Mike Portnoy interview (excerpt)

You recently performed Dream Theater’s The Mirror live with Haken. How did it feel it play it again?

I love still playing those songs – they’re a big, big part of my life, and The Mirror was a song that I wrote. Lyrically it’s a very personal song for me, and those songs will always be a part of me.

I have no problem playing those songs with the right outlets. Playing The Mirror with Haken felt great. Playing Repentance with Flying Colors felt natural, so we did it. Playing some of the stuff from Falling Into Infinity and A Change Of Seasons with PSMS a few years ago felt great too.

Were you invited in any way to celebrate their 30th anniversary this year?

No – let’s leave it at that. But it’s kind of strange, because the anniversary they’re celebrating is of me joining and forming the band. The two Johns are the only remaining original members, and they were already playing together in high school, so it’s kind of strange to see them celebrate that without me. But whatever – it’s their business and their choice to do as they wish.

Your son Max is the drummer of band Next To None. How did your playing compare to him at that age?

He’s lightyears beyond what I was like at that age. When I was 16, I was still writing Kiss and Ramones songs – I had just begun to explore progressive music and that was around the age when I discovered Neil Peart and Bill Bruford. But I wasn’t nearly as developed as Max is. The other day I walked in the house and he was playing Dream Theater’s The Dance Of Eternity. It’s scary to think of where he will be in a few more years.