Derek Sherinian—recently knighted by some poll or another as the “Greatest Keyboardist of the 21st Century”—shrugs off the title with a new record, Vortex, and a guest list that reads like Guitar Center exploded: Steve Lukather, Zakk Wylde, Nuno Bettencourt. “My job is to utilize all of them and maximize on their strengths,” he says flatly. “If I need something melodic, I call Luke. If I need something heavy and brutal, who’s gonna do it better than Zakk?”
That pragmatism hides a risk-taking streak. The fan-favorite “Dragonfly” started as an idea he was almost too scared to record. “I was insecure,” he admits. “I’d never done just piano—no synths, no guitars. Simon [Phillips] gave me the courage. The response was incredible. People loved the piano stuff more than the electric. So yeah, I want to explore that more.”
Even the sprawling closer “Aurora Australis” started as nothing more than a piano intro. “We said, okay, let’s do a trilogy,” Sherinian recalls. “Next section, let’s go full Keith Emerson. We’re just two kids with crayons, coloring.” He waves off genre policing entirely: “There’s no line between prog rock and jazz. It’s all part of the same stew. People like you can label it later.”
And then there’s the theremin. Yes, a theremin. “It’s a huge part of my sound,” he insists. “Very haunting. I think it’s cool.” He brought in Armin Rak to wave his hands around on The Phoenix and again here, most memorably on “Seven Seas.”
Of course, Sherinian’s life isn’t just studio layering—it’s onstage survival tests. The Generation Axe tour put him in the house band for Vai, Malmsteen, Bettencourt, Zakk Wylde, and Tosin Abasi. “Totally different players, totally different music,” he says. “I had to cover all of it in one night. You come out of that with confidence, like, if I can trade solos with these guys, I can handle anyone.”
Then there’s Whitesnake. Sherinian’s been quietly redoing keyboards on Coverdale’s endless reissues and wants back in. “I’ve played on six Whitesnake records now,” he says. “David’s one of the great voices of hard rock. I’m honored he loves my playing.”
Titles like Scorpion and Seven Seas might suggest deep metaphors, but Sherinian bursts that bubble fast. “The titles come at the last minute out of desperation. The label needs something to print. We’re just like, dude, name it. Whatever. Done.” He grins. “And then people say, ‘Wow, the imagery fits the music.’ Sure. Total accident.”
For a guy who claims not to overthink it, Sherinian thinks plenty. Piano or prog stew, house-band grind or Whitesnake gloss, he’s still chasing the next challenge. “I definitely want to explore more piano,” he says. “But I’ll always need the very best musicians in the world to make the music come alive.”
Listen to the interview above and then check out the video below.
