Mike Portnoy interview (excerpts)

Ollie Winiberg: I was wondering if it would be okay with you if you and I could start this interview with a very quick game called “This Or That,” where basically it's a quick fire question round. You have to just explain which one of the two you prefer and you don't have to give an answer why.

Mike Portnoy: OK.

OW: ‘Kindred Spirits’ or ‘Beating The Odds’?

MP: ‘Beating The Odds’ only because it's newer

OW: What actual beat of the bar do you even come in on that? I've sat down and tried to work that out. Where does it even... It’s so crazy!

MP: You're hearing it with the drums there, but when we were working on it as just a riff, it was really, really weird to feel. We couldn't feel it for the longest time. But now you're getting the benefit of the drums there to help.

OW: In terms of albums, Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence or Octavarium?

MP: Oooooh! [pauses] I think Six Degrees because overall it's heavier. I love ‘The Glass Prison’ and ‘Great Debate’. I also love ‘Disappear’, which isn't heavy but I love the production on that one. Of course the title track was epic. So yeah, if we're talking strictly albums, Six Degrees.

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OW: Your last one, and I'm gonna judge you for this: ‘Schmedley Wilcox’ or ‘Instrumedley’?

MP: ‘Instrumedley’ because first of all, it's got more tracks in it. ‘Schmedley Wilcox’ was just a medley: chunk, chunk, chunk, chunk. Whereas ‘Instrumedley’ was very creatively put together; the way it weaves in and out of all different things. ‘Instrumedley’ was surely one of the more fun things we've done in terms of medleys.

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OW: I've got to share a story with you: like you, I lost my dad in 2003. My dad was a drummer, and just after he got his diagnosis of a terminal illness, we spent the day sitting together listening to records like Led Zeppelin. And randomly in his collection of CDs was Liquid Tension 2. We looked at the sleeve together and my dad – being a drummer – said, “God, look at this guy's drum kit!” and he hit play on ‘Acid Rain.’ Therefore, you are part of one of my last ever memories of my own dad, which made me so happy when you released Liquid Tension 3. The emotional connection that I've got to that project of yours – it was such an overwhelming experience for me, and the record was great as well. So off the back of that, Liquid Tension live tour and Liquid Tension 4 please!

MP: [laughs] Yeah, I'd love both for sure. I guess it all depends on everybody's schedule. Tony is firing back up with Peter Gabriel, and I know he's going to be out with Peter Gabriel most of this year, and obviously John and Jordan are out with Dream Theater. And I'm going to be out with The Winery Dogs. But yeah, I'm all up for shows and a fourth album so just say when.

OW: When! I'm f***ing saying it!

MP: Well, talk to the other three guys but...

OW: I have! I have! [laughs] I pester Jordan all the time for it!

MP: Well, we'll see. Fingers crossed, it happens.

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OW: Which project of yours – that you have been in since the beginning of your career – has been the biggest eye-opener for you? When have you really sat down, after working with a musician or an artist or a band, and you kind of gone, “Oh s***!” Like, “That's great!” or “Maybe I need to do more of this.” “Maybe I need to do less of this.” What artist has made you your most reflective?

MP: Well, of course Dream Theater – that's where it began, and that was the first 25 years of my career. It was my baby and something that we spent so much time building and developing. So that's the obvious answer, and that's the most significant part of my legacy and career. But obviously I'd have to mention all the stuff I've done with Neal Morse as well. Neal and I have done I think over 25 studio albums together at this point – I think well over 50 albums if you count live recordings. Depending on how you count it, we're in anywhere between three to six different bands together: Neal Morse Band, Transatlantic, Flying Colors. Then you also have Neal’s solo albums, and then you also have mine, his and Randy's Cover To Cover series. Then you have Yellow Matter Custard. So obviously the stuff that Neal and I have done together has had a huge significant part of my entire discography and career.

OW: I suppose then with you talking about how many different bands you're in, how many different projects that you're working on, it would lead me organically to ask this question: Mike, in your career what has been the biggest Spinal Tap moment of your life?

MP: Oh man! I mean there's been so many! Everything from falling off stages to not being able to find the stages...

OW: This has actually happened?!

MP: Oh yeah, absolutely! I remember also... I think Dream Theater was playing a gig somewhere in Texas in the ‘90s, and they rolled the intro tape for ‘A Change Of Seasons’ while we were still in the dressing room not even ready to leave for the stage, so yeah, things like that happen all the time. Everything you've seen in Spinal Tap has happened at one point another to every musician out there.

OW: Are you looking forward to Spinal Tap 2?

MP: Oh man, I can't wait! I hope I live long enough to see it. Every time I hear about a TV show or a movie that's announced three years in advance, it's like, “Oh God, now I just gotta hope I live to see it!” Like when they announced the Twin Peaks return, but it was gonna still be like three or four years before it’s out.

OW: F***ing hell man! [laughs] We were just talking about music and now we're talking about your death!

MP: It's the only thing in life that's certain.

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OW: We have actually joked about your death and that is something I didn't think we were going to do, [laughs] but in 100 years Mike, what would you like your legacy to be? How would you like people to remember you? Are we talking like the big drum kits, are we talking about the work you've done, the fact that you're a dad and a husband? What is the thing that you would love people to remember you by and how would you want to be remembered?

MP: Well, dad and husband comes first obviously.

OW: That's the boring one. [laughs]

MP: But musically, I hope the big picture – it's all about the discography and all the music I've made with all the different bands. That was important for me after leaving Dream Theater: to have this discography and this career filled with so many different bands and albums and collaborations with other great musicians and artists that I respect and admire. It was always to me about the big picture and being more than just the drummer with the massive drum kit playing drums with Dream Theater. I wanted to have this legacy filled with all these different styles and all these different collaborations and all these different bands. And my work ethic is really important to me. Just constantly working on stuff, producing and creating. That's to me so important – to keep busy and keep focused and keep creative.

OW: Where does it go next? You are, in my opinion, the greatest living drummer in the world. I wholeheartedly don't think there is anybody as good as you and as iconic as you. You've done so much – where does it go next?

MP: Well I appreciate you saying that. I've said this a million times and I think it's the honest to God the truth: I don't think there's such thing as the “greatest” or “better than”. Music is subjective, so it's just a matter of what reaches you and touches you and appeals to you. I mean there's so many zillions of drummers out there that could play circles around me. I've seen like eight-year-old girls on Instagram that are playing ‘The Dance Of Eternity’, so to me it's not just about ability. To me being a musician and an artist is so much more than just playing your instrument well. It's about how you utilize your instrument and how you're a creative artist. But I appreciate you saying that about me. But to me it's all about the big picture and the whole package. As far as where do I go? I don't know. I just feel incredibly fulfilled to have done everything I have done up to this point – it's been an incredibly fulfilling career. Where do I go? I just want to keep doing it and just keep...

OW: Do you feel like you're chasing your tail? I know from having watched documentaries on you in bands and things like that, I know that you are the sort of person that you'd be up until the early hours of the morning if you had an idea in your head until that idea was finished, and you'd send it off to your band members. That's why I guess I asked if you are honestly in that circle of chasing your tail.

MP: Perhaps. I mean when you make as many albums as I do – I think since Dream Theater I've made something like 40 or 50 albums or something ridiculous like that – there's something to be said for keeping busy and keeping creative like that. But then there's also something to be said for chasing a tail, like where do you go at this point? I just love playing, I love touring... I don't know. I would always welcome another kind of hired gun gig – I've really enjoyed that. Playing with Avenged Sevenfold or Twisted Sister and kind of just being the drummer only. It’s very, very satisfying in a lot of respects – just going and playing the big shows. So yeah, I would I would welcome another scenario like that if the right band came around. Foo Fighters... Dave Grohl...

OW: I've said this to so many people! I don't know if you're friends with him, but yeah, definitely man, you've gotta push for that.

MP: I guess any gig like that – any kind of hired gun big gig – I really enjoyed doing that in the past, so that's something that would I would definitely welcome in the future, if the right one came around.

OW: This leads me into a question that I have to ask you. I'm gonna ask this in the most respectful, polite and lovely way possible. Talking about being like a hired gun: In 2025 Dream Theater are going to be 40 years old. If they were to phone you and say, “Do you want to come and do a live show as our 40th anniversary?” is that something you would do, as a hired gun for a one-off show, for the 40th birthday, or is that something you have now put to bed, which you have said many times before?

MP: Well, I would surely welcome the idea – absolutely! And I've told the guys such, depending on the circumstances, because obviously, there's a lot of hypothetical circumstances. I don't know if I'd necessarily wanna be a hired gun for a band that I formed...

OW: I was trying to be diplomatic.

MP: I mean a little bit of a strange term in that respect. But if you're asking, would I ever play with the guys again? Sure! If the right hypothetical situation came about, yeah, of course! I'm always open to that.