Mike Portnoy

Written by Jakob Herrmann

Tuesday, 28 March 2006

Some drummers are as popular as the band they play with. Mike Portnoy is one of them. Always a popular subject on the internet drum forums. Always one of the most-wanted clinicians and one of the most popular drummers on the planet. And always topical with his band Dream Theater as well as other ones, like Liquid Tension Experiment and the “supergroup” Transatlantic, featuring members of groups like Spock’s Beard, Flower Kings and Marillion. With Dream Theater, his other bands, and all of his side projects, Mike is always on top of things, keeping his skills up to date.

After releasing their latest album Octavarium, Dream Theater went on the obligatory following tour, and we actually got an interview with Mike. We didn’t see that one coming, since he does so many interviews all the time. Not just as a drummer, but as the spokesman and leader for his group. So we thought the chances for us getting him to do yet another interview were slim. But, as I get to say now and then; sometimes it’s good to be wrong.

And so there we were, our photographer Kaine and myself (for those of you who have read the interview with Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain may spot some similarities here…) waiting for the tour manager to show up. When he did, he and Kaine went off to the rigged stage to take some shots of Mike’s new kit (and just look at those pictures! We hire the best, that’s just a fact.) leaving me to meet Mike on my own. Who walked into the room about five seconds after I had placed myself in one of the comfy chairs. Interviewing time!

Mike Bonham

Earlier that day, Mike was meeting some of his fans at a big drum store to sign autographs and meet his admirers. I ask him whether this is a thing that he usually does when touring.

“Well, today was a signing session for Sabian. I’ve done so many clinics, I’ve done hundreds of them. So in the last few years I’ve stopped doing them, actually. Usually when a request for a clinic comes in, they suggest an autograph session, and that’s basically what I do.”

To break the ice (and it really worked, too) I had the best thinkable tool - Greetings from drummer Johan Langell and the rest of the guys in Pain of Salvation, who has been on tour with Mike and Dream Theater. I’ve also come to known about a side project Mike did with their singer Daniel Gildenlöw. The project was a Led Zeppelin tribute act called Hammer of the Gods.

“We did a couple of projects, actually” Mike explains. “We did the Hammer of the Gods together, and also he toured with Transatlantic. He was basically a hired gun, he did background vocals, and played guitar and keyboard.”

Mike is pretty used to do covers of Led Zeppelin songs, as Dream Theater keeps doing covers on every possible kind of song there is, from Iron Maiden and Metallica to Kansas and Pink Floyd and even Elton John. But to assemble a whole band just for that purpose, and to take on the role of John Bonham, is a completely different kind of project. This demands skilled musicians as well as the guts to do it.

“Well, I did a Beatles tribute at the Modern Drummer Festival in 2003 called Yellow Matter Custard, and then I was asked by the guy who runs the Montreal Drum Festival if I’d do it for him too. But I didn’t want to repeat myself, so I decided to put together a Zeppelin tribute, and that’s how that came about. And Daniel was one of the few people I could think of who could sing like Robert Plant, because he had such a unique style and Daniel is so versatile that he could do pretty much anything. So I knew he would be good for the job. It was a lot of fun. I think I’m gonna put out a CD of that through my website, probably in the next couple of months, actually.”

At the time you read this, the CD and a DVD really has been done, featuring live footage showing Mike in a complete Bonham outfit together with a custom made acrylic Bonham style drum kit by Tama.

“Yeah. It was amazing. They did this complete John Bonham replica, the same kind of drums he had on Song Remains the Same, an amber vistalite drum kit. Every size was exactly the same as his. And I loved the sound of it so much that I ended up bringing it into the studio for the new DT album, and I actually use that kit on most of Octavarium. The sound of the acrylic set in the studio was just great. It sounded big and loud and really Bonham, you know?. Loud and awesome. And as a result of that, it had a direct influence on my current kit, the ‘Albino Monster’. Basically I kept the left side of my ‘Siamese Monster’ kit, but I redid the right side based on the Bonham kit.”

I try to imagine Mike behind a Bonham sized kit, but it’s not that easy. I ask him whether or not he adapted the Bonham style when playing on the smaller kit.

“Oh yeah, totally. On most of the Octavarium songs when I ended up sitting behind the small kit, that had a direct result in my playing. It also had a direct result in the writing, as we were writing the songs in the studio. I’d be behind that kit, and that would inevitably dictate much of the songs feels. Songs like ‘Never Enough’, ‘The Answer Lies Within’ and ‘I Walk Beside You’ the drum parts was completely dictated by that kit. It would be inappropriate to be playing big fills or complicated parts on that kit, you know? As soon as you sit behind that kit you just turn into John Bonham, or turn into Dave Grohl. It inevitably changes you and the way you play.”

Monster drums

Back to the Albino Monster. It’s white and it’s huge. Mike has taken kit building to a whole new level over the years. Who else has a kit with two drum chairs!? One thing I know that all the extreme Portnoy fans out there wants to know is, is the left side really the same as on the Siamese Monster?

“Not exactly, but close. I got rid of the timbalito, and I put my 12” Melody Master in its place. What used to be a kind of very, very small tymp-tom is now a little bit bigger, I think it’s like 14” or 16” as opposed to 10” or 12” as it used to be. But for most parts the rest of the left side is the same.”

Mike has what most drummers dream of – his own self-designed cymbals, the Max Stax line. Sabian is really in a productive phase right now, when it comes to signature lines. So are they going to broaden this line too?

“If they ask me to. I’m sure I can come up with some ideas, but right now there are no plans for that. The Max Stax aren’t even a cymbal in the traditional way, it’s more like a piece of percussion in the way that it’s quick and trashy. The splashes are more traditional cymbals. But Sabian has got so many cymbals in their lines as it is, so I don’t think they’re looking for expanding mine.”

How about the Melody Master, Mike’s signature snare drum? What is it that makes it “his” snare, and not just a snare with his name on it?

“The 3-way snare strainer is something I came up with,” Mike explains, “and Tama made it come to life for me. There are three positions, tight, loose, and off. Not just on or off. The original idea was foot driven like a tympani. But that was impractical for them to mass produce. But they took that idea of having more than one position and turned into the snare that it is. The 14-inch version is a maple shell and the 12-inch one is a steel shell. So the 12-inch one is more of a piccolo. With the new kit they actually have a new finish, in white instead of black. I think Tama will do limited editions of those to sell, but I’m not sure.”

Mike’s drum kit sure is impressive. And I get back problems just thinking off all the work behind getting it up and down every night on the DT tour. How long does it take Mike’s drum tech to put it all up?

“It takes, uh… You’d have to ask his wife!” says Mike, and laughs. “An hour and a half to put it up” he continues. “He was with me when we designed this kit. So it’s very simple for him, that everything locks into place and it’s very consistent from night to night. There’s absolutely no chance of inconsistency. Kind of a fool-proof setup. But sure, it’s a big kit. He’s definitely earning his money.”

Honoring his heroes

I ask Mike about the Yellow Matter Custard project [the name is from the Beatles “I am the Walrus” lyrics, by the way] and if he adapted Ringo’s  playing for that, just as he did with Bonhams for Hammer of the Gods.

“Absolutely,” he responds, “and once again, for that occasion Tama made me a Ringo style replica kit. That kit consisted of very small drums. I just did a Rush tribute a few weeks ago and Tama made me a giant Neil Peart kit. And once again, you know, I couldn’t help but play like Neil.”

Ringo Starr isn’t the first drummer that comes to mind when mentioning Mike Portnoy, so was it hard for Mike to adapt that playing style?

“Believe it or not, the Beatles are my biggest influence of all time, and that’s why that was the first tribute I put together, because they were number one for me. But you know so are Zeppelin, and the Who. Keith Moon is also one of my huge influences. I plan to do a The Who tribute this spring [at the time you read this, the dates are already set to be in May]. These are the tributes I have in mind. Maybe one day I’d like to do a Frank Zappa one as well, but that would be it. I think I have fulfilled all of my childhood dreams with the tribute bands I’ve done. But there’s all sorts of projects that I keep myself busy with, I just did Neal Morse’s latest album, and I’m gonna do another O.S.I. album next month. I gigged with Fates Warning earlier this year, and did a gig with Overkill last year, so there are constantly things on the plate, and they’re all so different from one another, you know. From a Beatles tribute to playing a gig with Overkill, I really get to wear different hats for everything that I do. I think most of the stuff I do outside of DT is mostly simpler than the DT stuff. DT is often about trying to take things to the extreme and try to be ‘the best drummer I could be’,” Mike says in a somewhat ironic voice, “but most of these other things are mostly about restraining myself. On the Neal Morse album it’s all about the simplicity most of the times. It’s all about just laying into the groove and being more of a song-driven drummer. And I enjoy that too. With DT it’s always about excess and over-the-top. But for me, I enjoy the chance to do the opposite.”

Technique vs music

Liquid Tension Experiment is another of Mike’s side projects. Jordan Rudess from that band joined Dream Theater, making LTE consist of 75 percent of DT members. Does that mean that Liquid Tension Experiment is disbanded?

“Yeah. As soon as Jordan joined, we wanted to take that chemistry and utilize it in DT. So it would have been pointless to take that writing and chemistry and use it elsewhere, when we wanted to use it for ourselves. Not to mention that our relationship with Magna Carta [LTE’s record label] has gone very badly downhill the last few years. So if there was a chance of ever doing a LT album, now we would never do it. For them. So, that is also a factor in the likelihood in another album probably never happening.”

As Mike mentioned earlier, taking things to the extreme is one side of what DT is all about. I ask Mike if he has to push himself to make it “over the top” every time?

“Well, only for certain songs. We try to have a balance on the DT albums as well. Like I said, on the new album, ‘I Walk Beside You’ and ‘The Answer Lies Within’, those are songs with incredibly simple drum parts because that’s what was called for. But then there’s the other side of the coin with Dream Theater, like the new album’s title track, or ‘Panic Attack’. Those songs require me to really go all out, and when it’s a progressive song or a heavy song I try to push myself as far as I can go. I guess there’s a certain reputation that we have, that we wanna try to live up to and that’s what the fans want when it comes to the technical side of the band.”

Gaining a reputation as a “band for musicians”, with extreme technical abilities, Dream Theater has been the subject of many discussions amongst the fans and musicians. The question is, is the technical side of the band’s music superior to the musical side?

“We try to have a balance. There’s times when we know we want to write stuff that’s very technical, and at that point it’s dictated by our technical abilities. But then there’s other times where we wanna cool it out and really concentrate on the song, and that’s when we wanna put the technical side on the shelf and try to really concentrate on the song writing. I think Octavarium is a perfect example of that balance. There’s a little bit of all of those things on the album.”

You can tell Mike is pleased with the result of Octavarium, and why shouldn’t he? It’s another classy album by DT and himself, containing some of their finest songs so far. I ask him what’s new with it, contrary to the earlier ones.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a new direction, we’ve always kind of done what we do, which is a balance of progressive, heavy and kind of melodic, you know? We’ve always tried to have all of those elements, so I can’t say the new album is a new direction. It’s just the latest version of what DT does.“

One of our readers requested that I should ask Mike to comment on the rumours about Octavarium containing connections and references to earlier albums. And you don’t say no to readers At least we try not to. So, Mike, does it?

“Not necessarily. Octavarium is a concept album. It’s got a lot of threads through it. Musically, visually, through the artwork and the layout, sonically in the production and the sound effects. It’s a concept album where all the songs kind of relate to each other.”

I ask Mike to talk a little about the fact that he is a singing drummer.

“I’ve been doing that with DT now for about seven years. I sing backing vocals when we’re in the studio as well. I actually find it easy. I don’t consider myself a great singer, you know, but I think there’s enough to give a good quality harmony to the song, which I think is important. If you listen to the guys in Yes or whatever, they didn’t have the greatest voices, but it’s the blend that created the good harmony. And also with the vocals I write, I write them with more than one vocal in mind, usually for counter-point call-and-answer kind of thing. My vocal parts aren’t always harmonies. Sometimes they’re back trading lines back and forth.”

The interview is almost over, but as a last question I ask Mike about the rumours saying that he and Mikael Åkerfeldt, the mastermind behind Swedish metal act Opeth, are planning to do something together.

“Yeah, he’s coming down tonight actually. Most of the guys are. I’ve been a fan of theirs for years, and we’ve become friends the last couple of years. He and I and Steven Wilson [of Porcupine Tree] have talked about doing something together. Hopefully some time soon we’ll be able to coordinate our schedules and make it happen. I think me and Steven want to make it heavy, and I think Mikael wants to, uh, not be heavy. Because me and Steven want to do stuff that we can’t do with Porcupine Tree and Dream Theater, and get to some really heavy stuff. And I think that Mikael wants to get away from the heavy stuff because he does that all the time with Opeth, so who knows. Maybe we’ll meet somewhere in the middle. I think it’ll be great. I mean, I’ve had great experiences collaborating with other people, especially people who are the kind of leaders of their bands. That was kind of what Transatlantic was about, since Neal Morse and Roine Stolt are kind of the leaders of their bands, you know. It was a great creative environment, and I think a similar chemistry would happen with Steven and Mikael.”