Friday, November 29

Feature Interview: Mike Portnoy


Being at the top usually comes at a price, especially when you make it a point of always being accessible to your fans. For Dream Theater's founder and former drummer Mike Portnoy, it took its toll but the legacy he left is beyond question and as it turns out, the end of a chapter was actually the beginning of many others. We sat down with the man himself to find out what he has been up to and how his wheels are (still) in constant motion.


Some people are born to become the walking definition of workaholic, constantly seeking that ever elusive feeling of fulfillment, cringing at the thought of treading water. Having a boring 9-to-5 job turn into a 24-hour round-the-clock obsessive experience is one thing, but when that character trait is channeled into producing art, that can be an entirely different ball game. Mike Portnoy is certainly familiar with the term, having fit the description for his entire life. With a planet wide reputation of being one of the greatest rock drummers in existence, he spent most of his career building the progressive metal juggernauts Dream Theater from the ground up, with all the scars - and accolades - that naturally stem from the process of nurturing a band from the rehearsal room’s obscure anonymity into the biggest arenas in the world.

All good things eventually come to an end, though, and in September 2010 he announced his departure from Dream Theater, after an incredible run of twenty five years not only as the band’s skinsman but also as the one member who historically brought upon himself the burden of calling the shots and carry its inevitable weight of responsibility. With the benefit of hindsight, it comes as no surprise that the drummer pointed the burnout derived from the relentless cycle of recording, publishing and touring - and the other members’ reluctance to taking an extended break - as the main motive behind his farewell. Another Mike took the best seat in that particular house, the whole affair leaving in its wake a seemingly endless discussion on the merits of Portnoy versus his replacement Mangini.

But that didn’t take away Mike’s OCD-like personality, if anything it only amplified it. Well known for his many side projects during his time with Dream Theater, he wasted no time in getting new collaborations up to speed, Adrenaline Mob (featuring Symphony X’s Russell Allen) and Flying Colors (with Neal and Steve Morse) being two prime examples, having already left the former. Ironically, it was a failed start to a new project with ex-Thin Lizzy and ex-Whitesnake guitarist John Sykes that would eventually lead to what is so far the most successful venture of his post-Dream Theater career.

Photo: John Zocco

“It’s been amazing, I’ve never seen such a great response for something so brand new,” Mike reflects, as we sit behind the still closed doors of the venue where his brand new The Winery Dogs will wrap the European leg of their first ever tour. “Anytime I've done something brand new, it's taken a lot longer to catch on, including Dream Theater. But this one has been really immediate. Everywhere we go the shows are packed, most of them are all sold out, the reviews have been great, so it's really very exciting to see such a great start to something that the three of us view as a real band.” He goes on about the expected longevity of the band in which he shares duties with bass virtuoso Billy Sheehan and guitarist/vocalist Richie Kotzen, both of whom have had a past stint in Mr. Big. “This isn't just a one-time project. All three of us plan on building this many, many years into the future, as our new home.”

With Dream Theater playing huge arenas virtually every night, there was inevitably an element of scaling down on many levels, especially with a band like The Winery Dogs. “I've kind of had to start over and start from the beginning,” he says. “I've spent 25 years getting Dream Theater into the arenas and when I left that I knew I was going to be starting over and going back to the clubs, no matter what band I'm going to play with. When you start from scratch, you have to build it from scratch and I'm fine with that, it's actually been a lot of fun. I like shows that are very intimate.” Having played his fair share of giant, sometimes double drum kits, that is also something that wouldn’t quite click with the bare bones approach of what he is now attempting, in the vein of rock giants such as The Who or Led Zeppelin. “I'm coming back to my roots stylistically,” Mike explains. “I've always been a fan of this kind of music, I never left, this is where I started out when I was a kid, even before progressive rock existed and even before heavy metal existed, I was listening to this kind of music. So this to me is a very natural evolution to come full circle. And as far as the small kit, for me that's part of my quest right now which is to try new things. I played the big giant kit for 25 years, right now I'm all about doing different things that are gonna challenge me and make me try and do things differently. So, playing in a small kit has been a lot of fun because it gives me a completely new and fresh approach which is what I'm all about right now.”

Being a control freak has been an assumed modus operandi for most, if not his entire career and juggling too many things at once for too long - all of twenty-five years, in fact - eventually lead him to publicly state that he felt the need to just be the drummer. How successful has he been on that quest so far? “Well, it depends on what band, you know?” Mike reflects. “Like with Avenged Sevenfold I was just the drummer. When I'm with Neal Morse, I'm just the drummer. But with The Winery Dogs, or Transatlantic or Flying Colors it's more like a collaboration, I'm working with other people that I share a load with.” But not so with his former band. “With Dream Theater, I controlled everything because that was my personality. The other guys never had the kind of controlling personalities so I ran the show and I made every decision in that band. But now when I'm working with Billy Sheehan and Richie Kotzen, or when I'm working with Roine and Pete and Neal in Transatlantic, or Steve Morse in Flying Colors, we make decisions together. So I have to kind of wear different hats for different bands. Sometimes I get to be just the drummer, sometimes I have to be a team player, sometimes I have to be a leader, depending on the situation.”


A lot of musicians, especially if they are successful and have already climbed to the upper echelons of the music business, can live almost completely disconnected from their fan base. The opposite, though, is rarer and it can make one prone to a lot of headaches and misunderstandings. Being an extroverted, outspoken kind of guy, Portnoy has always made a point of being close to his fans, especially on the Internet, where his online forum is rampant with all kinds of interesting discussions, a place where Mike himself regularly posts. An exercise which, more often than not, places him in the line of danger. “I think that’s one of the drawbacks of being a fan-oriented artist like I am, I put myself out there.” asserts Mike. “A lot of artists shy away and don't even bother and they don't touch their Facebook or their Twitter. But I do and sometimes it backfires on you. But whatever, it's just... I try to not let it bother me but I'm human so inevitably of course it does bother me sometimes,” he admits.

Music is a primordial vehicle to convey all sorts of feelings, but the written word can sometimes carry just as much weight and meaning. Writing lyrics has never been a priority for Portnoy but still he penned his fair share of words during the time he spent with his former band. The untimely death of his mother lead him to write the entire lyric sheet for the particularly emotional «A Change Of Seasons» back in 1995, but perhaps his most decisive and enduring contribution in this department was the ongoing “12 Steps” saga - spanning multiple Dream Theater albums up to and including “Black Clouds & Silver Linings - where he depicts the successive stages of his past battle with alcoholism, a problem he faced for most of his adult life. So for him to write, there has to be something that needs telling. “I've never considered lyric writing one of the more important of my many jobs,” Mike says. “In Dream Theater, I did it because when Kevin Moore left the band, it seemed like someone had to pick up the slack so I stepped up and ended up writing a lot of the lyrics because it was kind of, you know, needed without Kevin there. But to be honest, after the Black Clouds album I was done writing lyrics. Even if I hadn't left the band, I wasn't planning on writing lyrics anymore. Once I finished the 12 Steps suite, once I wrote «The Best Of Times», I had really said everything I wanted to say.” But then again, there’s always something else that needs to be said, is there not? “I hadn't felt the need or the desire to write anything over the last couple of years but when The Winery Dogs had the music to «You Saved Me», it kind of spoke to me, I heard some melodies and some melodies came to my mind. I had a subject that I wanted to write about, I wanted to thank my wife for standing by me and for being such a great support system,” explains Mike, before concluding the thought. “I want to be able to write lyrics when I want to write lyrics, you know? If I feel the inspiration. I don't have to write lyrics, so I think it's the way it will be. If I feel the need to write about something, if I'm inspired about something then I will but otherwise it's not going to be a job that I have to do.”


With such an already long career, filled with all sorts of achievements and experiences, it’s only fair to ask the New York drummer about his sense of accomplishment and what is still left for him to do. “Well, for me it's just artistic expression and goals,” he replies. “I've achieved everything I could want to achieve on paper, every drum award I could want, I've played every country or every venue I could want and played with every band I would want to play with.” But does that translate into complete fulfillment? The answer turns out to be a mixed bag. “I feel 100%, like in terms of benchmark achievements, yeah,” Mike initially agrees. “But artistically I'll never be fulfilled, I'll always want more, I constantly have things I wanna do and people I want to work with and music I want to make. So, that's what inspires me, just the constant wanting to just keep creating, work with different people. There's a million musicians I love and admire that I still would love to work with, so that's what drives me.” And here’s to at least another 25 years of it, Mike.

Photo: Javier Bragado


(Thanks to José Rodrigues, José Carlos Santos, Daniel Makosch and Prime Artists for helping arrange the interview.)

2 comments:

  1. What a great interview, thanks Mike, and good luck with your new projects!

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  2. Mike Portnoy is a god amongst drummers...I play drums in the hopes that one day I can open up for a band where Mike is playing in. Talking with him would make my world complete!

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