Mike Portnoy interview

Joe Basso: Obviously with Dream Theater, you guys do not have three minute songs. Is there a process that you use to memorize the incredible amount of music that you have to play?

Mike Portnoy: I have been blessed with an elephant’s memory and the guys in my band hate me for that. For some reason, I could probably sit down right now and play any of the songs from my band Rising Power when I was in high school. They’re just kind of embedded in there. In fact, it’s funny because on the last tour, we broke out the very first song we ever wrote together back in ‘85, and we brought it back for the 20th anniversary. And I literally sat down behind the kit and played the song without even having to go back and listen to the tapes – it was just kind of embedded in my brain. It makes those guys nuts, and I write different setlists for every show, and those guys are going like crazy trying to learn everything and rehearse it at soundcheck and program, and I just rattle them off the tip of my head and they come out of my fingertips, no problem. So I don’t know why that is, but it just is.

Joe Basso: You bring up something – you do the setlists – and I know you have a thing about not doing the same show twice. Do you have a kind of process for coming up with your setlists?

Mike Portnoy: Yeah, it’s a big, tedious process. It’s kind of like solving the ultimate crossword puzzle. Each and every show has its own unique experience. I do a lot of research for every single show. For instance, if we’re playing in Detroit, I will go back and look at all the previous setlists from the last two or three times we played in Detroit, and will write a setlist for that particular city that doesn’t repeat anything from the previous couple of visits. Similarly, the other side of that makes me nuts is if there’s a couple shows within driving distance, like for instance tonight we’re in Richmond, Virginia, last night we were in Washington, DC, which is about an hour and a half drive. So knowing that there’s going to be a lot of repeat people at both shows, I have to make each one of these sets different from each other. So it’s a big, long, tedious process with a lot of research. And this is how I spend my days off on tour while the other guys are out sightseeing.

Joe Basso: So now when one tour ends and a year later another tour begins, is it all right there for you? You don’t have to brush up on the material like the other guys then, right?

Mike Portnoy: I really don’t, like I was just saying – and I’m not trying to brag – it’s just the way my mind is. I have this elephant’s memory that just retains every song I’ve been a part of. Like you mentioned at the top kind of jokingly, I’m in a hundred different bands. It’s funny, I retain all of it. I remember in 2003, I did a Zeppelin tribute show, which was about two and a half hours of Zeppelin music, and then a week later, I went and did Neal Morse’s Testimony tour, which was like a three hour show. So I was at that point retaining like six hours of music just off the top of my head, and I don’t know how I do it, but for some reason, it comes very natural to me.

Joe Basso: You’ve joked about this, I think, on your website, but do you think you have OCD? And does it help?

Mike Portnoy: I absolutely do. And I think it helps in this case of trying to have everything so organized and meticulously laid out, and to pay attention to the setlist and to try to do official bootlegs for the fans, and just that attention to detail, which could sometimes be incredibly maddening to somebody like my wife. In this case, I think it actually really benefits the fans.

Joe Basso: You do so much in Dream Theater: you write music, you write lyrics, you produce records, you oversee the website. Let’s see, what am I leaving out? You...

Mike Portnoy: ...direct the DVDs...

JB: Right. And you work on merchandize. Didn’t you get the memo that you’re a drummer?

MP: Well, nobody told that to Phil Collins and nobody told that to Lars Ulrich, so I figured why should I pay attention either.

Joe Basso: What possible holes do you see in your playing? I mean, you remind me of Hal Blaine, you know, you can sit down and just kind of make it all happen and with authority and creativity, but what holes do you see in your playing?

Mike Portnoy: Well, it’s strange – I think my playing is probably my weakest link, and it’s what I’m most known for. Everything else I do for the band is my strength, and sometimes I think the drumming just happens to be my tool on stage. But really, when I’m in the studio, I’m concentrating on so many other aspects of the music that drumming is the least of my thoughts and concerns and focus. So I would say that’s probably because I do spread myself so wide to so many different areas, I probably don’t get to spend as much concentration and focus on the drums than if I was to just be the drummer. If I was just the drummer, then I could probably sit around and practice all day, but being that I have to oversee everything else, perhaps it takes away from my growth behind the kit, but I’m not complaining. I’m very humbled and flattered by all of the accolades I’ve had through the years, and it amazes me. It’s still a big honor any time I win a drummer award or somebody actually pays me a compliment.

Joe Basso: You are so widely imitated and have influenced so many drummers, but you yourself are in a lot of tribute bands: The Who, Rush, The Beatles. Why do you like to be in tribute bands?

Mike Portnoy: Well, a couple reasons. First and foremost, I’m always going to be a music fan. I’m a fan, and I love music. Within Dream Theater, we’ve paid tribute to so many bands. We’ve done full album covers by Floyd and Deep Purple and Metallica and Maiden, and a lot of one-off covers – everybody ranging from Queen to Journey. So I’ve spent a lot of time in Dream Theater paying tribute to bands, but then, like you mentioned, I’ve had these tribute bands outside of Dream Theater, and I guess that’s mainly because... You know, some of my favorite bands of all time – like the Beatles and The Who, for instance, are two of my all-time favorite bands – Dream Theater doesn’t really incorporate a lot of that influence. So I can’t really utilize my Beatles influence and love in Dream Theater, so I felt the need to kind of go outside and do a couple of these tribute projects. And it’s just because I love music. I love these bands, I love these artists. And on a selfish level, for me, I just love doing it because I’m getting to play the music I love and grew up with. But on the other level, maybe it will help introduce a new generation of Dream Theater fans to the older, more classic rock stuff that we grew up with. Of course, you can hear that stuff on the radio and everybody knows the Beatles, but [with] these projects, I like to go a little deeper; go deeper into the Beatles catalog and The Who catalog and the Zeppelin catalog, and maybe show the younger kids the deeper material that they don’t hear on the radio.

Joe Basso: I think a lot of fans, if they pulled it up on YouTube, would be amazed to see you play something like ‘Nowhere Man’ behind a five-piece kit, and do it seamlessly. So when you’re in a tribute band, how do you slip into the head of a Ringo Starr or a Keith Moon or a John Bonham?

Mike Portnoy: A bit of it has to do with the drum kit. In each of these cases, Tama built me these replica drum kits. I had a classic four-piece Ringo kit. I had the classic Song Remains The Same Bonham kit. And I had this wacky double bass, three matching toms and three crash cymbals, Keith Moon kit. So when you get behind these kits that are so identifiable with the personalities and styles of these drummers, you can’t help but turn into them. When I did the Who tribute, I just felt completely possessed by the spirit of Keith Moon. I couldn’t help but play like him. The same goes with the other drummers. When I did the ‘Moby Dick’ solo with the Zeppelin tribute, there wasn’t a single bit of Mike Portnoy in that drum solo. It was all John Bonham. These guys are my heroes and to be able to be them for a day or for a couple of days was a dream come true.

Joe Basso: That’s what’s amazing in a way, because when you’re in these bands, you are the drummer in a very identifiable band, but you are also taking on the role of a very identifiable drummer, i.e. Ringo Starr.

Mike Portnoy: Yeah, what can I say? I mean, these guys are my heroes. I used to dress up like Kiss for Halloween when I was a kid, and I used to dream about doing something like that. Of course, some of the credit goes to my partner in crime, Paul Gilbert, who joined me for all four of these bands. He’s as much of a music fan as I am. He and I are very much kindred spirits in that respect, where we have this vast musical background and knowledge and really feel passionate about the bands we grew up with. So he was just as much in character as Jimmy Page and Alex Lifeson and Pete Townsend and George Harrison, as I was in the drum department. It was just really a lot of fun in all four cases.

Joe Basso: A reader named Tommy Flavin asks if there’s any chance that you’re gonna come to Ireland soon.

Mike Portnoy: We would love to. The problem is the continent of Europe and Great Britain, those markets are very big, and there’s so many places throughout Europe to play, and throughout England to play that we just can’t possibly hit them all. So we’ve gotta conserve our time and try to go wherever the best markets are. We haven’t been to Ireland since 2000, and I remember it was a great show, so hopefully we can make it back on the next tour.

Joe Basso: A reader who goes by the name of The Reformant asks: When you’re coming up with a part in an unusual time signature, how do you approach the writing?

Mike Portnoy: It’s all about the feel. We never try to say, ‘Hey, let’s just write in as many odd time signatures as possible and make it as complicated as possible.’ It’s gotta feel right. Even if we’re playing in five or nine or seven, I like to think that we always have something of a groove behind it and that the riffs actually are hummable and make sense. So that’s the most important thing at the end of the day.

Joe Basso: Duncan Parsons wants to know if there’s any chance of you and Bill Bruford doing something soon.

Mike Portnoy: Probably not, but Bill is somebody who I absolutely love and admire, and we’ve done a few things together in the past. He and I did an interview together for Rhythm magazine a few years ago and got together and I was able to pick his brain about all of the eras he’s been a part of with progressive rock. And he and I at a trade show, maybe 10, 12 years ago, sat down behind two kits and traded and had a bit of a drum duet, which was a lot of fun and something that I treasure in my video archives. But what can I say? He’s an amazing drummer, and I would probably ruin anything that he could be playing much better on. So I’ll leave that to him. I did just get a chance to cover ‘Starless’ by King Crimson, which I think is one of the greatest songs ever written. I think it’s an absolute masterpiece, and I always wanted to cover it. And I just covered that with Neal Morse for bonus disc of his upcoming album.

Joe Basso: Interesting you say that because Duncan wants to know when you’re working with Neal, how do you deal with Neal’s Christian beliefs?

Mike Portnoy: Well, I respect them. I’m not a Christian myself, but I surely respect Neal’s beliefs and direction. He’s just such a positive influence on me personally. Even though I’m not a Christian, I could really feel his positive aura as a constant good influence on me when I’m around him and I totally support his beliefs and have a lot of respect for them.

Joe Basso: A reader named Funky Franz wants to know if there’s a chance of another Liquid Tension album soon.

Mike Portnoy: Probably not studio, although it would be a lot of fun, but right now there’s no plans for it. As he or she may know, we are doing some live shows next month, which will be a lot of fun, and we will be recording those. So inevitably there will probably be a live release from that.

Joe Basso: And lastly, a reader named Maidy asked a question that you probably can’t really answer, but I’ll ask it anyway: who is better, John Petrucci or Paul Gilbert?

Mike Portnoy: [laughs] Well, I can’t answer it because my answer is there is no such thing as better, it’s always favorites. You always hear about that. Mike Portnoy versus Neil Peart, or this person versus that person. Music is not a contest. There’s no “better”. It’s just a matter of everybody does different things and what appeals to you. And John and Paul are both absolutely amazing guitar players, and I’ve been blessed to have worked with both of them so extensively through the years. John is a great, great writing partner with me and musical creative partner with me that he and I have a very long relationship together. And then Paul on the other hand, is somebody who I mentioned before, I have a real bonding connection with as a fan of so many great bands. He’s got that really incredible vocabulary and knowledge of music that I so enthusiastically share with him. But technically they are both absolute monsters.

Joe Basso: I have one last question for you, but it’s one of my own. I notice in, when you play the Beatles stuff, you are really heavy on the ride. Now, is that because that’s the way you hear it, or that’s because that’s the way that you can get Ringo’s splashy hi-hat?

Mike Portnoy: I gotta be honest with you, I didn’t give much thought to the actual drumming when I did the Beatles tribute. I just played what was just naturally embedded in my brain. If I was to sit there and analyze what I played versus what the real Ringo recordings played, I probably wasn’t that accurate. To be honest, I was just caught up in the overall vibe of the whole experience. In fact, we had two days rehearsal for Yellow Matter Custard, and the first day rehearsal, we were barely behind our instruments. The entire first day of rehearsal was just breaking down the harmonies and the vocals and who was gonna sing what, and then the second day, we actually got behind our instruments and played. And the playing part was just complete second nature; it was just embedded in the pores of our brains. The only thing that had to really be consciously thought about was who was going to sing what, because we weren’t breaking it down like Paul only saying George’s parts and I only saying Ringo’s parts. We kind of split everything up equally. So that was the only thing I really needed thinking about. Everything else just flowed naturally.

Joe Basso: And you did some great singing, too.

Mike Portnoy: It was fun. I mean, God, that was a fun experience. And to be honest, I would love to do it again. And I wouldn’t be surprised if a Yellow Matter Custard reunion happens in the coming years.