If you know Dream Theater, then you know their lead singer James LaBrie. And if you know him, then you know about his solo/side project, Mullmuzzler. But if you're not familiar with any of the above, then you were like me when I got the call to do this gig.

OK, not entirely true; I knew about Dream Theater and their genre. They were carrying the flag of progressive rock practically on their own throughout the late '80s and on into the '90s, albeit with a more hard rock/heavy metal edge than their predecessors (Yes, King Crimson, Emerson Lake & Palmer, etc.). I even played an instrumental Dream Theater tune sometime back in my Berklee days. But I didn't own any of the records, and even though they were firmly in the muzo camp of musical cliques, I hadn't run in the same circles as any of the band's members.

That changed when James set out to do the first album under the Mullmuzzler name, called Keep It To Yourself. Somehow he already knew Mike Mangini-probably from seeing him play with Steve Vai-and had already been turned on to Mike Keneally as well. Between the two of them, somehow I got referred, and James called me in late 1998. He was very complimentary about my recordings with Keneally, and said he wanted a mature, melodic approach to the bass lines-not necessarily flash and bang, but a more nuanced contribution. Music to my ears.

It also happened to be the only stated directive in regards to what I eventually laid down. You see, the

James LaBrie, on the inside cover of Keep It To Yourself. The words read: "Mullmuzzler: One who silences an individual's thought before it can be expressed in any manner."

members of the "band" Mullmuzzler have never been in the same room at the same time. There were several different songwriters as well, from keyboardists Matt Guillory and Trent Gardner, to guitarist Carl Cadden James, to James LaBrie himself, depending on the track. I received a tape of all the tunes in advance and practiced along with it, just like everybody else. Then, the master ADAT tapes made their way around North America as everyone added their own self-produced tracks to the mix. I'd never done a record like that before, and I only had eight studio hours to do eight tracks. I was pretty damned grateful when James heard the tapes after I was done tracking and pronounced them done in regards to bass. Both before and after the recording, he treated me with a tremendous amount of respect, and had a lot of faith in my ability to bring to his work whatever it is I do as a musician. I'm flattered that he didn't find his trust misplaced.

This experiment in virtual band-dom worked in the sense that we got a good record out of it, but ultimately the first experience laid the groundwork for a more solid, better-sounding, better-produced effort called Mullmuzzler 2, released in late 2001. Though it was recorded in the same "remote control" fashion, the drum tracks sounded much clearer, the songwriting left more room for the individual players to be themselves, and we had more time in which to complete our individual tracks.

The back cover of Mullmuzzler 2

I took the opportunity to make it the very first record I did entirely with the SWR Mo' Bass Amplifier, a new head with myriad analog effects onboard. And I wasn't shy about using them, either. A close inspection of the album's final track ("Tell Me") will uncover large amounts of distortion, synth filtering, hyper-rate chorus, minor-second harmonic double-stops.and three separate bass tracks. All of which James let me keep, bless his heart. I also (against my better judgment) did one track on fretless, the ballad "Believe"-an absolute first in my official recorded history. It's mixed just low enough not to offend anyone interested in perfect intonation.

There's been talk of taking the band to Japan for a short tour, but so far it's been just talk. (I'd settle for all of us getting in one room and taking a picture.) Heading off to the land of the rising sun with Keneally and Mangini would be a blast. Everyone else I worked with-who, besides James, I never actually met-was really cool about providing advice for their particular tunes, and I have little doubt we could get together and make some interesting noise in the same room. Though the material would be a major league bear to pull off in any live format, it would be fun to try-especially in Japan. As of this writing, Mullmuzzler remains a studio project only.

Finally, for those with pre-conceived notions about what a side project led by the lead singer of Dream Theater might sound like.it's less progressive and more hard-rock (and even pop) than you might expect. Certainly there are more than enough six-minute tunes, upper-register vocal flights of fancy, and orgasmatron guitar solos to keep the faithful happy. If you like heavy, complex rock music, and are interested in how musicians treat such material, I think you'll dig it. If not, chances are you've never heard of Dream Theater to begin with. Either way, I had a lot of fun doing this stuff-especially the second record.