When Scale the Summit was announced as a replacement act for this year’s Progressive Nation Tour, they were completely unknown to me. But halfway through “Bloom,” the opening track from their latest release Carving Desert Canyons [Prosthetic, 2009], I was convinced Dream Theater drummer and Progressive Nation founder Mike Portnoy had made a great decision.

The songs throughout the melodic and completely instrumental album focus more on composition and fluidity than on blistering chops and maniacal time signatures, although those don’t fail to make the occasional auditory appearance, reminding listener’s of the quartet’s educated musical roots.

The band, consisting of guitarists Chris Letchford and Travis Levrier, bassist Jordan Eberhardt and drummer Pat Skeffington, formed in 2004 while attending the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, Calif. Two years later, the group self-produced their first album Monument [Scale the Summit, 2007], and were signed to Prosthetic Records by 2008.

And before you ask: no, the self-described “adventure” metallers have no intention of ever adding a singer.

But adding opening for progressive metal masterminds Dream Theater to their resume on a bill that also includes Zappa Plays Zappa and Bigelf? That’d be a big “Hell, yes!” from Letchford, on behalf of the rest of the band.

First of all, congratulations on landing a spot on the North American leg of the Progressive Nation Tour. How did that come about?

Mike Portnoy received a copy of our newest album last December when promos went out, and he said he had been following our progress ever since. It was honestly that simple: he heard our music, liked what he heard and made sure we were actually able to do the tour. Dream Theater’s management called our label and asked them to speak with us about doing the tour. We of course said “Hell, yes!” and that was that.

You’ve stated before that you’re Dream Theater fans. Were you nervous about opening for such icons of the prog world when the tour kicked off in July?

I was at first, until Mike emailed us telling us that he really liked our stuff and knows that their fans will really enjoy our musicianship and that he was glad we could do it. Knowing that he wanted us there helped calm the nerves, and we have played with a lot of very talented musicians over the years. Don’t get me wrong though, this is definitely a way bigger deal, but we are all prepared for this from the years of playing, music college and then from past tours. Probably very excited more so than nervous.

You mention college, where the band got started. Did you all manage to graduate?

Pat finished the PIT course (Drums). Jordan finished RIT (Recording), and me and Travis finished the GCA course (Guitar Craft), and we both did GIT (Guitar Institute of Technology. I technically finished this course. I personally needed only two more core classes to get my “piece of paper” saying I finished, but that would have been another four months of school and cost another $4,000 in school loans. I finished all of the classes that I felt I needed to get better and be a successful musician. I just wanted to get out there and start playing, not in school. I felt the longer I was in school it would be wasted money and keeping me from the stage, but it was a great experience there, as we met all the guys there for Scale the Summit. Best decision I could have ever made was attending that school.

Aside from meeting Pat there, and subsequently forming the band, what else did you come away with?

A ton of knowledge and experience. That school is all about live playing and contemporary styles, so it really helps to prepare you for the current touring/session music world. We also technically met Jordan there. If he hadn’t attended that school, it wouldn’t have worked out, since we wrote and practiced there.

In 2006, the entire band re-located to Houston, Texas and recorded and self-released Monument. It was well received, but it sounds like you were unable to get the production and studio time you felt you needed. What did you do differently for your label debut?

Monument was self-released, so it obviously came down to the fact that we had a lot less funding for it, and time to work on it. We had about nine days booked in the studio, versus the month we had for Carving Desert Canyons, and then another week that me and Travis got to head back up to NYC to mix the album with our producer. The studio this time was also a lot nicer with better gear and a pro engineer/producer. Tom (Beaujour) did a phenomenal job recording our album. He had great ideas and knowledge behind the sound we were going for. It was an awesome experience.

The thing that struck me the most was the quality off the guitar tracks. The guitar tones are exceptional.

Thanks, we used a combination of amps. We tracked all the distorted rhythm tracks with the ENGL Powerball through an Orange 4×12 (Chris) and Mesa 4×12 Rec Cab (Travis). All leads were recorded on a Bogner Ecstasy through a Bogner 4×12 cab, and all the clean tracks through a Mesa Roadster Head and Bogner Cab. I’m definitely happy with the tones of the guitars on this album: nice and smooth and heavy. I would like to try double tracking the leads on the next album, for even smoother, epic tones.

The songs on the new album seem to flow much more than the first. Was this a conscious effort on your part, or just the way the writing worked out?

All bands evolve with time and experience. I think it just naturally happened on this one.

What gear are you all using?

I’m going to be running a few custom Sherman 8-strings on the Dream Theater tour through a ENGL Powerball head and ENGL 4×12 Pro Slant cab, with an [Electro-Harmonix] Holy Grail Reverb guitar pedal and a Boss DD-6 digital delay pedal. Travis is playing a few of the Music Man BFR JP7 guitars through an ENGL Powerball and Mesa cab, and the same pedals. Jordan is playing through a new Eden bass head and an Eden 8×10 cab, with his Peavey Cirrus 6-string bass. Pat is playing a Mullins Custom kit with TRX and Paiste cymbals.

Did the 8-string affect the writing process for you at all, or did the new material require an 8-string?

I used an 8-string on Monument as well, so it was same writing process on Carving Desert Canyons. I’ll most likely always use an 8-string in this band, I just love all the extra stuff you can write and play with the extra two strings.

You tune it B-G. Have you ever used the F#-E tuning that seems to be favoured by many of the other 8-string players out there?

No, that tuning really doesn’t work for our style of progressive music. The low F# would be too crazy-low to work with our music, since we play a lot of single note melodies. It works great for more metal bands and jazz artists though, especially the pioneers of the 8-string’s in the metal world, like Meshuggah. I think it’s just favoured by most because it’s sort of the norm when it comes to what the manufacturers are making them tuned to. I’m pretty sure I’m one of the only guys using the high G-string. There are some guys out there with a high A, but very few.

You mention on your website that the band has influences that might seem unexpected. Now I’m intrigued!  Who are some of the others?

Everyone thinks we only listen to instrumental or progressive bands. I think its funny. We like everything, even though I definitely like my prog bands. So glad Cynic is back. Their new album is killer. Some of my other favourites are rock bands like Bear Vs. Shark, who are currently no more, but I love that band. Also listening to Sights & Sounds (from Canada), Opus Dai, Bireli Lagrene, 311, Antoine Dufour, Small Brown Bike, MGMT, M83, John Mayer, I Am The Ocean, Gojira.

Any final words?

Thanks for the interview. We all appreciate the support. And thanks to Dream Theater for having us on Progressive Nation 2009. Make sure to make it out early to catch our set!