Digital Interviews: When did you first get interested in the drums?

Rod Morgenstein: I saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, in '63 or '64 -- and that was it.

DI: How old were you?

RM: I was born April 19th, 1953, in New York, and so, from age 10, I was playing the drums.

DI: After you saw Ringo, you were stuck.

RM: Totally. You just identify with an individual. My parents saw my passion, and they wanted their children to be able to experience their passions. At least so we wouldn't end up at the end of the road and say, "What if I'd tried this," or "I can't believe I didn't get the opportunity to..."

DI: They were supportive of your music. That's very unique.

RM: Especially for a drummer.

DI: You were one of the founding members of the Dixie Dregs?

RM: Yes, I started with Steve Morse and Andy West as college students in '73.

DI: Tell us about the formation of that group.

RM: I went to a local junior college, and I was trying to figure out where to go to complete the four years. I had a teacher who went to the University of Miami, and he said I ought to look into it, so I decided to go. I remember being in an improv class where I was playing piano, and there was this guitarist who stuck out. It was Steve Morse. He was the only longhaired guy with a solid body Fender guitar with four pickups on it. He didn't wear shoes, and he didn't sound like anybody else there. He was one of a kind.

DI: You knew he was the real deal when you heard him?

RM: Yeah. I didn't know him, and one day he came up to me and asked if I could sit in for the drummer in his band, because the drummer had broken his arm in a surfing accident. That's how I met Steve; playing in the Dregs, which, at the time, was a class called the Rock Ensemble II in the booklet.

DI: What timeline of activity did the Dregs follow?

RM: In '77 our first record came out. We stayed together until the middle of '83. We got back together in 1988, to do a little special promotional recording, and then we toured for the summer. Then in '92, we got back together for the Bring 'Em Back Alive CD, toured that whole year, and then put out a studio record called Full Circle in '94 and then toured the second half of '94. Now we're talking about getting it back together.

DI: What brought the Dregs back together in 1988?

RM: There was a keyboard company called Ensoniq. Instead of just running an ad for their new gear, they thought it would be really cool to do a CD of what they thought was a hip band playing their new keyboards. It was a great reason for the Dregs to get back together. From doing that, we all renewed our friendships and camaraderie, and said, "Let’s tour."

DI: What did you do between 1983 and 1988?

RM: I continued playing with Steve Morse, and the Steve Morse Band. T and I, and the bass player from the Dregs, did an album with Paul Barrere from Little Feat, called Paul Barrere and Friends. We did a tour.

DI: You've also played in a metal band?

RM: I was in the band Winger from '88 to '93.

DI: How was that experience, playing in a heavy metal band?

RM: Fantastic. Really fascinating. The contrast between being in a group like Jazz Is Dead and a group like Winger is just so different. At the time, Winger was like the flavor of the day.

DI: What was the key difference that stands out in your mind?

RM: The whole Winger thing was -- the MTV generation. Everybody came to the show dressed to the hilt. You could tell girls spent hours getting their hair and make-up just right, and wearing really sexy clothing, and guys were really into grooming themselves. It was a major theatrical scene. The bands were into not just playing the music, but really entertaining people through the visuals. For the time, it was so much fun. Winger finished in '93. Kip Winger continues to put out very musical, in-depth, serious records. Unfortunately, his name has been so damaged, because the industry just thinks of him as the guy from the metal days. He's really incredibly classically trained, so I still work with him, and he puts out these labors of love.

DI: You’re a very powerful drummer. Even during a jazz performance, you play a very rock sound.

RM: My background is more rock. In my teens, somehow, people were turning me on to Miles Davis' Bitch’s Brew and Tony Williams, who was Miles' drummer in the '60s. Suddenly I started getting into this "post-bebop" kind of jazz, and then pursued that a bit through college. But my roots have always been Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, that kind of thing.

DI: What is the Rudess/Morgenstein Project?

RM: A power duo. This incredible keyboard player named Jordan Rudess, who's just joined Dream Theater, a huge, proud, rock band. It's like another world to me. These are other worlds that exist outside of the music business. You don't hear it on the radio.

DI: They’re not going to be marketed, it's not going to be in the "cycle."

RM: Right, not in the mainstream. So, for the last three years, it's a two-man band, just my drum set and he plays one keyboard. The thing that makes it totally unique is that 95 to 98 percent of our show is totally live. Since there's two of us, it's not like he's pressing buttons so other things play and we play along with it. He has harnessed the technology and figured out how, by applying different pressures to different keys, he can access additional sounds. So, we sound like an orchestra. We put out a CD called The Rudess/Morgenstein Project, and toured all over the world with this group, Dream Theater, which he ultimately joined.

DI: You also have another venture that involves Dream Theater.

RM: I also have a band called Platypus, and it has two members from Dream Theater on it. Also, there’s King's X. The guitarist in that group is in Platypus, so it's a very interesting mix of progressive music and vocal mainstream.

DI: As if that isn't quite a schedule, you’re also a music instructor?

RM: A college professor. I teach at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

DI: So you've got your day job and then you do your other projects.

RM: Yeah, I just try to fit it all in. From year to year, my life is different. I've been doing the college thing for two years. I'm not sure if I'll continue, because it's very taxing to try to keep focused on all your responsibilities there, and you're leading this double life. The school loves having high-profile people. It draws more students to them. They don’t want guys teaching there who don't have the experience of living the dream. I just feel really lucky that in my career I wear so many different hats.

DI: Including Jazz Is Dead?

RM: I don't even know how to describe it, but it's the most free thing I've ever done. You go places that you never went before.

DI: Were you a Dead fan before your involvement in the group?

RM: I was a Dead fan when I was in my teens and early twenties. I had the first five or six records, and I saw them play once, and it was a great experience. Then I lost touch with the Dead for the last 20 years.

DI: The band members seem to utilize the music like they utilize other performers' music -- as a vehicle.

RM: Totally. This music -- particular songs really lend themselves for stretching your abilities, and your creative juices. It's really amazing. I think, in general, the thing that's so cool about the Grateful Dead is that you're supposed to take chances. It's okay if you fall on your face now and then. The audience really respects you going to new places.