THOMAS LANG about Dream Theater Auditions 

I like Thomas positive insights...the interviewer keeps trying to dig up negative gossip. Thomas is such a stand up professional

Thomas has such a great attitude and is very professional about the whole thing... the guy doing the interview sounds more butthurt about it.

Ever since the Dream theater auditions I've followed Thomas, Virgil Donati and Marco Minnemann. At least for me it worked as positive PR even if they didnt get picked. It was great to see so many great players killing it. Obviously theres other factors than just the playing involved!

Interviewer:stop interrupting the guest. 😀 It is disrespectful. The interviewee is an intelligent, interesting man with a lifetime of experience to share. He is trying to describe his personal feelings of a unique experience that most people will not have access too. A professional interviewer simply has to listen and raise questions when required.

Thomas as a person is pure class.

I have always liked Thomas Lang, but this makes me like Thomas Lang even more. Very stoic. Great sense of humor. Highly intelligent. And obviously, a monster drummer. We all know Thomas would have made a first rate addition to Dream Theater.

Wonderful insight into the music industry. Thomas Lang is an amazing drummer regardless of what happened with Dream Theater -- makes no difference.

Thomas is one of the greatest, I love his way of drumming.

Great interview a lot to learn from this - Thank you Thomas!

This being my VERY FIRST Thomas Lang interview, I am blown away by this amazing brother!

What I don't understand is, most Interviewers ask the question, then cut in !! as If it's about them, or they want the world to know who they are ! Thomas Lang , and others are brilliant at their craft, why always look for fault in them ? Interviewers.......show RESPECT !

This was more fascinating than I expected, and that’s saying something because I didn’t know it was audio only. Good stuff! I like Thomas Lang the more I learn about him. ProgPop is top-notch.

The fact that Thomas learned the Dream Theater songs to essentially perfection just out of curiosity is a testament to his skill.

My opinion is Thomas is just a different and better drummer.

Gracias por la traduccion muy buen entrevista

Fantastic interview!!! Great heads up!!!

Very very interesting interview Lang is a good guy.

This was great to hear and all of you there are incredible drummers and I personally loved watching the try out and your takes on the songs 😊👍👏❤🔥 thanks for this other angle and info. Also wanted to say to thomas, bro you are a legend and I don't know about anybody else but I didn't think any less of you or your incredible talent cuz you didn't get the gig...to me you are iron man and this is coming from a guy who loves dream theater and mike portnoy and have been a fan since images and words.

Thx for telling the story. Remember talking about that at the drum camp in germany and austria back then. Things become more obvious now...

Thomas Lang. An incredible drummer and class act. Great 👍 interview.

Thanks for this!

Lo seguire diciendo el mejor canal d bateristas

This goes to show the wanna be working drummers how the music world works , there’s no other Drummer out there like Thomas ,with the style that he has and what he does it’s mine blowing!!

Well thought out responses from Thomas. And all proved to be true now that MP has returned. Glad that everyone who auditioned has retained there integrity. Onwards and Upwards guys !

Thomas, you are a gentleman. Hope to see you in Spain next time you visit our country. Grüsse!

Thomas Lang is a living legendary drummer.

Thomas was my pick. Absolute machine!

Thank you for this interview. The Terminator can kill it on four-piece kit ❤

The record of A Nightmare To Remember with Thomas' drums is what I would buy right away!

Tremenda entrevista

Honesty always wins

I agree with most the things that Thomas says, but I think those audition videos gave everybody in them great exposure. Before that video I had no clue who any of those drummers where. Now all of those drummers are some of my favorite drummers of all time all because I discovered them through the video. It probably sucks to be filmed and then find out you didn't get the gig, but those videos have given a fuck ton of exposure to new audiences. I would say it probably benefited everyone's careers at least a little.

THOMAS LANG is a stand up guy. Pure class and a true gentleman. He's also one of my favorite Drummers of all time. Uncle Le😎

Dream Theater producers were genious on that documentarie auditition. Serious good move. It was really for drummers in the fan base, and that was awesome to see a little like background stuff for audition. Thomas (after years of course) it is super nice to talk about it.

I saw the audition as a young boy and watching this now, it is cool

I honestly have respect for anyone in professional music; while a few get lucky, most have to be very skilled, talented, & have the ability to work with many different styles & personalities. I went to a TL clinic in 2004 - amazing & educational.

Esto es oro...

Thomas and Marco were the ones to show me that there is a horizon beyond DT, drum-wise (I was a major Portnoy - fanboy). That was long before that "audition"... So for me, the story has come full circle.

Great interview. Always interesting to hear some “insider” details. Frankly, when I saw the DT doc, it seemed totally inevitable that Mangini was predestined to be “the guy”. All these great players from far flung parts of the US (and beyond), but they WEREN’T going to grab their boy from “the neighborhood”? Berklee connection? East Coast Italian dude?? A bit silly to think they wouldn’t select him just on personality and cultural/regional factors alone. Of course Mangini delivers the goods like the badass he is, but I just remember laughing when Lang walked into the studio because it was like: Same Planet, Different Worlds. Still fun to watch. 👍🏼

Thomas is very smart, mature and professional. Kudos

Huge DT fan and loved the episodes, so this was great to hear. I feel like TL was very well-spoken here and clarified himself and handled himself very maturely in this interview...More respect for taking the honest high road...thought MM was a little salty in his reaction after, but still not bad either. Regardless, Mangini is the perfect fit for them cause the music ability was not the most important part and he was the only one that seemed to want it so badly...cheers Thomas.

Bobby Jarzombek was also invited to audition but he declined.

Interesting. Great interview! Gracias! Def like Metallica audition. That's funny.

It would be great if you interview Donati, Wildoer, and Priester about this as well regarding their mindset heading in to the auditions. So far, Roddy, Minnemann, ang Lang all shared the similar "we didnt genuinely 100% want the gig anyway" vibe so it would be cool if we hear from the other 3 as well

Thomas Lang is a phenomenal drummer, they had such a different vision for who they were wanting but it doesn't take away from his skill and his talent you could tell by watching the documentary that Mike Mangini definitely was much more gungho to get into dream theater and wanted it more than anyone else. He was much more obsessed i feel and he definitely fits best too. You could also tell all those guys had a history with Mangini and they definitely had a bias towards him in the beginning

100 percent class in every way. Love Thomas Lang

Thomas Lang is the best of the World.

Buen material mas material de este tipo porfavor

nice job, Thomas!

Well, Mangini was and is the right choice. Congratulations for the Grammy award.

There always so much more to these types of things. Lang is a good dude. I think they wanted Mangini all along, and he’s great for them.

I believe Thomas would have made DT sound superb with his power and technical ability. Should have got the job for me.

i get thomas point, but it is a wonderful piece of content that these auditions were shared with the world, the fans and the public win

you were my favorite drummer to dreamtheater

one of the most maturest world drummers. But hey man, he said that Greg Bissonet is his neighbour. What could be better that? Cool Mr. Lang!

It was pretty clear to me from the beginning who was the best fit and who most wanted it. But I knew what Mangini was like with Vai so I could tell he was the best fit. So not just the audition video but in general. I LOVE Thomas and would be super interested to hear new DT stuff with Thomas's style but it just wouldn't be right for the long term.

Been a fan of Lang's from 2006 from the drummer world days

We’re all better off that Thomas didn’t get the gig. I like him out there doing his thing, not somebody else’s.

Thomas would have added a whole new dimension to the band and they should have embraced that

2:38 "I felt sorry for him (Portnoy)" - Thomas Lang

Thomas Lang with some real talk.

The interviewer seems to want to misunderstand Lang at around 11:00 Wants the drama. Props of Lang for not sinking to that level

Thomas Lang is a drumming god. Without question.

The person doing the interview is coming off like a pompous, arrogant! At 2:30 I’ve decided don’t like the person conducting this interview! My hats off to Thomas Lang for being professional.

Thomas would've been my second pick after Minnemann. Beast of a drummer he is.

thomas will always be king regardless of DT or not.

"You didn't feel like you were dating his ex wife" Lang - No...

Mike Mangini was always gunna be the drummer. It was clear since the beginning. He fit well, his playing is godlike, and he will do what they say without a problem.

I want to live next to Thomas Lang and Gregg Bossonette or in the same neighborhood, dam!

It's quite obvious that the DT guys paid good money to have top drummers come and audition, just to rebuke them, and give DT a false aura of unreachable quality. Pretty sure that Mangini (who is an awesome drummer) was the pick even before the auditions (Berklee teacher playing with Berklee alumni, great publicity for Berklee)

I knew of all of the drummer's before hand. Have both of Thomas's instruction videos. Knew of mangini from when he became the fastest drummer on the planet

The guy interviewing him must be Jimmy Fallon's brother...he won't stfu and let him talk.

They should pay all of them - as all have the technical/musical ability to play - and made it public that other things were considered to choose the member ... for musicians, ti was great to know new interpretations and possibilities and new musician/drummers names ... as it did not sound like a competition which marketing-media is promoting it (same goes with Death drummers or Nightwish singers - were all suitable to their need of development and expression of that time)

Thomas is a badass drummer one the best in the world.

When I heard that Portnoy wasn't in DT anymore the first thing I said to the friend who told me was something like "They're probably gonna get Mike Mangini to be their new drummer". When the audition videos dropped and they announced Mangini I got to message him and say "called it". I felt really insightful there ^_^

I want to see the entire audition of thomas

Imagine Thomas ended up in Avenged Sevenfold... The Stage would've been even more fn insane

Io fossi stato nei dream theater avrei scelto proprio thomas lang perché è bravissimo e anche un bel ragazzone simpatico.

Waooo, lleva razón es muy inteligente caer en esos puntos de vista. Les usaron para comercializar as audiiones. Si señor. Y me extraña que DT necedite hace eso.

great interview!

Peter Wildoer was already a part of James LaBrie's solo project as well.

Excellent interview!

DT new era with MM..show must go on..

I’m curious what he would’ve said if they did want him to join.

Hearing interviews from Roddy, Lang, Minnemann, and Jarzombek makes me think that DT,as talented as they are, is a toxic working environment. The fact that those drummers never really wanted the gig says something about how DT runs their business

Wasn’t MM LaBrie’s solo project’s drummer? If so, he was already chosen for that reason too...

Minnemann asked them NOT to put his video segments in the final cut for the documentary. They said not to worry they wouldn't and then did anyway.

i liked his performance a lot more than any other man on that audition and think that DTs music could have been a lot better with him, but as he says, musical side is just one on many aspects taken to acount.

Even if he had been chosen, would Thomas Lang have been willing to commit to putting Dream Theater as his primary career priority for the next 10, 15, 20 years? It seems obvious from this interview that he wasn't as committed to a long-term career change as Mangini was. One of the impressions I got from the auditions was that Mangini clearly expressed his desire to be an integral part of Dream Theater for the long haul more than any other the drummer auditioning for the part. Heck, he was gushing like a teenager when he was finally accepted into the band. You can't buy that kind of child-like enthusiasm and loyalty. It seems to me that Dream Theater would have wanted not only a great drummer, but someone dedicated for the long term, someone who would put the band first for many years to come and not eventually lose their enthusiasm (as did Portnoy, admittedly) down the road. It's obvious they picked the right guy. Ten years later, Dream Theater is still Mangini's number one career priority and he's still going strong.

I personally really liked that they publicized the auditions. Never knew about Marco Minnemann before the auditions and it led me down a path of awesome music. I was 16 at the time and it was very informative for me to see how bands work. I can understand the viewpoints in this interview, but as a simple fan of the music, it was a fun adventure for me and I'm glad they did it the way they did.

From the first time I watched the audition, as the dream theater fan, I more prefer thomas lang to be their drummer, n igot more convinced after i saw mike mangini play with them as the drummer, Ibut I do admit mike mangini is one if the best drummer, he is incredible of course

When Thomas said Mars Volta, I was like "Hell yeahhh!"

I know Thomas since the 90's. He's so authentic and pure and funny. He is a showman for sure, but I think he is not an actor, he's just himself. As I saw/listened the audition I knew: his outfit, haircut and tongue out when concentrating and over all: promoting his own ideas... So as Dream Theater pretend to be at the edge (yes, they are great musicians) it rather seems like a business model. Well, why not, they also have to pay their bills.

Thomas did a great job. Would have loved to have seen Sean Reinert do it before he died.

I don’t think the DT auditions hurt Thomas’s standing within the drumming community even though he mentioned being known as one of the drummers who didn’t win the audition, if anything it probably gave Thomas more notoriety to a broader audience who otherwise probably didn’t know who he was or haven’t really seen much of his playing

Among the people who Auditioned, Thomas Lang was my favorite. I imagined if he was chosen, Dream Theater would've sounded a lot better, no disrespect to MM.

The fans want someone who plays it just like Portnoy did so that had to be someone who is ok doing it that way. I get why doing that wouldnt be very inspiring for someone on Lang's level.

Jesus i wanna see that AX7 Audition

To this day I don’t understand why they didn’t pick you Mr. Lang... But it did help to promote your image.

I don't think it's fair to say that they were doing it just for PR or they already knew they would pick Mangini. Mangini definitely didn't seeing his reaction when they told him he got the gig. If that was fake then he is an even better actor than he is a drummer, and if he didn't then how could they be sure they would've picked him by the end. Of course I've asked myself if they truly considered to pick a foreign citizen, but the whole process looked genuine to me. Moreover I don't see how anyone could regard Thomas as "one of the guys who didn't get the gig". He did great, they said they liked him a lot, I think that was very good PR for him.