DARKANE's Peter Wildoer, who recently reached a new audience as drummer/backing vocalist on DREAM THEATER frontman James LaBrie's latest solo album, Static Impulse, recently auditioned fort the vacant Dreamm Theater drummer spot. Nicholas R. Andreas at When Prog And Power spoke with Wildoer about the three hour audition. Check out the interview via the audio player below:

Peter Wildoer

It was recently announced that Mike Mangini earned the coveted spot behind the Dream Theater drum kit. He replaces co-founder Mike Portnoy, who left the band in September 2010.

Following is an excerpt from an interview with Wildoer conducted in November 2010 discussing his work on Static Impulse:

By Carl Begai

For some diehard Dream Theater fans, vocalist James LaBrie’s new solo album, Static Impulse, is the equivalent of a kick in the teeth. At the very least it trashes the belief that LaBrie is “just” the singer, his creativity limited to composing vocal melodies and delivering them on stage. The new record proves this is anything but the case, with LaBrie and longtime collaborator Matt Guillory (keyboards) taking what became LaBrie’s signature sound on Elements Of Persuasion from 2005 and twisting it into something much more volatile. The most provocative element in this metamorphosis – no pun intended – is the involvement of Darkane drummer Peter Wildoer. Not only does he serve up trademark Swedish thrash from behind the kit as required, LaBrie and Guillory had the audacity to invite Wildoer to lay down full-on death metal vocals. Also as required, and much to the chagrin of Dream Theater purists.

“Well, like so many times before this was pure luck,” Wildoer says of being asked to sing, aware that some people are cursing that luck. “Matt and James knew they wanted Jens Bogren to mix the album here in Sweden, and Jens told Matt that he knew a great studio called Studiomega where he wanted the band to record the songs. Matt called a mutual friend of ours – Teddy Möller from F.K.Ü. – and asked him if he knew any Swedish drummers that he could recommend, and he recommended me. Very nice of him; thanks Teddy! Matt called me one night, introduced himself, and asked me if I wanted to play drums on James LaBrie’s new album. Of course I wanted to!”

Wildoer was initially hired on for the sole purpose of laying down the drum tracks for the album. As he tells it, his double duty as second vocalist came about purely by chance.

“James and Matt had absolutely no clue I did screaming/growling vocals. They were looking for a drummer and I didn’t know they wanted those kind of vocals. So yeah, initially it was just because of my drumming. A few weeks later I talked to Matt again and he told me they wanted a guest screamer/growler to do some parts and he asked me if I knew someone since I come from a thrash/death metal background. We talked about a few guys and then I just said that I actually did vocals on Darkane guitarist Christofer Malmström’s solo album, Non-Human Level. Matt asked me to send a song, and a couple days later he said that both him and James liked my screaming and wanted me to do it. Cool, if you ask me…”

Being asked to sing on the solo album of an established and highly respected vocalist like LaBrie isn’t a small deal. Wildoer admits, however, that he didn’t feel as much pressure as one might think.

“We had a great vibe in the studio and the other guys are some of the nicest guys I know. The whole recording was very relaxed even though we had to record all drums, bass, rhythm guitars, keyboards, and the solos in just two weeks. The guys are among the finest musicians I know and they nailed it. Amazing! Because of this cool climate in the studio I was very relaxed doing the vocals. I recorded all my vocals in about four hours one afternoon.”
“It was totally clear to what I was to sing,” he adds. “All the songs had demo vocals by Matt on them, and Matt did the screaming on those as well. I tried some different things in the studio and Matt really liked the frantic screaming so we went for that. I had a clear vision of what we were doing. It was great fun.”

Fun that Wildoer has been trashed for in the press numerous times since Static Impulse’s release; a classic case of the messenger getting shot for doing his job.

“I had absolutely no clue that my screaming would cause such a huge commotion among the Dream Theater fans. I’ve been playing and listening to thrash and death metal for twenty years, so to me this kind of vocals are totally natural. I’ve gotten a lot of bashing on internet from many Dream Theater fans who really hate my vocals. Some seem to think I told the other guys, ‘Hey, I can scream so I want to do it on James’ solo record…’ as if I decided the album should have screaming vocals. I’m very sorry if they can’t stand it, but Matt and James wanted those kind of vocals and like I said, I had no clue so many people would disapprove of it. On the other hand, a lot of people love the variety James’ and my different vocals bring to the table and that’s great.”

Wildoer is too classy to say it out loud, but the message is clear. To quote Children Of Bodom’s resident troll Alexi Laiho, “I don’t give a fuck if you hate me.”

He continues: “With that said, there are equally many people who love the album and think it’s very cool James did something different than Dream Theater. I honestly think it’s very cool if someone’s solo efforts differ from what you expect. Personally, I have a very open mind towards music and listen to almost all kinds of music. I actually play a lot of different styles as well.”

While Wildoer’s vocals have quite naturally taken center stage with regards to his influence on Static Impulse’s sound, there’s no escaping the fact that his drums also play a key role. Once again, the blame has to be put on LaBrie and Guillory for the unexpectedly high level of aggression on some of the songs. Wildoer was simply the instrument that brought it to life.

“When I got involved on this album all songs were already demo-ed so I actually had no impact on the tempos of the songs. I have to give Matt and Marco (Sfogli / guitars) a lot of credit for how the drums came out. They did phenomenal work on programming the demo drums; very realistic and it was easy to understand what they wanted. Because of the great sounding demos I was very inspired to do the drum parts and I’m very happy with them. I did add my style, personality and some trademark drum fills, and the guys liked it. Good for me (laughs). Actually, after we recorded the first drum track (‘One More Time’) Ray (Riendeau / bass) came up to me and said something like ‘I’m kind of surprised you got away with those drum parts, didn’t think they were okay with such furious drumming…’ (laughs).”
“So far I’ve only gotten great reactions from the Darkane fans,” Wildoer continues. “They like what I did and think the album is great. I get a lot of mails from fans telling me they’re so happy that I get to reach some new fans and that new people will discover Darkane. All in all I’m very honored and happy to be a part of this record. I love the CD and think everybody should check it out.”

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Following are some audio samples from Static Impulse featuring Wildoer: