Originally published in Sticks for Stones.net-Levi Buckley YT channel · October 2015
Mike Portnoy interview (excerpt)
InterviewMike Portnoy4 min read
Levi Buckley: When you play drums as much as you do, and I’m sure you love playing the drums, but does it ever just feel like a job to you?
Mike Portnoy: No. If it did, if it feels like a job to me then I won’t do it. I think that’s one of the main reasons I left Dream Theater after 25 years. It started to feel like it was just a job. There was not much personal interplay within the band members and it was just like an endless cycle that was just starting to be very redundant to me. That’s why I left. At this point, now I do so many things and I’m keeping so busy but everything I do it’s things I choose to do. I don’t ever want to be back in a situation where I’m playing drums because I have to. I want to be able to play drums because I want to and that’s the big difference.
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LB: I know you play a lot of different stuff. You go from everything from playing very complex stuff in Winery Dogs and Dream Theater and then some more straight forward hard hitting stuff. You’ll also do stuff like doing Beatles’ covers. Ringo’s an awesome drummer, but does it feel weird playing stuff that’s quite simple when you’re used to playing complex stuff or do you mind dropping your skills down to play The Beatles?
MP: I love everything. Just because I spent 25 years in a super technical complicated band, it doesn’t mean that that’s what I necessarily prefer. In fact, to be honest with you, I almost never listen to that type of music for my own enjoyment. If you were to look in my iPod, there’s very little bands like Dream Theater in there. I’m listening to either very simple stuff like The Beatles or U2 or Jelly Fish or I’ll be listening to Lamb of God and Slayer, everything in between. My taste is very, very broad. I don’t judge something on whether or not it’s complicated or simple. I judge something on whether it’s good or bad.
Levi Buckley: Do you think it’s hard being in a simple band and being a complex drummer. Is it hard to keep simple and not overplay on tracks and stuff like that?
MP: Not for me, no. Like I just said, I’m a fan of so many kinds of music and so many styles that I enjoy doing all those different things. That was another reason I had to leave Dream Theater is that I needed other outlets and styles in my life. That’s why I’m currently in six different bands and that’s why I’ve played with a dozen different bands since leaving Dream Theater. I need that variety in order to feel not only fulfilled but also to continue to grow as a musician. Growing as a musician doesn’t necessarily mean playing faster or more technical. Growth sometimes means playing simpler, you know.
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LB: I’ll just ask you one more question. If you were to have a drum off between Mike Portnoy from 10 years go, who do you think would win?
MP: I hate the idea of a “drum off” because drumming is not a competition. That’s why I almost feel silly winning all these awards I’ve won. I’ve won like 30 modern drum awards at this point and to me it’s almost comical because drumming is not a sport or a competition. It’s all completely subjective. People ask me, who’s the best drummer. I always say the same thing, there is no best. There’s only favorites. I don’t know, a drum off between me in 2015 and me in 2005, it depends on the day. To me I wouldn’t judge that drum off based on what I was playing technically. It would be based upon if I played with passion. If I played with humor. If I played with character and personality. To me that would be what would be the variables. In those cases, it would all depend on what side of the bed I woke up on that morning. It has nothing to do with technique.
LB: I’ll ask the question a bit fairer, do you think... Is there still stuff you haven’t learnt on drums. Have you mastered the kit yet or do you still find...
MP: Oh my God. Of course, of course. I’d be the first person in the world to say that there’s millions of drummers out there that could play circles around me. There’s no question about that. Doesn’t matter that I’ve won all these awards and been on all the magazine covers, doesn’t mean I’m necessarily better than anybody. It just means I struck a chord with young listeners and for that I’m appreciative. I know there’s billions of things that I still need to learn to become better. But I’m not necessarily interested in pursuing them because I have more in my life than just playing drums. I have many things in my life that interest me and many things in my life that are priorities beyond the drums. I could sit at home and practice 15 hours a day and get better and learn new things, but I also would be wasting my life away and I would have no relationship with my wife and children. I have other priorities in my life.