When John Myung, bassist and co-founder of Dream Theater, reflects on the band’s latest chapter, there's a quiet sense of rediscovery behind his words. The reunion with original drummer Mike Portnoy has, by all accounts, transformed the dynamic within the band – and not just in terms of energy.
“Getting a different drummer actually affects everybody in Dream Theater, because we all play off the timekeeper in the band, but having Mike back just felt right,” Myung told Bass Player magazine, “There were so many magical moments where everything came together. We’re like family.”
This sense of familial comfort has brought Dream Theater into what some fans and critics are calling a second golden era. Their 16th studio album, Parasomnia, released alongside the band’s 40th anniversary, was widely praised as a powerful return to their heavier roots. With Portnoy back behind the kit – a role he originally held from the group’s Berklee College of Music beginnings in 1985 until 2010 – the band's chemistry appears to have reignited.
“In a lot of ways it still feels just like it did when we first hit it off at Berkelee,” Myung says, “We'd always book out room E19, which is where we’d practice Monday through Friday. We’d be there every night, six until midnight. A lot of those songs we were working on became the songs on Images and Words.”
Myung’s role in Dream Theater has always leaned more toward foundational than flashy. Amid searing guitar leads and Portnoy’s return to his signature drum theatrics, Myung continues to prioritize groove and structure: “A lot of times, if there are a lot of rhythms and structures, my part will be heavily dictated towards supporting the chords and playing the root,” he explains, “The first step of writing a bassline for a technical song is just picking the notes and being on top of what's going on.”
This mindset speaks to Myung’s broader philosophy as a musician – one centered not on excess but on service to the song, “Some of my favorite basslines are the most solid, functional ones,” he said. “I don't mean to say you need to limit yourself, but when it comes to building a song, I think your job as a bass player is to find the perfect supportive line.”
This openness has also helped him avoid creative ruts: “Whenever that happens, I try to change the way I look at the instrument. Normally, you take a scale or chord and learn it, and that's great – but it's also important to spend time applying it in a musical way. I've found that once you find a new way to look at something, that's when ideas start coming to you.”
He credits his growth to early influences like Steve Harris, Geddy Lee, and Chris Squire,“I liked the spirit of Steve Harris’ sound and the way the Iron Maiden songs were built off his basslines. I started getting into them at the Piece of Mind stage.”
But with the band's creative spirit newly rekindled, Myung is keeping things simple – and soulful. Parasomnia might push technical boundaries, but Myung insists that its strength lies in restraint – “Every album challenges the thresholds of technicality. I think the problem with making really technical music within a rock sense is that you lose some of the power. Our past couple of records were super-technical, but with Parasomnia, we’ve been a lot more conscious of that.”
Looking back on the making of that breakthrough album, Myung recalled a humble beginning: “I remember the expectations were low! It wasn't like we had a massive push behind it. There was a song called ‘Pull Me Under’, and whenever that song got played on the radio, the phone lines would just light up. Everyone wanted to know about this new band.”
The momentum only grew when the label responded to that attention, “That’s when the label booked us to make a music video in Chicago. Once MTV started showing that video, everything changed. The power of MTV really put us on the map.”
Interestingly, even as Myung reflects on the rigorous technique developed over years of playing 6-string bass, he's considering a shift, “I'm actually thinking about it for the next record. There's a certain freedom that you feel when you go back to a 4-string,” he admits, “Having the discipline to be able to play a 6-string bass is great. It’s definitely forced me to develop a certain technique and a way of playing that I enjoy, but now I feel like it might be time to apply that knowledge to a 4-string bass, and just have some fun with it.”
