Mike Portnoy interview (excerpts)

Sue Ashcroft: Russell has said that you were “a rock drummer playing in a prog band” when you were in Dream Theater. Do you feel that’s how it was?

Mike Portnoy: Well, I’m just an extremist for everything I love. In Dream Theater I was the biggest metal head – I mean, I’m the only one covered in tattoos and with a blue beard. None of those guys were metal fans like that, so I was very much the biggest rocker in the band, but that being said, I was also the biggest prog fanatic in the band too. I was the one with the deepest prog history – I love King Crimson and Genesis, a lot of the guys didn’t get that deep, with the exception of Jordan [Rudess], but I was the one who put together Progressive Nation and I always carried the prog flag for the band. So, it’s safe to say I was the biggest rocker in the band, but I guess I was just the biggest music lover in the band. I’m just a very passionate music lover, whether it be prog, rock, metal – it doesn’t matter, I’m just an extremist in that sense.

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SA: You touched on the interaction with the fans earlier, but you’ve mentioned on Facebook recently just how touched you are by the amount of love and support the fans have for you. How have people been showing that?

MP: The last two years have shown me who my real friends and fans are. It’s easy for people to support you when the going is great, but when times are tough and you’re going through a transition, that shows you who your real fans are. My family and friends and all the fans that have stuck by me these last two years have proved that they’re behind ME, they’re not just supporting me because they like Dream Theater. They’re supporting me because they like what I do and what I bring to every band I’m a part of. That’s so important to me. What I did by leaving Dream Theater was the biggest decision I’ve ever made in my life. It was hard, it was difficult and scary and there were a lot of fans who were mean online. I’ve seen a lot of mean people, a lot of negativity and it’s easy to kick a dog when they’re down, but the one out of ten people who would insult me online would make me crazy and bother me, but the real important thing is the other nine out of those ten that are behind me and support me. The fact that I won Drummer of the Year for the last two years in Drum Magazine – these last two years of all, the timing of it means so much to me. I’ve won a million awards throughout my twenty five years with Dream Theater, and of course, those also meant the world to me, but to win those two awards now, POST Dream Theater speaks volumes and means so much. It means that I have their unconditional support.

SA: Do you regret any of the decisions you’ve made in the last two years?

[at this point, Mike holds up his arm, showing me his NO REGRETS tattoo]

MP: No regrets. I would rather regret something I HAVE done, rather than something I HAVEN’T. If I didn’t make the changes I made, then I would’ve forever regretted what I should have done or wondered ‘What if?’

SA: And that’s when the resentment starts, isn’t it?

MP: Yes, and every move I’ve made has made me stronger, more focused, more committed and more passionate. Everything happens for a reason.