A Conversation with Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater

with Roger Lotring

August 7, 1998

Perpetually in motion, it could be argued that a photograph of drummer Mike Portnoy should accompany the definition of “workaholic” in the dictionary. Already a consummate member of Dream Theater as a result of not only his percussive talent, but also his expertise as a songwriter, Mike is continually immersed in numerous other musical projects. Of particular note is Liquid Tension Experiment, an instrumental project consisting of Mike, along with Jordan Rudess, Tony Levin, and John Petrucci, that borders on true creative spontaneity.

During the final run of Dream Theater’s tour in support of Falling To Infinity in which the band supported Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Deep Purple, Mike sat down with Prime Choice prior to soundcheck at the Meadows Music Theater in Hartford, Connecticut. The conversation focused on his work with Liquid Tension Experiment, but included discussion about his contributions to Working Man, a recent Rush tribute disc released on Magna Carta Records. Naturally, talk turned to Dream Theater, with Mike and photographer Cindy Lotring reminiscing about a show at the El ‘N’ Gee club in New London, Connecticut, during the band’s “Home For The Holidays” tour in 1995. And, of course, he talked a bit about the forthcoming live CD, Once In A Livetime, and its accompanying home video.

RL: How much more touring have you got before you guys finally get a little bit of a break?

MP: This’ll be it. We got through the month of August with Deep Purple and ELP, and then we got, I think, a couple shows next month in South America with Van Halen. And, that’s it. We’ll take off the rest of the year.

RL: Well, the band will, but what about you? [Laughs]

MP: [Laughs] I won’t.

RL: What have you got on tap after this?

MP: Well, Dream Theater’s got a live album and live video. So, the album we just wrapped up. When we get back in September, I’m gonna be putting together the video. And then, I’m also working on an instructional video, and then me and John [Petrucci] are probably going to do another LTE album in October. So, Dream Theater will be off, but Mike Portnoy definitely won’t be. [Laughs]

RL: And do you get time to reacquaint yourself with your wife and your kid?

MP: Yeah, for Christmas. And then we have another kid coming, too, so we’re hard at work.

RL: Congratulations. The Liquid Tension Experiment thing, it’s different-it’s pretty cool.

MP: Cool.

RL: It’s interesting to listen to it, and then actually read through the liner notes that you wrote. It doesn’t sound like something that you cranked out in a week.

MP: No. Well, I mean, we were lucky, y’know? There was a lot of chemistry, and the writing process went a lot easier than we thought. I mean, originally, we had a couple covers in mind that we were going to do, not thinking we’d have enough material. And just with the jam alone, we ended up-the second day in, we did that jam, and we knew right there we had plenty material. We just could’ve stopped after two days.

RL: That jam is something. I mean, listening to it, again, it doesn’t sound like something that was just one take.

MP: Oh, it definitely-I mean, it was just completely on the spot.

RL: You guys really could feel each other when it was going on and follow through with it. I notice you have the little disclaimer on the back [of the album]. Do you think something like that is going to turn people off, that it’s almost half-an-hour long? [Laughs]

MP: Well, that was mainly towards the press and the radio people that slam progressive music. Most fans that would be buying that album would eat a thirty-minute improv up, y’know? That’s like, the type of stuff that most Magna Carta buyers would wanna hear. But it’s for the people that are gonna be writing reviews, all the closed-minded, snobby, progressive haters.

RL: Well, it’s interesting, because when you throw on the label “progressive,” immediately, I think, a lot of people think of that. But there’s some stuff on [the album] that isn’t very long at all. It’s just real quick snippets of ideas, which is really kind of cool, too. But, again, before I even listened to it, I just think I had a preconceived notion in my mind about progressive music. I was really surprised with the first tune-it just slams right from the beginning. It’s not exactly what I expected. Did you have anything in mind, like, “Alright, we wanna definitely want to shift away from the stereotypical progressive music”?

MP: The only thing that I definitely didn’t want it to become was like, a guitar album. Y’know, most instrumental albums, whether they be Tony MacAlpine, or Joe Satriani, or Steve Vai, no matter how good, technically, some of those albums are, they’re a little-kind of one-dimensional. So, it was the only thing we definitely wanted to steer away from, that guitar instrumental-type sounding record.

RL: What was kind of cool, though, the keyboards were really, really heavy. I mean, I know that’s the case with a lot of progressive stuff anyway, but it’s cool that it was very, very diverse. There was just some really electronic-sounding stuff, some really nice piano stuff-it seemed like a nice balance of different moods and attitudes.

MP: Cool.

RL: What frame of mind were you in? Assuming that there’s emotion involved in the music that you’re writing and playing, with all the distinct differences I got from the music, that’s one helluva roller coaster ride for one week.

MP: Well, it’s just different ideas coming from different places. I mean, you could hear, definitely, the stuff that Tony brought in-the more moody, jam-oriented stuff; Jordan brought in a lot of ideas; and then the stuff that sounds Dream Theater-ish is the stuff that me and John contributed. So, you had four different people having to do with the direction, so it took it in lots of different places.

RL: Was it different for you, writing material without having to think of a singer?

MP: No. Well, yes and no. No, because Dream Theater writes all our music instrumentally, so we write without vocals. We write with just four of us, and all the music is written first before we attach any vocals. So, we’re very used to writing instrumentally. But, what did make it different is even though we write without a vocalist at rehearsal, we still write with vocals in mind; we know where the verses and choruses are, whereas with this music, we didn’t have to think about that at all. We didn’t have to worry about lyrics, or proper structure in terms of verse, chorus, verse, chorus. So, in that sense, it gave us a lot more freedom even.

RL: I realize, commercially, it’s not a good idea, but do you think it would’ve been cool if you could have released the whole thing without even song titles?

MP: Ah... yeah. I mean-well, Fates Warning just did that. They just put out a whole album of one song, and it’s just “Part one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,” whatever.

RL: I ask that because, usually, when you listen to lyrics, you’re kind of pigeonholed into thinking what the song’s about.

MP: Right. Well, it’s hard-that’s the hardest thing, is to title instrumentals. Y’know, where the hell do you get a title from it? But, also, you can come up with some creative titles, too, that way.

RL: Well, yeah, but, again, it kinda leans you toward thinking down a certain path.

MP: Right. The only problem is you have to have some sort of title, because how the hell are people going to refer to it? [Laughs]

RL: Well, y’know, like the Zeppelin album, people will make up names-they’ll call it “Zoso,” or “Four,” or this, or that, or what have you.

MP: Right.

RL: You mentioned that you guys are going to probably do another Liquid Tension Experiment record. Is it going to be the same four people?

MP: Yeah. I mean, this project is-once the four of us got together to do this album and named it Liquid Tension Experiment, now that project is these four people. If it was anything else, then it wouldn’t be that. If I was to work with other guys, it would be a completely different title. Anyway, the four of us all really enjoyed the whole thing, so we want to do it again. It looks like we’ll have some availability in the fall, so we’re going to do it.

RL: Do you think it’ll be as hectic and as rushed as this one?

MP: I hope so! That was what made this album cool.

RL: I want to talk a little bit about the Rush tribute record. How did you get involved with that?

MP: The Magna Carta guys called me and asked me if I wanted to do it. I guess I was the first person they called. And I was definitely interested in it because they mentioned Billy Sheehan’s name. So, immediately, right off the bat, me and Billy were interested. I definitely wanted to work with him, and I was a big Rush fan growing up, so it seemed like it would be fun.

RL: Did you have your choice of which tunes you got to play on?

MP: Yeah, they gave me a lot of creative control. They let me pick most of the songs for the whole album. I picked all the songs that I played on, and I even picked a few that I didn’t play on, just wanting them to be on the record. So, they gave me a lot of creative control. They let me pick a lot of the musicians to get involved, so that was fun.

RL: So you’re responsible for “Red Barchetta” being on there?

MP: I didn’t pick that one, no.

RL: [Feigns disappointment] Ah, man!

MP: I picked “Natural Science.” I wanted somebody to do “The Camera Eye,” [but] that didn’t get picked up, though.

RL: I think that a lot of people think of Magna Carta and anything associated with them as just being this wild, progressive stuff. What I thought was pretty interesting about the Rush tribute record was there’s a lot of people on there that you wouldn’t necessarily associate with something like that. I mean, Jack Russell doing “The Analog Kid,” that was great, and Mark Slaughter-just all these people that I normally wouldn’t associate [with progressive rock].

MP: Yeah. No, there definitely was some people on there that-I think it all had to do with Rush. I mean, Rush’s influence went into the mainstream a little bit more than some of the more obscure progressive bands, so I guess their influence spread that much further and affected some of these people that were interested in getting involved.

RL: With all the stuff that you’ve got going on with Magna Carta, and all the stuff that all the other guys in your band have going on, it seems like even when you’re on a break from Dream Theater, you guys are working together anyway.

MP: Hmm... actually, we don’t work together on these projects. I mean, all the tribute albums and-

RL: Well, I don’t mean physically together, but-

MP: Yeah. Well, that’s just because the label keeps calling each of us. [Laughs]

RL: Right. Well, it just strikes me as something like a case of, “Oh, God, I’ve been on a bus with these guys for the last year-and-a-half, and I gotta do more stuff with ‘em!”

MP: Well, the only thing that was done together is Liquid Tension. Because whether it be the Rush tribute album, or this ELP tribute that we just did, or the Explorer’s Club, none of us work together. Y’know, each of us did our own thing separately, contributed to different tracks. Most of these tribute albums, the people aren’t even playing together; it’s just all done through the mail and everything. So, y’know, we’re not really working together on these side projects, other than LTE.

RL: Do you feel when you do something like that, when it’s all through the mail, that you kind of lose something?

MP: Well, it was different for me because, for the Rush tribute album, me and Billy did work together. So, that’s one of the few cases where we actually were working together. That was one of the things that made that whole album cool for me.

RL: How is it different working with somebody like Sheehan, as opposed to John [Myung], who you basically work with all the time? Billy’s just kind of an over-the-top kind of player.

MP: I think it’s cool. I mean, I love playing with other people. That’s one of the things that’s fun for me, doing this kind of stuff. I’ve been playing with John [Petrucci] and John [Myung] now for thirteen years. I’m the type of player-I just love to jam; I love to jam with other players. Playing with Billy and playing with Tony, those guys are two of my favorite bass players of all time, so I really jumped in with open arms to play with them.

RL: Dream Theater pretty much came from Berklee, correct?

MP: Three of us, me, John and John. And Derek was there the year before us, but we didn’t know him back then.

RL: Consequently, it seems like you guys end up [playing] up in New England quite a bit. When you did that series of three shows around the holidays a couple years back-

CINDY: It’s where we met, at the El ‘N’ Gee club.

MP: Oh, is that right?

RL: Yeah, I met her a few nights before, and she said, “If you wanna talk to me, I’m gonna be at the Dream Theater show at the El ‘N’ Gee.” [Mike laughs]

CINDY: I never miss a show, ever.

MP: So we’re responsible.

RL: You’re responsible. I was getting ready [to go to the show], and it’s like, “Jesus, do I really wanna go? I don’t know, it’s cold out tonight...”

MP: I remember it was cold. Were you there the night everyone had to wait on line outside?

CINDY: I was one of those people waiting in line. And you guys walked by, and nobody knew it was you. I was with my best friend. Him and I both have never missed one of your shows, ever, in this area.

MP: Cool. Right on.

CINDY: We are true fans. So, we’re waiting in line, and I’m like, “I’m just gonna walk in back of them and pretend I’m part of the road crew.” [Mike laughs] He’s like, “Let’s do it.” We got in-

MP: Is that right?

CINDY: Yeah, we got in.

MP: Cool.

CINDY: Needless to say, I didn’t see much at that show because there was fifteen-hundred people in a place that holds fifty.

MP: Yeah... that’s why we haven’t gone back there. [Laughs]

RL: There’s a lot of bands you naturally associate with having fans that’ll follow them all over. Before [Jerry] Garcia passed away, somebody like the [Grateful] Dead or something like that. It strikes me as, not odd, but kind of unique, that there are people that will go to the ends of the Earth to follow you guys. We went to see one of your shows up at the Strand in Providence before they closed down. And I just remembered a kid standing behind me, and because I’m so tall, he’s like, “Excuse me, would you mind moving out of the way?” And he starts telling me how he really wants to make sure he has a good line of view to the stage because he had driven all the way up from South Carolina to see you guys.

MP: [Mike Laughs] Well, that girl that sat down next to you right here, she’s a fan from Switzerland. She lives in Switzerland, and she flew out to see a couple of shows. I mean, these fans fly from all over the world. There’s another girl that was at the show yesterday from Japan. They’re just... they’re the best fans in the world.

RL: Yeah. It just strikes me as, like, “Well, yeah, they’re really good, but they’ll come to your town someday! They’ll eventually get there.”

MP: [Mike snickers] Oh, I know what they feel like, too. I’ve driven through six states to go see Roger Waters. I know what it’s like, that’s why I appreciate them more than anybody in the band. Because I’m a fan myself, so I totally relate to what it’s all about. I know how it is.

RL: The Dream Theater live album and video that you were talking about, that’s obviously off of this tour.

MP: Yeah. We recorded two shows, one in Paris, which was a three-and-a-half hour-long show, just to record everything, and then another show in Rotterdam, which was like an unplugged show just for our fan club. The video is from-well, the video will be everything, but it will mostly be from Rotterdam, and then the whole live album is from Paris.

RL: Is that something that you guys tried a lot, the acoustic thing?

MP: Well, we did a fan club show for the Awake tour-that was the Ronnie Scott show where we did all covers. And we wanted to do another special fan club show this time, and the idea came up of like, doing an unplugged thing. We looked at our repertoire, and we have a lot of songs like that, whether it be “Hollow Years,” “Anna Lee,” “Another Day,” “Wait For Sleep,” “Silent Man,” “Eve,” “To Live Forever.” And then we threw in some covers-some Pink Floyd covers, some Elton John shit. So you’ll see it on the video; it was a lot of fun.

RL: I know tonight’s only the second night of playing with Deep Purple and ELP, but is it a case of after your set, you’re gonna be kind of waiting in the wings and watching?

MP: Oh yeah, totally. I mean, that’s the way it is whenever we play festivals in Europe and stuff. We played with everybody from Ozzy and Black Sabbath, to Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, and Elton John. Whenever we go over there, that’s all we do, is, like, that’s the only reason we’re going over is to watch these other bands. [Roger Laughs] We get free tickets, y’know? All we have to do is play for an hour, and then we get free backstage passes.

RL: Did you ever think when you were starting to learn how to play and everything, that someday that would be the case, that you’d be either watching these people, or meeting them, or playing with them?

MP: I always dreamed about it, and then it’s nice to finally end up being in a position to be able to do it. It’s a dream, y’know?

RL: Is it a case, with Liquid Tension Experiment, where you guys are playing and you kind of just look around like, “Wow...”

MP: [Mike laughs] Yeah. It’s mainly like that with other-like, I’ve done a lot of drum festivals and stuff, and, like, y’know, a lot of other drummers that I grew up listening to, playing along with them, whether it be Terry Bozzio, or Bill Bruford-it’s the drummers that usually kind of intimidate me.

RL: Really?! I wouldn’t think so. I think you’re highly regarded within the musical community.

MP: Yeah, but still, it’s just exciting for me as a drummer.

RL: Do you ever kind of... steal anything [musically]?

MP: Oh yeah, constantly! I’ve made a whole career out of stealing shit from people!