I really rely a lot more on memory. I'm definitely not as good of a sight reader.

I went straight out of high school, and when I was 17, all I wanted to do was play guitar.

When I first started, it was the real basic stuff that was being played on the radio, so I was into Zeppelin, and Sabbath, and AC/DC, and all stuff like that. I grew up in New York, on Long Island, so the local radio stations played all that kind of thing.

Even with Dream Theater, we track in a big studio and everything. But when it comes to doing leads, I don't really require a lot of studio to do that. I need a good sounding room and a Pro Tools rig, and some Neve mic-pres, and I'm good.

If I'm not in an environment where I can record, it's great to be able to write something down, to be able to know how to do that, to be able to write notation. You grab a piece of paper and there it is. It's the cheapest recording equipment you can buy: a piece of manuscript paper and a pencil!

I would say the more the better when it is comes to development and marketing. It's actually fun. For some it can be a frustrating thing.

As far as bands doing that in a way where they think they're going to fight the government, the only people they're really hurting is the fans.