Jeff Plate occupies one of the most unique and enviable seats in the rock world. As the thunderous backbone of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) since its inception in 1999 and the longtime drummer for heavy metal cult heroes Savatage, Plate has a vantage point few can claim. In a massive new interview with BraveWords, the percussionist opened up about the symbiotic relationship between his two primary gigs, the grueling reality of TSO‘s holiday schedule, and the bittersweet resurgence of Savatage.
While TSO has become a multi-platinum, arena-filling holiday tradition, Savatage—the band from which TSO was born—remains a beloved entity for metal purists. According to Plate, the massive success of the former has breathed new life into the latter.
“All these years later, though, that Savatage fan base is still there. It’s still loud, it’s still strong. I think probably because of TSO, the Savatage audience is bigger than ever,” Plate told. “I think TSO has exposed a lot of people who had no idea about the band, to the band. We always do a Savatage song during these shows, during these winter tours, sometimes two. And, you know, I think that’s really helped build that audience.”
As TSO blankets North America with its annual winter tour, Plate offered a glimpse into the physical and mental demands of the production. The tour famously splits into two companies—East and West—often performing two shows a day to meet the insatiable demand.
“The schedule is brutal. We’re kind of getting into a really busy season. Generally Wednesdays and Thursdays are single show days and then we have double shows every Friday, Saturday, Sunday. But we’re so used to this. We’ve been doing this for so long, the double show days don’t even phase us anymore,” Plate admitted.
Interestingly, the band views the “lighter” single-show days as almost tedious. “We consider a one-show day like a day off because honestly, there are more show days on this tour that are doubles than singles. And for a lot of us, we’re sitting around twiddling our thumbs… We’d probably much rather be on stage.“
2025 marked a pivotal year for Savatage, as the band performed live for the first time in a decade. However, the lineup was missing its most iconic figure: founding vocalist and keyboardist Jon Oliva. Plate praised Oliva‘s selfless decision to step back due to health issues while blessing the current members to carry the torch.
“I give that man so much credit for recognizing the fact that, ‘Hey, people still want to hear my music. My bandmates are here with me. They’ve been with me for all these years. I trust them. I’m giving you guys my blessing. The five of you go out there, play my music, and just go out there and kick a**.’”
He continued, emphasizing Oliva‘s continued involvement behind the scenes. “He was at every rehearsal, he was conducting everything, from song, tempos, to vocal parts, to segues… His fingerprint was all over this.”
When pressed about the possibility of new studio material from either Trans-Siberian Orchestra or Savatage, Plate was candid about the challenges posed by the 2017 death of mastermind Paul O’Neill.
“When Paul O’Neill passed in 2017, it really affected everything you know? …moving forward, that’s something where here again, you can have opinions and questions, and say what you want about this and that, but this is really in their [the O’Neill family’s] hands. And I can only say that I hope so. But if there is not, I think we’re still in a very, very good place.”
The interview also touched on Plate‘s tenure with thrash legends Metal Church, a band he joined in 2006. He spoke fondly of his time with the group and the late vocalist Mike Howe, whose tragic passing in 2021 shook the metal community.
“He was just a really, really wonderful guy… Just a very smart guy, very sincere guy. Mike and I got along great right from the start. And when he got on stage, he commanded the stage… So sad. It’s all terrible. But, the work I did with Mike, I absolutely loved the recordings.”
Plate also revealed he was slated to record for the new Metal Church album but had to bow out due to Savatage commitments, leading to the hiring of drummer Ken Mary.
You can read the full interview at BraveWords.
