Know Your Pro

Full name: Michael Stephen Portnoy

Birthday: April 20, 1967

Birth place: Long Beach, Long Island, NY

Current residence: Lehigh Valley, PA

Place I would like to visit: Hawaii

Wife: Marlene Portnoy

Children: Melody 18 & Max 16

Parents: Howard Portnoy & Andrea Held

Siblings: Samantha Cattaneo & Rennie Leone

Pets: Dogs – Maggie & Mickey, Cats – Mini, Mittens & Magic

Age started playing: 11

First drum set: Royce blue 3-piece

Age of my first gig: 15

First gig with: Intruder at St. Mary’s Church, Long Beach, NY

First pro gig: Dream Theater (aka Majesty) 1988, opening for Jack Bruce

Other instruments I play: Bass, guitar & keys

If I was not a drummer I would be: A filmmaker

First concert: George Harrison, 1974

Best concert I attended: Roger Waters – The Wall

A band I wish I could be in: Rush or Metallica

I would like to take a drum lesson with: John Bonham

Recording I wish I could redo: Images And Words (just the mix)

Drummer I would like to have dinner with: Already have, Neil Peart. He ordered the lobster!

Favorite drink: Starbucks

Favorite fast food: In-N-Out Burger

Favorite junk food: Twizzlers & Oreos

Favorite cuisine(s): Mexican & Chinese

Favorite album(s): Pink Floyd – The Wall, Beatles – Sgt. Pepper

Favorite TV: Lost, Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Sons Of Anarchy

Favorite films: Boogie Nights, A Clockwork Orange, Goodfellas

Favorite tour I’ve done: Uproar tour 2010 with Avenged Sevenfold

Favorite recording I’ve done: Too many to list, proud of all of them

Favorite artist I worked with: Neal Morse, we did 16 albums together

Job I had: Chinese food delivery boy

Car I drive: Black Mustang GT convertible

How I relax: Still trying to figure that out

Subject I could talk for hours about: Film directors

Interests: Watching film & TV and collecting Blu-rays & vinyl

Person I admire: My wife

Most prized possession: My children

If I could talk to any person: Frank Zappa

Influences: My father, Frank Zappa, The Beatles, Stanley Kubrick

Musicians I would like to work with: Paul McCartney, Roger Waters, Pete Townshend

Song I wished I played on: All of my favorites are perfect the way they are, wouldn’t want to mess them up.

Most memorable performance and why: Radio City Music Hall, NYC, April 1, 2006. Closing night of Dream Theater’s 20th anniversary tour, filmed for DVD, played with orchestra. Perfect night.

Biggest venue played: Rock In Rio (filling in for Stone Sour) 100,000 people.

Most embarrassing moment on stage: Dislocating my wrist during a show in Munich, Germany and having to play w/ one hand, while the other was snapped backwards... And then immediately being taken to the hospital from the stage.

Most unusual autograph: Chris Jericho’s shoes from Dancing With The Stars.

My dream gig: Have pretty much had them already.