Interview with Symphony X drummer Jason Rullo
By Simay
All photos taken by Craig Billow for Anarchy Music.
Lights, camera, action! Alright, no cameras per se, but there were lights and action. So much action, as a matter of fact, that my butt cheeks were vibrating, the two glasses of beer I’d consumed banging against the walls of my stomach. Before all this went down, I got to sit down with Symphony X’s drummer Jason Rullo and ask him the questions Tito Cantafio, a big fan of the band, wrote down. So thanks to Tito for the questions, and, as always, thanks to The Anarchist for making this happen.
Simay: Symphony X’s previous albums to Paradise Lost have been more progressive in nature. Why did you choose a more streamlined approach this time?
Jason Rullo: Ultimately, it was really just about the song writing and the songs themselves. And it kinda just worked out that way, I think. It was a bit of a conscious decision to make the stuff a little more accessible, but still have that Symphony X sound and style. There’s still a lot of odd meters all over the place. Some of the stuff even feels odd, which is kinda cool because it kinda caters to both worlds there. I personally think there’s a decent share of progressive stuff on this record, “The Walls of Babylon,” even some of the stuff towards the end of the album. It’s hard to say… It’s really more of a “the evolution of the band” kind of thing, and the attitude of this album was just that way. There’s a lot of guitar riffs, just guitar-driven type stuff. So that’s just kind of how it unfolded, really.
Simay: Why did it take 5 years to make this CD?
Jason Rullo: Well, there was a lot of things that happened. First of all, there were a few tours that kept kind of popping up. There was a Queensryche Tour three, four years ago, and there was a Gigantour two years ago. And it was hard to get into that writing groove and establish that groove and have to go out and rehearse and do all that. By the time you get back, three or four months is gone. It’s just one of those things… Aside from that, we just wanted to really make sure we were gonna put out an album that we were happy with and the fans would obviously enjoy. Yeah, it was just one of those things… And then it got to the point where it was just taking so long that we knew we had to deliver something that was gonna be worth the wait. So, it’s a combination of all those things.
Simay: In the past, Symphony X CDs seemed to focus on one really long song. [The Odyssey: 24 mins. Divine Wings of Tragedy: 21 mins.] Why isn’t there any of that on Paradise Lost?
Jason Rullo: We don’t have an epic on every song, every record, rather. Again, with this one, it was more of having a good collection of songs. Even having some shorter songs actually, so that maybe people could hear us on the radio or something. It’s something a little more accessible again. And we thought about it. We even had some pieces that almost turned into that, but the way it unfolded was [that] the symphonic parts ended up more segue and stuff. And there was still a few of those we had that we didn’t actually use because it just didn’t really fit right. Obviously, [Paradise Lost] starts with a symphonic kind of thing and people, I guess, were thinking it would be more like The Odyssey or something when they heard that. But then again, it just comes down to those songs and that’s just kinda the way it unfolded. And we had one more song that didn’t make the record that was a little longer, and kind of like an artsy kind of thing compared to some of the heavier stuff. Yeah… That’s just kinda how it ended up.
Simay: Paradise Lost appears to focus on themes rather then being a concept CD. Is that related to the writing again?
Jason Rullo: Well, yeah. We knew it was not gonna be a concept album from the start, but we also knew there was gonna be a common theme. So it’s more of a theme album, if you will. It enabled us to touch upon the different things and emotions we all go through as human beings, and still have kind of a subjective take on it and not have a real definite story line so to speak. But yeah, [we were] able to touch upon the different emotions and stuff on Paradise Lost.
Simay: Russ’s vocals are extremely raspy on Paradise Lost. Well, first thing people are wondering, is he still smoking?
Jason Rullo: Actually, he quit smoking, that’s the funny part. He hasn’t been smoking for over a year now. So [it] has nothing to do with that. It has everything to do with just the attitude of the record. This is probably the band’s way of taking out our frustrations. There’s obviously a lot of tough parts about this business, so sometimes you just get to that point where you’re frustrated with things. That’s what I think where the guitar riffs are coming from, and where the vocals are coming from on this record. And the drums, for that matter. Just a whole energy… It’s just what we felt. It kinda required a little bit more anger.
Simay: There are recurring melodies in Revelation and Divine Wings of Tragedy. Was that planned?
Jason Rullo: Yeah, a little bit. It’s probably a better question for Romeo, but ultimately we wanted to hint Divine a little bit because it’s the same theme. Divine Wings is pretty much the Paradise Lost type of thing. We just thought it would be cool to hint at that musically, and then also just for the fans who’ve been with us for that long to hear that in the end. We thought that’d be kinda cool.
Simay: Will you be finally releasing the DVD that the fans have been demanding for a long time?
Jason Rullo: Yeah, I hope so. You’ve gotta obviously have the finances in place and everybody on the same page, and you gotta decide which shows you’re gonna record and all that stuff. It’s something we’ve been talking about, and we really want to make it happen. So we plan to make it happen over the next year.
Simay: It’s been rumored that the footage from ProgPower is available if you ask for it. If that’s true, will that be released?
Jason Rullo: No, we didn’t play ProgPower this year. There’s nothing professional. The only thing that’s out there is the Gigantour footage. It was done in a professional way. And all the footage that they have, besides the tour DVD, is owned by the company that did that whole thing. Of course, it’s not our footage. We did try to get it to do something with it, but it would be too expensive.
Simay: What sparked such creative packaging for the CD? Even for the vinyl?
Jason Rullo: I’ll tell you, we really just got lucky using the artist that we did [use]. He really came to the page. Actually, he approached us. He heard The Odyssey and got in touch with the management and said, “I wanna work with you guys.” And we had this idea, [and told him] this is what we’re doing, this is the theme, these are some of the lyrics… It’s gotta be kinda dark and whatnot. And he just came up with the original artwork. So, of course, we were sold on him right after that, right off the bat. And he just keeps going. He and his team are just really creative guys, always have ideas coming out. [It was] very fortunate for us. With the vinyl, the same thing. They just gave it some free rein, what are you thinking, what do you have, and they just went to town and did all that. We couldn’t be happier. It’s perfect. It’s what we would want.
Simay: The Japanese version of Paradise Lost includes an alternate intro. Why is it not in the American version?
Jason Rullo: It’s really more of a bonus track for one of the symphonic pieces that was gonna be used as a segue, but it just didn’t fit anywhere. We knew we had to do a bonus thing for [the Japanese version]. And that’s just kinda how it ended up. Rather than give them a whole another song, we just wanted to give them something that we pretty much had. We were just able to finish that off and give that to them. It was supposed to be put at the end of the CD, I thought, but I haven’t even seen it myself yet, so…
Simay: Do you have outside jobs? What’re you doing when you’re not making music?
Jason Rullo: Not really anymore. I teach sometimes at clinics and stuff like that. Mostly it’s all music related now, [with] all the guys. Some guys might do a side project here and there or something like that. Like I’ve said, a little teaching. LePond teaches when he’s home. Romeo’s pretty much always in the dungeon, just working on something. It’s pretty much just music now.