Mike Portnoy interview (excerpt)

2010 was quite a tumultuous year for you. Do you have any final comments regarding Dream Theater or Avenged Sevenfold?

“I think everything that needs to be said about my time with Dream Theater, and Avenged Sevenfold for that matter, has been said and over-dissected.”

What are your thoughts about Mike Mangini getting the Dream Theater gig?

It’s still very hard for me to see somebody else in the drumseat in Dream Theater. That was my baby and my band for a quarter of a century. Honestly, I didn’t want to see anybody in that drum seat. I would have preferred to have taken a break. With all that being said. if there’s anybody that’s going to be in that seat, I think Mike is the right guy. He’s an old friend of mine and I know he was very concerned about respecting my legacy. Everything I’ve seen him say about me and my role for all those years in Dream Theater has been incredibly respectful and I thank him for that. I don’t hold against him that he took the gig. It’s an amazing opportunity. How could he not? I find my days are much happier when I just concentrate on my future and let my past with Dream Theater be the past. It’s something I’m very proud of and something that will always be a part of me, but it’s 2012 and it’s time for me to move on and write the next few chapters of my career.”

Did you feel like you had something to prove with these new projects?

“Well, I knew there would be a tremendous amount of focus on what I was going to do next. It was real important for me to have a variety of things. I don’t think I could have left 25 years of Dream Theater and gone off and done just a metal or prog band. I think it was important for me to spread my musical wings and do different things because my musical taste is very, very broad. The only thing I knew is I didn’t want to do something that sounded like Dream Theater. If I wanted to be playing Dream Theater type music, I would have just stayed in Dream Theater. My whole mission was to get out and do different things, spread my wings and play with different people doing different kinds of music. I knew there would be a lot of pressure for what my next move was going to be and I didn’t want to put all my eggs in one basket. That’s why you’re seeing Adrenaline Mob, Flying Colors, the thing I’m doing here with Tony, Billy and Derek and a few other things I have waiting in the wings.”

Are there any recording plans with the MacAlpine-Sheehan-Sherinian lineup?

“At this stage, this is a one-off thing and the DVD will capsulise this line-up and immortalise it for people to see and enjoy. There’s no question that there’s a great chemistry between the four of us. We have common threads that run throughout. I played with Derek. Derek played with Tony, Tony played with Billy and I played with Billy, so there’s connections between the four of us. It wouldn’t surprise me if somewhere down the road we got together to make an album of original material. It’s not something that’s on my plate right now, but I surely could see it as a possibility.”

Besides recording new music, how else did you spend 2011?

“A lot of family time, which I haven’t had in a real long time, especially after 2010. It was probably the busiest touring year I’ve had. I was still active with Dream Theater. I was touring with Avenged Sevenfold and I also toured with Transatlantic. After such a crazy year on the road in 2010, it was nice to have time with the family. That was probably the most enjoyable aspect of the last year and a half for me. I also did a million things as well. I did the Flying Colors album, the Adrenaline Mob album and tour, the Neal Morse album and tour, another run of [star-studded Beatles tribute band] Yellow Matter Custard shows and put together that DVD. I did a gig sitting in with Stone Sour in Brazil [at Rock In Rio] and I did a gig sitting in with Hail!.”

Have you thought about producing other bands?

“I’m not opposed to the idea. It’s very time consuming to produce. If you’re going to get the job done right, you have to oversee every aspect, from the writing, tracking, mixing, sequencing, all that stuff. That’s why I really enjoyed doing it with Dream Theater because it put me in control of every aspect of the record. I don’t know how well I would be able to come on board and work with somebody else like that. Like I said, it’s very time consuming and I don’t know if I would have that much free time.”