Originally published in Chris Akin Presents YT channel · January 2024
Mike Mangini interview (excerpt)
InterviewMike Mangini3 min read
(interview begins at 40:00; DTC at 45:00-46:45, 1:10:30-1:11:10, 1:13:50-1:17:00
Mike Mangini was asked if he had any "advance notice" that the band's original drummer Mike Portnoy would return to the group last fall or if it was "really immediate". He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Immediate. But it's like… So the fish comes up out of the water, it's immediate, but the fish was swimming for a while. Where was the fish? Whatever."
He continued: "The reason it was easy for me to deal with — very easy, actually — I was, like, 'Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. Original guy back in band.' I got I got it. And I didn't have to go do through a drop-down menu; I didn't have to do it. It was just I looked at it and went, 'Okay.' And plus I don't know whether it was intuitive, instinctual [or] intellectual… but I have left so many things on the table for so many years — the publishing of more books, the classes that I wanna teach, the interaction that my own self-development comes largely from me having to teach and talk about it to people. At some point, I mean, I see the whole picture, the grid, and I know what I can't do, and that inspires me.
"But anyway, the answer to your question is, I got a call and understood the call, and said, 'Okay, let's do a joint statement,'" he explained. "And then the next day, I'm, like, 'Okay.' I'm having coffee and quite literally, at my think tank, looking at my list and going, 'How am I gonna complete this job now? I've gotta fix this or do that. I've got a lot to do.' My studio facility had construction, there was stuff that had to be fixed. I was, like, 'Let me just let all of this stuff happen and breathe and just finish these things.' So that's what my mindset was. I can't tell you anything different because that's what it was."
Asked how he managed to avoid being angry over the fact that he was being pushed out of DREAM THEATER when Portnoy wanted to come back, even though Mangini was the drummer that helped the band win its first Grammy Award, Mangini said: "Well, a) because I don't know that that's what is the full picture. I don't know that that is what happened indeed. And I don't let myself even think about it. People decide things and I respect that. It's just it is what it is."
"[It was] immediate," said Mangini in an interview with Chris Akin Presents. "But it's like… So the fish comes up out of the water, it's immediate. But the fish was swimming for a while. Where was the fish? Whatever."
He continued: "The reason it was easy for me to deal with — very easy, actually — I was, like, 'Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. Original guy back in band.' I got it. And I didn't have to go through a drop-down menu; I didn't have to do it. It was just I looked at it and went, 'Okay.' And plus I don't know whether it was intuitive, instinctual [or] intellectual… but I have left so many things on the table for so many years — the publishing of more books, the classes that I wanna teach, the interaction that my own self-development comes largely from me having to teach and talk about it to people. At some point, I mean, I see the whole picture, the grid, and I know what I can't do, and that inspires me.
"But anyway, the answer to your question is, I got a call and understood the call, and said, 'Okay, let's do a joint statement.' And then the next day, I'm, like, 'Okay.' I'm having coffee and quite literally, at my think tank, looking at my list and going, 'How am I gonna complete this job now? I've gotta fix this or do that. I've got a lot to do.' My studio facility had construction, there was stuff that had to be fixed. I was, like, 'Let me just let all of this stuff happen and breathe and just finish these things.' So that's what my mindset was. I can't tell you anything different because that's what it was."
Mangini later elaborated on his departure, saying he doesn't know how the reunion came to be and what the full story behind it all actually is. "Well because I don't know that that's what is the full picture. I don't know that that is what happened indeed. And I don't let myself even think about it. People decide things and I respect that. It's just it is what it is."