Hello!

“The four guys I picked are drummers who truly shaped me as a young and upcoming player...”

Last year, Rhythm magazine did a great special issue with Taylor Hawkins from the Foo Fighters as guest editor. Shortly after it came out, I emailed Louise King to thank her and say how much I enjoyed the issue. She immediately responded with the suggestion of doing a similar issue with me. Of course, I jumped at the idea!

I’ve always enjoyed talking about my influences and the drummers who inspired me growing up (and still do today), so an issue like this for me is a total natural... With the opportunity to sit down and talk drums with some of my heroes, I could’ve compiled a list of dozens of guys and done a complete book but, like with Taylor’s issue, we decided to narrow it down to four drummers.

The four guys I picked are drummers who truly shaped me as a young and upcoming player. Not only were Neil Peart, Nick Mason, Bill Bruford and Lars Ulrich individually hugely influential on my playing, but their respective bands (Rush, Pink Floyd, Yes and Metallica) absolutely created the lineage from which Dream Theater was born. And to bring the whole idea of ‘influences’ full circle, I myself was also interviewed by a great up-and-coming talent, my good friend Jason Bittner from Shadows Fall.

Working on this issue has been a real labour of love. Thanks so much to Louise for giving me the opportunity, to Jon Cohan for joining me on the journey and to Neil, Nick, Bill, Lars and Jason for being so gracious with their time and involvement.

Mike Portnoy

Guest Editor