How much consideration does Dream Theater give to live performance as they write a song?
MP: We’ve used 2 different approaches. On several albums, we worked out the music ahead of time in a rehearsal studio, playing the songs down from start to finish. We had a very “live” arrangement. By the time we got into the studio, the stuff was well rehearsed and demoed and pretty much ready to go live, because we were practicing it live. On several other albums, we’ve written the material in the studio as we’re going, so in some cases, we’re not even writing a song completely from start to finish before we roll tape. For instance, for the 42-minute title track to Six Degrees, we wrote and recorded it in pieces.
