Mike Portnoy interview

Jeff Axelrod: 20 years. Take us back to that very first show that you did as Majesty.

Mike Portnoy: The very first show we did was back in 1986. We were together for almost a year before we had actually played a live show. And it was the summer of 86. We played at a club called Sundance on Long Island, which was a place that we ended up playing for the first several years of our live shows. It was a short set. We played a Queensrÿche cover. We played an SOD cover and a couple of original tracks, one of which was the first song we ever wrote, which is called ‘Another Won’. Funny enough, that very same song, ‘Another Won’, is on this new live release, performed live at Radio City Music Hall 20 years later. So you can hear the very first song we ever wrote, done 20 years later.

JA: Now looking back at that show 20 years ago with a little bit of hindsight now, how good were you guys back then?

MP: Oh, we rocked! [laughs]

JA: Obviously what you were doing had a lot of staying power, unlike a lot of the other hard rock bands. Some of those bands really did go the way of the dinosaur – and very quickly.

MP: Well, I think most of the bands in the ‘80s that were around weren’t willing to take chances and go against the grain, and those are the bands that aren’t here today. Same in the ‘90s, actually. Once we got into the ‘90s and once Dream Theater began to get some recognition and we started putting out albums and touring, that’s when the whole grunge scene came along – actually came and went within a couple of years. The whole Guns N’ Roses thing... Then you had the kind of funk metal thing with Faith No More and Red Hot Chili Peppers. And all of those styles just came and went within a year or two. And even MTV [was] constantly changing with the times. Headbangers Ball went away in the beginning of the ‘90s. So around the time when Dream Theater started to get some exposure, all of these different styles were coming and going around us. But we were still doing our thing. We were still doing the eight, ten minute songs with an emphasis on musicianship. And I guess there’s always going to be musicians out there. Whether the different styles come and go, it’s irrelevant because people that want to play guitar or drums or bass and want to hear musicians playing their instruments, that’s something that’s timeless.

JA: That’s something that really stands out about you guys is that you really, really challenge your audience to appreciate music – not just the anthem hooks and the sledgehammer riffs. You guys challenge them to appreciate the virtuosity.

MP: Well, when I look at our audience, I look out and I see thousands and thousands of kids that are exactly like me, that have the same musical taste as me. I can’t possibly be the only person on earth that loves Yes and Megadeth. I think our audience proves that, that there’s a huge audience for people that want some diversity, want some challenge, want some thought in the music.

JA: You weren’t exactly a garage band, like so many of those were at the time – you were Berklee-trained musicians. Getting into this rock and roll biz, did you ever feel like you were too smart for the room?

MP: Well, we surely get criticized all the time for playing our instruments. Like, oh my God, what a sin! But as much as our fans appreciate it, a lot of people in the industry or even people in other bands kind of hold that against us. And we’ve gotten used to that kind of that treatment or that regard. But yeah, we are kind of outcast. It is incredibly flattering to win Modern Drummer awards and things like that, and get the acclaim that we have as individual musicians, but for every one person that loves that about us, there’s usually another four people that hate that about us. So we’ve come to take the good with the bad.

JA: It’s hard to keep anything together for 20 years at this point – a band, a marriage, whatever. How many times have we almost lost Dream Theater?

MP: There’s been never-ending obstacles in a 20-year career, especially ours when we’re taking such a difficult path in this industry. There’s been hundreds of potholes in the road that we had to kind of avoid falling into.

JA: So what ultimately keeps you together?

MP: In the early days, it was the music that we were creating because we didn’t have an audience at that point. So it was basically just the music that we were writing really excited us, and we were proud of it. We were very sure of it, and we knew that we needed to stick it out. So in the early days, it was the music that really kept us together. Nowadays, when we are faced with these obstacles, yes, the music still is the glue that ties us together, but it’s also the fans, because now these days we have this tremendous fanbase that we don’t ever want to let down or disappoint.

JA: Talking 20 years, everything changes. People change. It’s one thing to be 18 years old and living in the moment, playing in the band for chicks and beer money, and it’s another thing to be staring down 40, looking at music through the eyes of a husband, a father, a businessman. How has everything changed for you over time?

MP: Well, you nailed it. Everything you just described is exactly the road that we’ve traveled over the last 20 years. We started as 18-year-old kids at the Berklee College of Music right out of high school, and now here we are – some of us in our 40s, and with wives and children, and we’ve kind of built this whole empire. You can’t help but be changed by this journey. We’ve changed a lot as people, of course, because of all of these conditions that have developed through the years around us. But at the same time, we’re still those 18-year-old kids from Berklee. We still have the same musical interests and the same musical dreams. The passion and the drive and a lot of that hasn’t changed over 20 years, so it’s a little bit of each.

JA: Now you ring up the Radio City Music Hall, 20-year anniversary concert – how much thought did you put into designing this concert to be the quintessential experience?

MP: It wasn’t like we had this Radio City show and then we decided to make it special. The whole thing was designed to be a big finale to this 20th anniversary tour that we had been doing. We always dreamt of playing Radio City Music Hall. We being from New York, we’ve seen so many great concerts there. But really, it’s kind of always been reserved for the elite bands. I saw The Who there and Rush and not many hard rock bands get to play Radio City Music Hall, and it was always a dream to one day play there. Basically, six months prior to the show and the performance, I had this grand idea of a tour finale ending at Radio City with an orchestra filming for a DVD, just this big concept. And I threw it out to our manager and our booking agent and they made it happen.

People will say, why do you put out so many live albums? But the fact of the matter is, each one of them is completely different. There’s two previously unreleased tracks on there that were only previously available in demo form. Obviously the biggest supplement is playing with an orchestra, which is something we’ve always dreamed of doing and I think there’s very few bands that can play with an orchestra and it feel right. I think us with an orchestra was a match made in heaven. I think it fit like a glove.

JA: Maybe it’s just my bizarre sense of humor, but as I was watching, there was a point at which I actually started laughing a little bit because there were a lot of scenes cutting between the orchestra – these guys in tuxes – and you guys in T-shirts.

MP: Well, I was wearing a tuxedo t-shirt, so I was kind of walking the line between both.

JA: But just thinking that if any one of these guys came out of the orchestra and said, “You know what? I’m a more serious musician than you are,” you guys would have kicked their butt.

MP: No, there was a lot of respect from those classically trained orchestra members. They were very impressed with us. Some of them said this was the most challenging music that they’ve ever played, and through all the classical concerts through the years, they’ve never seen music this challenging. There was a couple times in rehearsals where we actually had to stop and you could just hear them laughing. They were just laughing at it, it was so difficult at times. But there was a lot of respect. I think we made a lot of fans from the orchestra members that night, except there was one cellist that I almost hit with a flying stick – he wasn’t that impressed. He didn’t find it that amusing, but everybody else liked it.

JA: So the final result – the video, the setlist, the performance – is this the ultimate Dream Theater experience?

MP: Yeah, I really feel that this was the pinnacle of our career thus far. On a personal level, it was one of the most amazing nights of my life. It was just an incredibly exciting, magical experience. There were many times where I was practically brought to tears and so overwhelmed by the entire event of it all. And I hope that that translates to the DVD. I think it does. It was a really special night. I have no idea how the hell we’re going to possibly top it.

JA: So at this point, where do you see the live shows going if this is the pinnacle?

MP: I don’t know. I guess the next tour we’ll have to celebrate our 22nd anniversary! [laughs] I don’t know. I guess the next tour we’ll tackle that one when we get there. We’ve enjoyed a little time off since that show, and now with the release on DVD and CD, we’re anxious for the fans around the world to share it with us. We’re going to begin work on the new studio album, and then we’ll be back on the road in 2007, and I’m sure by then I’ll have thought of something.

JA: All right, Dream Theater, Score, the 20th anniversary live concert, DVD, CD, proud of it?

MP: Very proud of it, and very glad to be able to share it with the rest of the world now, the people that weren’t able to be there with us that night.