaBrie recalls that being in producer’s chair,
as well as being in the writer’s chair and in the singer’s chair gave him the
control he needed to stick to his vision, though he still attempted to be
extremely open minded to everyone's ideas.
He says, "It was great hearing how everyone in the studio was really able
to gel that much better on this album and I really worked on it when it came to
the mixing stages to sonically really enhance it and to make it sound, I think,
a hundred times better than the first album...
I’m getting great feedback from
it, it is doing really well and I’m really happy…that’s when it all comes around
and you feel that you’ve really accomplished something, is when you actually
start getting the feedback from the people. That’s what it’s all about.”
Reaching the Masses
LaBrie is well aware that a
great album and a familiar name is not enough to get a band heard. Knowing
the radio environment, he realizes that what gets played is not a true
representation of what is out there and these days the industry faces going up
against large corporations, who now own the stations. So, while Magna Carta
is putting a good push behind the release and planning to follow-up with a
re-release in the new year, it may not be enough, and that is a reality that
LaBrie finds very frustrating.
"When I listen to these songs
and I hear it from so many people they think there's songs on here that are
incredibly acceptable for radio play and people being able to latch onto them
and really groove with them. And that was something with both albums, I
said you know ' I want us always thinking of songs that groove that are
extremely rhythmic', because that's what pulls people in and you can still make
the music intense, you can still make it intelligent, you can still be
brilliant, but first and foremost, the two most important elements are the
groove and the rhythm."
Timing is Everything
Upon completion of the
Mullmuzzler album, LaBrie says it was time to jump into the studio again for
Dream Theater's upcoming double album, which is due out in January 2002.
Obviously touring with Mullmuzzler didn't fit into his schedule this fall, but
once he returns from the twelve to fourteen month tour that Dream Theater has
planned for the new year, he hopes to pull off a short run of Mullmuzzler dates
in the states, possibly ten shows random performances.
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