Mike Mangini interview (excerpt)

Manoel Santos: About your drum solos, were they all improvisations? Were they planned? For example, the one you did on the ‘Enigma Machine’ song, there [was a] part that you play the theme. So how much of them were planned and how much of them were improvised?

Mike Mangini: They are all outlined just like you would write an essay and have an idea of what you’re gonna say, you say it, and then you take each of the parts and you make a paragraph. So I outlined them like that and then improvised within different zones. In other words, if I knew like in ‘Enigma Machine’ [that] I’m going to play what’s called a ‘linear beat’ that’s syncopated with this side of the body, then “Oh! I gotta play it on the other side,” and that’s what I’m communicating to the crowd. So I would improvise some of the stickings and patterns within it, but I would do it for a certain amount of time and in the spot that it belongs.

And other solos, for example Luna Park, that’s from night two; [that was] 100% improvised. I didn’t think about anything at all. I just got an idea and went with it, because I thought about things the night before, and the night before didn’t come out so good. It’s like, “Oh, come on!” Like I was trying to make it too perfect or something. That was because it was being filmed. It changed my mindset. I was like, “Ah! Don’t do that again!” It was like, “OK.” I actually won an argument with myself for once! [laughs] It was like, “Just go and play. Go and have fun! Just do it!” And then I put my mind in that 3 second interval spot. I mean I played a pattern that I had been playing and that I knew, but it wasn’t worked out like, “I’m gonna play 17 against the five.” I just went with it; improvised.

MS: You were in the biggest prog metal band in the world for 13 years. There were five studio albums, three live DVDs, Grammy nominations, a Grammy award; the song that won the Grammy starts with a drum fill. You played all over the world at the biggest festivals on the planet like Rock in Rio recently and played after Iron Maiden. It was quite a journey. After leaving the band and looking back on these 13 years and the legacy you’ve built with Dream Theater, how proud does that make you?

MM: Very. I’m so happy to have been a part of the lives of so many musicians, especially in a way where it’s all good, where the vibe is positive. How fortunate am I? I went surfing for a while. [laughs] That’s what I did. So, yeah, how great is that? I can look at the Grammy and say, “Ah! I remember working on the grooves for that four, five years ahead.” In fact, I think I sent a drum demo to Jordan years ago. It was that riff, that thing, and it became ‘The Alien.’ It’s one of those things that occurs and, yeah, it happens. And then you just go, “Oh, well, that was nice. Cool.” And look at it for what it is and then move on to what’s happening now.