An Interview with Mike Portnoy

A note from Josh Sager of “Red Sector A”:

I got the chance to do a phone interview with Mike Portnoy in December. He’s a great guy and I enjoyed the opportunity to talk to him. So without further adeu...

Josh Sager, Red Sector A: We have heard that the guys in the band don’t consider “When Dream and Day Unite” one of your albums. Is that true or not true?

Mike Portnoy: Well... that’s definitely not true. It is and always will be the first album we ever did. But I can see where James and Derek wouldn’t consider it the first Dream Theater album because it was done many years before they were even around. Part of the thing is, being that it’s out of print, and it was on a different label, and it had a different singer, most of the general public, and not really the fans, but the general public and the media and everything don’t even know of it’s existence, so they always call “Images and Words” the first album, and after hearing that over and over and over and over, after a while you become conditioned to just ignore it for the sake of having to explain yourself every time... you know what I’m saying? After a while when you’re doing an interview and they say “Images and Words, the first album,” and you say ‘no no no we had an album before that,’ and you have to get into it, after a while you become conditioned to just like, say ‘ok, look, forget about it, let it slide, for those who know about it know about it...

RSA: How is Derek working out?

MP: Derek is everything we could have wanted in a new keyboard player in the band, I mean, his personality fits in great, he’s probably one of the most easy going guys I’ve ever met, um, performance wise I think his playing is ABSOLUTELY as good if not better than Kevin, I mean there’s no questioning his musical abilities, and on a creative level, the little writing we’ve done with him, you know reworking “A Change of Seasons” and also we have one new complete song that we wrote at the same time that we reworked ACoS. So far, so good, I mean creatively he has a lot ideas, he really functions really well in the writing formula within the band, and I think he’s going to be a great asset to the band, I think when it comes time to really sit down and write the next record, we’re going to find that he’s got all of the qualities that Kevin used to have before he started to really get away from what we were doing musically.

RSA: What is your personal favorite DT song and why?

MP: Well... that’s tough, I mean, that’s sort of like if you’re a parent and you have babies, you can’t really choose a favorite baby, they each represent a different period in your life and they each represent different things. In each of our albums we try to be very diverse from song to song, so if I were to say “Lifting Shadows Off a Dream” then I would only really be representing one side of what DT is about. If I were to say that about “The Mirror” then I would only be representing one side. So they all really have different purposes... I could break them up basically into the heavy side, the progressive side, and the pop side, and I think each one of those sides have different songs that mean different things, so I guess it’s sort of a diplomatic answer, it’s kind of like straying from giving a straight answer, but it’s really hard to do that.

RSA: Do you have a favorite song to play live?

MP: Uh, I’ve said this before, but usually for me the favorite one live is “Wait For Sleep” because that’s when I can go off on the side of the stage and have a cigarette.

RSA: [laughs] Ok, thats fair enough...

The one thing with our songs and playing live, it’s like we constantly get asked “Why didn’t you play this song, and why didn’t you this song”, and it’s impossible, especially once you start putting out more and more albums, it’s impossible to please everybody with the set list, so each time we come through we try to do different ones, so like if we didn’t do “Metropolis” the first time through then we’ll do it the next time throught. We’re constantly trying to switch the set list so everybody is hearing the songs at one time or another in each area. But, you know, once your repotoire starts building and you have 4 or 5 albums, especially when the songs are so damn long, it’s really hard to please everybody, and that’s a question I always get asked, “Why didn’t you do this on this tour, and that one on that tour,” you know, but we’re constantly trying to switch it around and eventually get around to everything at one time or another.

RSA: You could do a concert where the first night you do all the songs from a certain album, and then the next night you one from the next two, that way you get to play them all...

MP: Yeah, but even then you have somebody saying “Well why didn’t you do this one” and we’ll say ‘well, we’re doing that one tomorrow’ and they’ll say “well why didn’t you do it tonight”.

RSA: What direction do you see the band heading in right now?

MP: Um, well who knows, I mean musically it’s impossible to predict because we never have a pre-conceived direction when we go to write a record. And that’s the truth, we really don’t have a pre-conceived direction, and that’s the way we have always written, and that’s probably the way we always will write. When we get together to start writing, it really depends on where all of the individuals’ heads are at, you know, we’ll continue to colaborate, which is the way we have always written, and if somebody is listening to U2 or somebody is listening to Pantera, whatever, you bring them in together and that’s what we come out with. So it’s really impossible to really tell, but I mean I will say that it always seems that the long songs and the long passages and the complex arrangements, that’s always been a suitable outlet for us to be able to do what we do, so I’m sure that kind of formula will continue and just hopefully continue to progress and get better.

RSA: When you guys decide that you want to start working on new material or anything like that, is there any set way that you start out? I mean, do you all start out with just jamming or do you all just bring your pieces together and work them out that way? Is there a set approach?

MP: Well, I would say 80% of the time it’s completely spontaneous... sitting in a room with all of us just jamming, and that’s the way almost all of our material, especially the longer songs, that’s the way it’s all conceived. But every once in a while, especially with the more simplistic songs, somthing like like “Silent Man” or “Wait For Sleep”, you know, those kinds of songs are obvious that it’s stemming from one person more than another, and with those kinds of songs you have the occasional times where somebody will come in with an idea or a blueprint and we’ll work on it together. But a good part of our writing is done spontaneously and completely colaborated.

RSA: Is there one show in particular that you’ve done that really sticks out in your mind above any other show?

MP: Oh man, that’s a tough one. I was just saying that I want to get you guys (Red Sector A) a list of every show we’ve every done, and give you the set lists, and the complete line up, the personnel, or if we’ve had any special guests joining us. I want to get you guys a list of every show. So once I start going through my papers and seeing all that, then I might be able to give you a better idea, but it’s tough, I mean, we’ve done so many over the past couple of years and they all kind of have different things, I mean, the shows in Japan are usually always great, and then New York is always fun because it’s home town... L.A. has always been great, you know, always the major cities are always a lot of fun. But, to really pinpoint one is kind of impossible. I mean, I think one that stands out was the Ronnie Scott’s gig because just because it was so incredibly different from anything we’ve ever done, playing all the cover songs, so that obviously stands out, but that’s obvious. I think these last three shows we did in Japan this past October, which were the only shows we did in support of ACoS, those were all really special because we did three different set lists each of the three nights, and each of the shows were over 2 1/2 hours long so those were three kind of cool shows cause we did a lot of covers and just must mixed it up and had a lot of really different things to offer, so those were fun.

RSA: How are your fans here different here as opposed to Europe or Japan?

MP: You mean in terms of reaction live and stuff?

RSA: Yeah, talking to them, or just their reaction...

MP: Well, here everyone speaks English, over there they don’t... [laughs]

RSA: Would you say they’re more receptive overseas or here, or they’re both about the same?

MP: I think they are, probably in a live environment, most receptive in Japan. That’s where they come to the shows, sit down in the theater, and they are silent and they watch the show. So they are the most receptive in a live environment in Japan, whereas in America you have people moshing, and running around and stage diving, so you’re not really getting the full attention. There’s been some shows where we’re doing “Surrounded” or something very dynamic and people are stage diving during it. So you’re not really getting a receptive audience when that kind of thing is happening. But, on the other hand, I really enjoy that sometimes. If we’re playing “The Mirror” or “Pull Me Under” and people are just going absolutely nuts, that to me is just a great vibe... so they all offer different things. In Italy, the audiences sing so incredibly loud that James can’t even hear what he is singing, so that’s always fun, and in Germany they are always clapping really loud and they’re always very vocal, so each country really offers different kinds of audiences, and they each have their pros and cons.

RSA: What is in your CD collection right now... like what do you listen to the most right now?

MP: Well my CD collection, I think I have like 3,000 CDs. I have a ridiculously huge collection, so I mean it ranges from everything. The stuff I’m listening to at the moment... the new Smashing Pumpkins I really like, the latest King Crimson, both the studio and the live album I love... Jeez, what else... it’s so weird, I mean I listen to so many different things... the new Mr. Bungle...

RSA: What do you think of that?

MP: It’s really, well first of all, the first Mr. Bungle album is one of my favorite albums of all times so I love that album. And the new album I’ve been waiting for for so many years now, and once I got it at first it was almost a little too strange for me because it was almost like the soundtrack of “Eraserhead” or somthing [laughs] it was so bizarre, and there were like no concrete songs, but the more I listen to it the more I like it. I think it’s really really cool.

RSA: Personal influences for music. Can you give me a top 5 or a top 3?

MP: Uh, the Beatles, Frank Zappa and Rush.

RSA: What about the band as a whole? Would you say you could find the most influence for the songs themselves from certain bands?

MP: Um, I would say, if I had to list three bands that really influence the whole band as a whole it would be Rush, Yes and Iron Maiden.

RSA: Iron Maiden, really?

MP: But that’s very general, like I said, I mean, we all love U2, and we love Pink Floyd, and we love UK, you know, we love Metallica. So collectively it’s really hard to pinpoint it, but I will say like when myself and John and John formed the band 10 years ago when we first met at Berklee, I would say the two bands that really... that we all three collectively loved and really knew that would help design where our music was going to go, the two bands were Rush and Iron Maiden. So when we first formed the band, those were like the two common ground bands that we really designed our sound after, but, through the years, with James on board, he brings in a whole other kind of influence, he loves everything, you know, he loves more poppy stuff, like Journey or Foreigner, or stuff like that, and Derek now brings in a whole other kind of influence cause he’s really into fusion stuff like Jeff Beck and Jan Hammer and also he’s really into Van Halen and Aerosmith, so through the years what started with me, John and John listening to Rush, Yes, Maiden and Metallica, but through the years with James and Derek now in the band it’s gone into a lot of other different directions.

RSA: What do you like to do in your free time?

MP: I don’t really have too much of that these days, but I would say first and foremost it’s spending time with my wife and my cats, and then when I get some free time beyond that I catch up on my boxing, cause I’m a HUGE boxing fan, and I catch up on my films, cause I’m a real big film buff. In fact, I mean my CD collection is pretty enormous, but my video collection is pretty crazy itself. I have 5 or 6, 700 videos of different movies, boxing matches, you know, so my two biggest interests beyond music and the band are films and boxing.

RSA: Ok, I’m going to give you a list of your favorite things, and you can tell me who it is. So, let’s start off with favorite boxer:

MP: I’ll tell you, just like anything else it’s hard to get a favorite out of me, you know like you were asking favorite CDs and songs of ours, but I’ll try... these are very general. But, I’d have to say Mike Tyson. And it’s such a cliche becuase my interest my interest in boxing goes way beyond the heavyweight division, but I mean, there’s just nobody that matches the power and intensity as him.

RSA: Actor?

MP: I’d have to say Robert DeNiro.

RSA: Actress?

MP: Meryl Streep.

RSA: Food?

MP: Taco Bell.

RSA: [laughs] I knew you were going to say that. Movie... Favorite movie of all time.

MP: Oh god, it’s so hard for me to do this kind of shit. But I would have to say... there’s so many, but if I HAD to narrow it down to one I’d say 2001: A Space Odyssey. That and A Clockwork Orange.

RSA: Now here come the hard ones... Favorite album? You have to pick one...

MP: Well it’s either Sgt. Pepper or The Wall. I don’t know. I’ll say The Wall.

RSA: Favorite group?

MP: The Beatles.

RSA: Favorite Drummer?

MP: Once again there’s so many, but I’ll say Neil Peart.

RSA: Favorite Book, do you read at all?

MP: Howard Stern’s Private Parts [laughs]

RSA: Do you know that they are playing the intro to one of your songs in his commercials now?

MP: Yeah, yeah, I’m never up early enough to listen to him anymore, but like I have all of his old TV shows and stuff... but I’ve heard about that.

RSA: There’s a station here in Philly (Y100) and they use one of your drum fills from WDaDU as part of their commercial?

MP: Really?

RSA: And I don’t even think they know they used it... I think it’s from the Ytse Jam... I’m sure it’s that fill... What about your biggest pet peeve. That’s not really a favorite, but... What do you hate the most?

MP: Waking up early.

RSA: What’s early for you?

MP: Anything before 1pm.

RSA: Wow, what time do you usually get to sleep? Are you a late nighter?

MP: 5am.

RSA: Do you have a New Years resolution for the band?

MP: Uh, to write our greatest record yet.

RSA: Ok, obviously that will be a New Year’s resolution every year.

MP: Yeah.

RSA: If you could jam with any one person or any group of people, like if you could create your own supergroup and jam with them, whether they are alive or dead, who would they be.

MP: Well, absolutely if it was one person it would be Frank Zappa, without a single moment’s hesitation. If I wasn’t playing in DT, my alltime goal would be to play in Frank Zappa’s band. If you want to talk about a supergroup, um, I don’t know, I would say Billy Sheehan on bass, Steve Vai on guitar I guess... Who knows, I don’t know, it’s hard to say. It’s funny though cause I’m going to be actually recording with Billy Sheehan in about two weeks.

RSA: Cool...

MP: We’re doing a Rush tribute album, and I’m doing the bulk of the drum tracks and Billy’s playing the bass on the ones I’m doing the drum tracks on.

RSA: Any idea on when that’s going to be released?

MP: Well it’s being done by Magna Carta, which is like a progressive, independant label, that has done a whole bunch of other ones...

RSA: They did the Yes tribute for “Dark Side of the Moon”.

MP: Right, they did Yes, Dark Side of the Moon, they did Genesis... so, they are doing a Rush one and they asked me and Billy to play on most of the tracks. So we’re just picking the tracks now, and actually it’s been hard to pick them, but we’re going to do five or six, and I think we’re going to do “La Villa Strangiato” and maybe “Jacobs Ladder”. We’re still picking the tracks now, and we’re recording next week and hopefully it will be out I guess sometime in the first couple months of next year.

RSA: Are there any plans for a new DT recording anytime soon?

MP: Basically ACoS is probably the only thing that’s going to be released until we put out the next record, which will probably be late summer or early fall of ‘96.

RSA: Has success changed your life or affected your life in any way? Do you notice that you are different now than you were when you were jamming at Berklee?

MP: Well it’s absolutely changed my life... Absolutely, I just hope it hasn’t changed my personality.

RSA: Do you think it has at all?

MP: My personality?

RSA: Yeah, like do the other guys in the band say you are obnoxious and egotistical now?

MP: Probably, but I was then too, so I don’t know if I’ve changed that much.

RSA: Oh, well that’s ok then [laughs]

MP: But it has definitely changed my life, I don’t have to deliver chinese food anymore.

RSA: So that’s how you supported the drum habit...

MP: Yeah...

RSA: When you see yourself in videos, or TV, or when you hear yourself on the radio, how is it to see or hear yourself?

MP: It’s still an incredible thrill, it still freaks me out, especially with the music we do, it’s amazing to hear it on the radio and see it on TV to begin with, just because of the nature of the music. But, it’s still an incredible thrill, I still can’t believe it. Every once in a while I have to pinch myself to believe where we’ve gotten this far. You know, we’re not Guns & Roses or Metallica, you know, we still have a lot left to do on a band level in terms of success, there’s still a lot of room, but even getting this far, I mean the fact that I’ve even one some Modern Drummer (the magazine) awards, you know that freaks me out. I look at my wall and I look at these plaques from Modern Drummer, and it’s like, “Wait a second, is this really me?” or I look up on the wall and I have a gold record, and every once in a while I pinch myself to believe it.

RSA: Do you ever think of yourself as being in the same catagory as someone like Rush, or Neil (Peart), or Zappa, cause there are so many people that respect your band and you as a musician?

MP: Nah... I let other people do that, but I can’t do that. The minute I was to put myself on the same level as those people then that’s when I stop moving forward. I still look at myself as some kid from Long Island that delivered chinese food and just plays in a band for the fun of it. The fact that other people perceive us and perceive me that way is the ultimate compliment and an honor, but as soon as I put myself on that level... That’s what keeps me growing and progressing, I still don’t see myself like that.

RSA: Where do you want to be in 20 years?

MP: In Hawaii.

RSA: Retired?

MP: I want to see us doing a reunion tour... As long as the band can stick around and have longevity and continue to make records, and continue to have a fan base as strong as we do now... We’ve already reached that goal in that sense.

RSA: Are there any goals for the band that you guys made when in Berklee that you have not reached yet?

MP: I think it’s already more than we have expected to get, and like I said earlier, we’re not Guns & Roses or Metallica, you know, I don’t think we’ll ever be on the cover of Rolling Stone, I don’t think we’ll ever sell more than... and I’m reaching here, but I don’t think we’re the type of band that will ever sell more than 2 million records at a time, just because of the nature of the music. Bands like Rush and Yes, or even Queensryche don’t ever get beyond that point. With this kind of music you don’t become a household name. But, to get the respect of other musicians, and to be able to do this for a living, to me we’ve already reached our ultimate goal in that respect.

RSA: When did you start playing drums?

MP: When I was 11. That’s when I got my first drum set, on my 11th birthday.

RSA: Why did you decide drums above anything else, or music in general?

MP: Well I started on piano, and it just wasn’t rock n roll enough for me. Music in general, the reason I got involved in it... I was a huge music fan from the day I was born. My father was a DJ on the radio, so I was constantly surrounded by rock n roll, I mean even when I was 1 year old I bought the “white album” the day it came out, and I was this 1 year old little kid playing it on my Mickey Mouse record player. And when I was in 3rd grade in elementary school I was the only kid in the school with a record collection of like 500 records. Just from the day I was born I was constantly immersed in music, you know from the Who and Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Kiss, and because of that kind of environment I think it was inevitable that I became a musician.

RSA: How much do you practice?

MP: These days not very much anymore because when we’re on tour it’s really impossible between the gigs and sound check and the traveling. Even now when I’m home, to be honest, after coming off of 9 months of touring, the last thing I want to do is play when I come home. So it’s a lot less than it used to be. But being a drummer, I always have my hands and feet with me so I do a lot of mental practicing and a lot of air drumming, and I do most of my practicing in the bathroom just sitting on the toilet.

RSA: I remember DJ (another Red Sector A dude) saying when we saw you guys at the last show that when fans see you play drums it seems like it’s the next thing next to walking and breathing. Is it just something that comes natural to you, and is it really as easy for you as you make it looks when you’re up there, or do you have to constantly practice to maintain that fluidity when you play?

MP: I think I probably, and I hate to judge myself, but if I have to say it I would say that I probably am a natural because I don’t practice like the others do. John Myung sits with his bass 9 hours a day, and I don’t do that. So in that respect I probably am a natural, but it’s not as easy as it looks, because usually when I’m onstage playing, you know, if I’m playing a song like “Metropolis”, by the time I’m playing it live it’s my 500th time playing the song. When we’re writing the music it’s incredibly meticulous and demanding and you have to be completely on your toes and counting and thinking when you’re writing it. But after you play it 100 times in rehersal, by the time you get into the studio it becomes real comfortable, and by the time I go on tour after playing it every night I can head bang and spit and jump around and do whatever all the time, just because it’s so comfortable and really branded into my brain.

RSA: When you guys are writing music, and obviously your music is very complex and involved, is there a point where you guys turn off all of the outside influences? Like you decide that for a week before we go in we’re not going to listen to any CDs so you don’t start sounding like anyone else?

MP: I think the other guys can do that a lot easier than me, in fact the other guys really aren’t ususally up to date with what’s out there. But it’s impossible for me to do that because I’m a music fan. I can’t stop listening to what’s out there. I get just as excited to write as I do to buy the new Mr. Bungle album or whatever... I’m just a music fan first and foremost so for me I’m constantly surrounded by what’s out there, and that’s always a very big inspiration for me. But I think the other guys can tune out from that stuff a lot easier than I can. Those guys can probably go months on end without even hearing what new bands are coming out, just because that’s where their heads are at. I think it’s important to have those outside inspirations and I think that’s what has always driven the band, when we’re writing a new song somtimes that song will stem from what we are listening to that day. If I’m listening to Fear Factory, or something incredibly heavy, I’ll bring in that influence. If somebody else is listening to Peter Gabriel, they’ll bring in that influence, or if somebody else is listening to old Genesis or whatever... So usually whatever we are listening to usually filters into the lighting and mutates into something else.

RSA: Are there any bands, unsigned or otherwise that if someone were to ask you who were the cool bands that you would recommend to people to look out for? Are there any that you would really like for us to look out for?

MP: Well, this is a bit obviously, but anyone that knows Dream Theater knows about our connection to Fates Warning. They are good friends of mine, and we took them out on tour to try and give them that exposure, so I’ve always thought that they are an incredibly underrated band, especially in the progressive circle that have been overlooked, so we were trying to hopefully give them more exposure. Beyond the progressive world, one of my favorite bands of the 90’s which unfortunately is broken up is Jellyfish. They’re last album “Spilt Milk” I think was a complete masterpiece that went unnoticed. So that’s one band that I really loved that unfortunately never got the recognition they deserved.

RSA: There’s a lot of DT bootleg stuff out. You name it and it’s out there. What is your reaction to that? How do you feel about people bootlegging your stuff and selling it?

MP: I think that our fans probably already know the split reaction within the band. I think it’s pretty well known to our fans that I am completely supportive of it whereas some of the other members, and it’s already known, but specifically James and John Petrucci are very much against it. So we have split feelings from the band. I can’t speak on behalf of the band, but I can speak on behalf of myself. I have no problem with it, in fact I’m very supportive of it only because I’m a fan myself, like I said. Not only a music fan, but I’m probably DT’s number one fan. I tape all of our shows and collect all the interviews that we do and I video tape everything and I pretty much have the whole DT library. So the bootlegs for me are cool because I’m just adding to my collection. But I think it’s pretty obvious the only people that buy bootlegs are pre-existing fans that just want more and therefore how can I possibly object to it. If they were buying “Lost in the Sky” or “Dream Out Loud”, any of these bootlegs instead of our real records, then I guess it would become a concern, but I know it’s not like that. I know that people are buying our records and then buying the bootlegs for additional icing on the cake.

RSA: Do you have any of these bootlegs? Do you buy them whenever you find them?

MP: Yeah, I have them all. Fortunately I don’t really have to buy them. But I’ve got a pretty complete collection, I have almost all of them I think.

RSA: I just have one last question for you... Being that this interview is for the Internet... Is there anything you would like to add or say specifically to the people on the Internet that you don’t get to normally say?

MP: Well first all of, at this moment I don’t own a computer, so anyone going on there using my name or anybody else in the bands’ name it’s not true, it’s not us. None of us have ever been on the Ytse-Jam (the Internet mailing list) or the Web... So that’s one rumour I’d like to squash. I would like to get a computer and get online myself, but even if I had one I wouldn’t go in under my own name. So to squash any rumours, none of us have turned up and said anything online ourselves. I love the whole thing, everyone in Ytse Jam... It’s incredible that they have all been so supportive and fanatical as they have been. It’s great for us, and I love when people give me the digest because I’m not online. I love seeing what’s being said. And 80% of it is very positive, even if they’re insulting us or arguing with each other, I still think it’s positive that they’re talking about us. But that’s the 80%, and there’s another 20% that think they know everything about the band when they don’t, and they start rumours and start saying things, but I guess it’s impossible to control that kind of stuff. But hopefully if we can put together this web thing we can do our best to have some sort of control over what’s the truth and what’s not.