Mike Portnoy interview

Eddie Trunk: Last time I saw you was here when you played. I came to the show at the Cosmo.

Mike Portnoy: That was February or March.

ET: You played my request. You played ‘As I Am’.

MP: Yep. Just for you.

ET: You texted me during the intermission. You’re like, “Don’t leave. Don’t go anywhere.” And then you came out and played ‘As I Am’, which was awesome. And you’ve been out – what a run.

MP: It’s been incredible. We just finished a two-month festival run in Europe, and it was just absolutely the biggest, best tour we’ve ever done. This whole year has been best tour the band’s ever done.

ET: How does that work with Dream Theater doing a festival where you’re probably getting an hour and one of your songs is 32 minutes? [laughs] What do you do?

MP: I tailor the setlist for festivals specifically with the more known, accessible, shorter songs – the hits. Not that we have hits.

ET: But ‘Pull Me Under’ is eight minutes.

MP: Yeah. I mean, most of the festivals are 75–90 minute sets, which frankly has been amazing, cuz we’re used to the three-hour marathons. And at our ages—

ET: It’s starting getting old.

MP: I come off stage like after those Evening With shows just limping. Like, “Put me in a wheelchair.” So yeah, doing the festivals and playing an hour and a half [has] been a breath of fresh air, actually. But it’s amazing. We played all of the ones over there in Europe and we played a lot of our own shows in these really incredible, ancient amphitheaters. We played in Pompei in Italy where Pink Floyd filmed their live movie.

ET: I saw that – you did something from Floyd, right?

MP: We did ‘Echoes’, which is a 25-minute epic piece. That’s the centerpiece of the Pink Floyd Live At Pompei movie from 50 years ago. So yeah, to play ‘Echoes’ there at Pompei was absolutely bucket list stuff.

ET: For prog, that’s like the holy grail, right?

MP: Absolutely.

ET: And they’re reissuing that movie, I think.

MP: Yeah, they did earlier this year.

ET: Did you see it?

MP: Yeah. Got me hyped for it. To play some of these old ancient amphitheaters though, they are absolutely incredible. But for the crew, it’s hell. There’s no backstage areas, there’s no load-in areas or ramps like that. For us and for the fans, it’s glorious, memorable shows, but they’re definitely not made for rock and metal shows.

ET: Plug in your drum kit alone, they must just look at you like, “Son of a bitch!”

MP: Exactly! [laughs] Poor Jose carrying up a 100-piece drum kit up these old ancient ruined stairs and stuff.

ET: But that setting in Pompei, do they do shows there on a regular basis, or do you have to arrange that – like, it’s a regular concert venue?

MP: No, they do have shows there. Not many hard rock or metal bands. In fact, we’re probably one of the few metal bands to have ever played there. But they have, pop concerts and stuff like that – more mainstream stuff. But even that is very selective. I mean, it was a huge honor to play there. You know, it was very prestigious.

ET: There’s those settings – like, Queens of the Stone Age just did that thing where they played in the catacombs in France with bodies of skulls and stuff in the walls.

MP: Well Pompei is like that too. They have people that died in the volcanoes back hundreds and hundreds of years ago, and it’s still there. The last show we just did was in France. We did a gig with Extreme and it was another ancient amphitheater. If you look at our live album Once In A LIVEtime, there’s a guy’s head and that’s the actual amphitheater that we played. But it was really an incredible run. And we did festivals with Maiden, Priest, Scorpions, Muse and Korn – I mean, played with everybody all summer long. It was just great.

ET: I was telling the audience you’re more of a music nerd about other stuff than you are even your own band. So we can talk about anything. So to that point, when you’re out there doing these shows and on these festivals, who did you get time to see as far as other bands? Did you get to watch Maiden and Scorpions or any of these guys, or were you kind of in and out?

MP: Believe it or not, we went on after the Scorpions. Priest and Scorpions played before us at Hellfest in France and we did the after-hours closing slot. So we got to catch a little bit of Priest and Scorpions. But, Maiden – we played with them at Graspop, and we went on right before them. And we had to leave as soon as we were done to catch our flight. We were actually flying private the whole two months, which was amazing having that. In some cases, in order to play all these festivals, we needed to fly private. And we had two separate backlines that would hopscotch each other. ‘Cause sometimes you’ll be in Austria one night, then you’re in Finland the next night, and you’re in Romania the next night. You can’t do that by bus. So in order to make them all, a lot of times we’d have to jet out immediately to get to the next festival in time.

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ET: Since your return to the band, I would think for you being back in this now feels like putting on an old shoe again, and it’s just you’re right back in the swing of things.

MP: It’s been incredible. I mean, like I said already, the biggest tour the band has ever done. We started at the O2 in London, which was incredibly emotional, and then we wrapped the US tour at Radio City Music Hall which was—

ET: I wasn’t there to do the intro.

MP: [laughs] Dora the Explorer did it for us this time. There’s so many highlights. It’s been incredible. We did all of Europe once with ‘An Evening With’, then we did South America. We did North America, then we did this festival run, and now we’re about to shift into finally doing a tour for the new album, ‘cause through all this we put out a new album in February, and we haven’t really had a chance to properly give attention to that yet, ‘cause we’ve been so busy with the 40th-anniversary thing. So we’re about to shift into Parasomnia mode, and we have a North American tour kicking off next month. And we’ll be all through the States in September and October with a completely different show. So if anybody saw us in the last round, this is a completely different set, completely different stage, and we’re gonna play the whole new album in its entirety, which will be a lot of fun and finally give it its due.

ET: In sequence?

MP: Yeah, it was written to be performed that way. The whole album is very much like a concept album in that respect. So we’ve played a couple of the songs this past year on the 40th-anniversary tour, but now we could dig into it and give it a full top-to-bottom presentation. And then we’re doing a [celebration of] the 30th anniversary of ‘A Change of Seasons’, which was the first big epic the band put out 30 years ago. So we’re gonna play that as well. We’ve still got a lot of gas left in the tank. We’re gonna go over to Asia right after New Year, and then we have a third European run next spring to do the Parasomnia over there. It’s been incredible, but the emotions at every show – the fans, you just look out there and you see grown men crying, and it’s all smiles and tears.

ET: Yeah. And I’ll jump in here, and let’s be totally honest: a lot of that is, not only their love of the band, but the fact that you’re back. You coming back to this band, a band you co-founded, is a huge, huge deal. And I’m sure the other guys felt it, and I’m sure the fans feel it, and I’m sure you’re feeling it from the reaction, the way they welcomed you back. And that’s with no disrespect to Mangini or anybody.

MP: You know what? I’m so thankful that it’s come back full circle. It would’ve been really sad if we never did reunite. I’ve seen other bands, like Pink Floyd with Roger Waters, or Genesis with Peter Gabriel... certain bands that never do reunite. And as a fan, it’s a shame. I would love to see those lineups together again before it all ends. So for us to be back together again and celebrating the 40th anniversary of the band and riding off into the sunset together, it’s poetic. It’s the way it should be, really. And I’m so glad that we’re here together again.

ET: And so are the many Dream Theater fans around the world. Clearly, that is evident from the reaction. The other thing that Kevin mentioned is something about comics? Z2 comic?

MP: They are putting out a Parasomnia comic. I think that’s coming out in the next couple weeks as well. So that’ll be out in time to coincide with the tour.

ET: Yeah, Kevin said nobody knows about that, but you guys can break that if you want. It’s, available for pre-order next week. I’m not a big comic guy, but that’s...

MP: To be honest, I’m not either. It’s going to be really cool for people that are into it. But my knowledge in that department is pretty limited.

ET: And I know you’re here in Vegas right now because John Petrucci is doing a guitar camp, right? That starts when?

MP: Tomorrow, yeah. This is his fifth one. He’s done them, all different locations. I think it’s his first time doing it in Vegas. I did the Winery Dogs camp a few times years ago. So it’s the same thing where you get a bunch of great players, and they come together, and they do instruction classes during the day and then performances at night. And great lineup. He’s got Tosin from Animals as Leaders and Chris Broderick and Guthrie Govan. And I’m going to be playing with John in his solo trio – me and Dave LaRue.

ET: So is it like an instructional thing? People come there and they get tutored or watch?

MP: It’s filled with – with campers that are in this case, mostly guitar players, I assume. And all day long there’s master classes and people playing together and jamming. And at nights, there’s performances. It’s a great thing that a lot of musicians are doing these days. And especially in the case of John, and Dream Theater’s music is so aimed at musos and guitar players and musicians that, it’s a great outlet for them to come together and learn from their heroes.

ET: That’s cool. It’s in an area here called Lake Las Vegas, which is about half an hour, 40 minutes or so off the Strip, but it’s a beautiful area from what I’m told. One other thing from me that I wanted to ask is, obviously the focus and commitment and everything you just laid out – Dream Theater’s got a lot of other stuff coming up – but you mentioned the Winery Dogs and other bands that you have and other people that you play with. Is there going to be, at some point, room to revisit some of that, or is that not in your thoughts right now?

MP: I hope so. I spent all those years creating these different bands and projects and making some great music with some amazing musicians and friends. So I hope that there’s still more to come, but obviously time will tell. Right now, I’m still in Dream Theater mode, and like I said, we’re on the books at least through next spring. So, it’ll be a little while before I still have some extra time. Time will tell which ones will survive and which ones will move on and do more stuff in the future. I love a lot of those bands and projects that I was able to do through the years.

ET: And the thing about that is all of those guys have other stuff, too. When you look at Sons of Apollo, they’re all doing other stuff. Obviously, Richie is about to go out. Billy just wrapped up Mr. Big. And actually some of the side things that you’ve done over the years – some of the people in Dream Theater were a part of, right? Jordan or John or whatever.

MP: Well for instance, playing with John in his solo band this week – that’s a whole different thing. And playing with us is Dave LaRue, who plays with me in Flying Colors. Steve Morse is going to be at the camp as well, who plays with me in Flying Colors. So we’re all still playing with each other in different capacities. And then me, John, and, Jordan had Liquid Tension Experiment. So yeah, we’re all very incestuous.

ET: So there’s a lot of cross-pollinization that might go on, I think. But obviously the focus, it sounds like, definitely at least probably through what – ‘26 – is going to be continuing the Dream Theater campaign and the record and the new record and all that?

MP: Yeah. We started in October, so it’ll be about a year and a half when all’s said and done by the time we wrap next year.

ET: Final thing from me: since you’ve been back in the band and since this whole Dream Theater relaunch with you, is there one or two total highlight moments? Show moment? Concert experience?

MP: Yeah, I mentioned a few of them already. Doing Pink Floyd ‘Echoes’ at Pompei was incredible. The kickoff at the O2 in London that very first night, to be such a massive show and to be filled with an arena filled with fans from all over the world, that was incredibly memorable. The Radio City Music Hall show – sold out. We played ‘The Best of Times’, which was the only song in my Dream Theater catalog that had never been played before. So we played that one as a one-off that night. I mean, those are some of the ones that come to mind. But each and every time we play, whether it be Dallas or Chicago or Hamburg or wherever, this entire past year, every time we play any city for the first time, it’s their first time seeing this lineup together in 15 years. So, that has made it incredibly special – each and every show.

ET: One of the things John said to me, too, was when you were in the band, you always made the setlist. And then one of the things [John Petrucci] was most excited about you coming back to the band was that he didn’t have to do that anymore.

MP: I love it. We’re at the point now where actually there’s enough stuff in rotation – I think we have 40 different songs at this point that are in rotation. So I’m able to have fun again with switching the setlist each night. The first time we went through everywhere on the 40th Anniversary Tour, we had a set that we wanted everybody to see. But now with the summer shows happening, it’s getting rotated and it’s been a lot of fun.

ET: How are you handling the stuff... you are doing some stuff on records you didn’t play on, right?

MP: Yeah.

ET: On average, a song or two a night or—

MP: Yeah, exactly. A song or two a night. And for me, it’s been fun. I actually enjoy it because it’s new and fresh to me. I’ve made my whole career playing other drummers’ parts, whether it be Twisted Sister or Avenged Sevenfold or whatever. So it’s nothing unusual for me.

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ET: All right, let’s let you guys talk to Portnoy a little bit. Fire away here on Trunk Nation and see what we get into.

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ET: Here’s Angelo in New Jersey.

Angelo: I always wanted to ask one great drummer a question about another great drummer, and I’m talking about the one and only Neil Peart. I just have two quick questions. Power Windows is celebrating 40 years this year. It’s my favorite album from them of all time. I always wanted to know what your opinion was of that album. And my second quick question is, what album would you say is Neil’s best and most complex work?

MP: I love the Power Windows album. In fact, when we formed Dream Theater at Berklee, that was the album that had just come out. And I remember we slept out in front of Berklee for tickets. Back then, in order to get concert tickets, you’d have to wake up on Saturday morning and go to Ticketmaster or Ticketron or whatever. And a lot of times we would sleep out the Friday night beforehand. So I remember sleeping out – me and John Petrucci and John Myung – sleeping out in front of Berklee for tickets to the Power Windows tour. And, we saw that in Worcester, Mass, when we were at Berklee, and I believe Marillion was opening, and then I saw them later on that tour, I think with the Steve Morse Band opening. But yeah, I love that album. Peter Collins produced it, and I ended up working with Peter on the first Flying Colors album. You know, the keyboard albums aren’t my favorites, but that particular one I think was really a great, great album. And then as far as which album would show Neil’s best drumming, or at least for me, my favorite drumming – it would be either Hemispheres or Permanent Waves. To me, that’s the sweet spot for me. Permanent Waves, Hemispheres, A Farewell to Kings. Those group of albums – from the, late ‘70s, early ‘80s – that was Neil in his prime. I learned the Permanent Waves album inside and out. And that’s pretty much how I learned how to play progressive music and odd time signatures, just studying those early Rush albums. It [was] huge for me.

ET: ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ – one of my all-time favorites. I mean, Permanent Waves, if I had to pick, probably my favorite Rush album top to bottom.

MP: Yeah. Same.

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ET: Here’s James in Phoenix.

James: I wanted to ask you about the first time I saw you guys in concert. It was May 23rd, 1998 in Fort Worth, Texas. [At the] Caravan of Dreams, Falling Into Infinity. You brought a rack tom out from your kit and you came down and you jammed with the fans. I got to jam with you that night. It was one of the best nights.

MP: Oh, you were one of the ones I played with?

James: I have looked forever for video footage of those shows, and I can’t find anything anywhere. Is there any chance you have something of that night?

MP: I personally probably do, because I would film and archive every show. That was before the YouTube days. Nowadays, every show is documented from 10 different angles on YouTube. But that’s great that we got to play together. I would watch the people during the show, and if anybody was air drumming, I would know that they’re a drummer, so when it came time to the drum solo, I’d come out and give them a pair of sticks, and we’d play together.

ET: Isn’t everybody air drumming at a Dream Theater show? I air drum and I don’t know how to play! So you can’t use that criteria! I play air guitar and I can’t play a note!

MP: I watch them. They’re like human teleprompters for me. I could just watch them to remember what I’m supposed to be playing. [laughs] Then a couple years later, rather than coming out with the tom, I would pull somebody out of the audience to join me at my double kit. And talking about Twisted Sister, I stole something from Twisted. When I saw Twisted Sister back when I was at Berklee, Dee Snider did a thing where he pulled somebody from the very, very, very back row of the arena. He saw somebody going nuts and during one of the rants that he would do, pulled the guy from the very back row and brought him into the pit so he could watch the show from the front. I stole the same gag when we did the Theater at Madison Square Garden, where I pulled an air drummer from the very, very back row and brought him up to sit at the kit with me and play double drums on the kit with me at the—

ET: And did the guy actually know how to play?

MP: Yeah.

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ET: The most air drumming I’ve ever seen in an audience was Rush. But you guys are close second.

MP: Yeah, maybe second. But with Neil, you could count on those fills. If you’re air drumming, you know he’s going to play exactly what you’re expecting. With me, I’m not that kind of a drummer. I just kind of fly in the edge of my seat from moment to moment. So, like I said, I have to look at the audience half the time to remember what I’m supposed to play.

ET: When you break off and you do a little freelance thing on the drums, doesn’t it mess [your bandmates] all up?

MP: No, you’re still playing the song. The song is the same. The arrangement is the same. But the fills that go from section to section a lot of times are just on the fly. That’s how I do it in the studio even. We’ll do a couple different takes, and the fills from section to section will be different each and every time.

ET: And that ends up being the choices of what you’re going to take to put on the record.

MP: Right. But I’m not the type of drummer that goes back and learns the record exact. I learn the song. I know the song. And I’ll play the song. The parts are consistent, but the fills from section to section are usually on the fly from night to night.

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ET: Here’s Robin in North Carolina.

Robin: I got one question: who came up with the idea to marry all the girls in Meanstreak and then eliminate all the problems?

MP: Well, it wasn’t an idea. It just kind of happened naturally. [laughs]

ET: Explain to people that don’t know what he’s talking about.

MP: My wife and John Petrucci’s wife and John Myung’s wife, all were in a band called Meanstreak in the ‘80s. [An] all-female metal band. I used to see them opening for Anthrax and Overkill and Motörhead playing all the New York clubs back in the late ‘80s. And we all ended up getting married together and we’re still together 30-plus years. And it’s been 36 years now, I think.

ET: And they all started playing again a couple years ago, right? They did some shows opening for you guys.

MP: For John’s solo band. Yeah, exactly.

ET: Is that it, Robin?

Robin: Well, I was just wondering, with all these other projects and bands and all like that, how did you survive the 38 years together?

MP: That’s a good question. We were actually talking about that recently, that all five members of Dream Theater are all still married to the girls that we met 35 years ago, and all have families and kids. And I guess there’s not many bands where all five members are still with their—

ET: It’s unprecedented, especially in the music industry.

MP: I would say we survived because we’ve always included our wives whenever they want. We never separated the band from family. We always welcomed any wives or kids that wanted to go on tour with us or be a part of us. We never had a thing where it was separate. It was always inclusive. And I think we always respected each other’s personal lives and the value of it. So it’s amazing that we’re all still with our wives.

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ET: Just a reminder, Dream Theater’s next run of dates in America starts on September 5th. Reading, Pennsylvania is the first date. Santander Performing Arts Center. And this is the Parasomnia album in its entirety. So a whole new show.

MP: Last show of the leg will be at Nassau Coliseum, which is gonna be huge bucket list for us as Long Islanders. I mean, we grew up going to concerts at Nassau Coliseum. I saw everybody from Rush to Ozzy to the Stones to The Who. I mean, everybody.

ET: 25th?

MP: Yeah. So that’s going to be a big bucket list for us as well.

ET: You never played there?

MP: No.

ET: That’s huge especially [for] you guys being Long Islanders. And I think they remodeled it, right?

MP: Yeah. I haven’t been there in a long time. But like I said, when I was a teenager and I saw every concert there.

ET: Being in Jersey, it was and still is a nightmare to go to Long Island, but... so we would have the Meadowlands Arena. That would be our spot. But I did go out there. I went out to Nassau a couple times to see... I saw Maiden on Piece of Mind.

MP: Yeah, I was there too – with Fastway.

ET: Fastway and Coney Hatch.

MP: Coney Hatch. Exactly. Yeah, I was there.

ET: I remember making a road trip for that.

MP: First time I saw Rush was at Nassau Coliseum in ‘82 or ‘83. I saw KISS there in ‘79 with Judas Priest opening. In fact, I saw Paul McCartney and Wings. Wings Over America tour in ‘76 was there.

ET: Amazing. As I said to you when I saw you here in Vegas a few months ago, when you played, I said I feel it coming. You’ve done Radio City, you’re now doing Nassau. The ultimate check bucket list, I would think, would be to do the big room at Madison Square Garden.

MP: We have played there. We obviously haven’t headlined it, but we did play there with Iron Maiden in 2010. I’m happy to have played there with Maiden. Just to play in that place at all was a bucket list moment. There’s still things like that. Like we haven’t done Royal Albert Hall in London. It’s still one that we’d love to play. We haven’t played there.

ET: What’s the capacity there?

MP: It’s not that big. It’s just very prestigious. I think it’s about 3,000. I mean, we just did the O2 with 10,000. So we could do multiple nights at Royal Albert Hall. But it’s just so prestigious. It’s booked like years in advance. So it’s a matter of just – the scheduling is hard.

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ET: Yeah, that’s cool. You’re getting that in. Here’s Austin who’s in Texas.

Austin: Mike, I know you’re still tuned in to all the current artists and stuff. So, right now, who do you think is the best artist out there that’s new and upcoming?

MP: Well, my taste is pretty weird and eclectic.

Austin: I know that you have a very weird taste. So that’s why I kind of want to hear your take on that.

MP: My favorite album of the year is from a band called Igorrr from France. It’s really eclectic, like death metal meets like chamber music, and it’s really strange. Eddie, you probably hate it. [laughs] But it’s amazing. It’s amazing stuff. So, I’ve been on a big kick of theirs lately. And, I also love another death metal prog kind of band is called Blood Incantation from Colorado. They got the typical logo that looks like a tree or a bush. You can’t read it, but it’s great, great heavy death metal stuff mixed with like mellotrons and Pink Floyd kind of influences and stuff like that. Sometimes the weirder the better for me. And then there’s the typical stuff like Sleep Token, which is so hugely popular right now.

ET: I mean, it’s crazy. Are you a Ghost fan?

MP: I can appreciate what they do and I’m not the biggest fan to be honest.

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ET: Here’s Edward joining us in Chicago.

Edward: I wanted to say that I saw Dream Theater – I believe it was like the early part of ‘92 – and you guys played the song ‘Pull Me Under’ twice.

MP: That was the night we filmed the ‘Pull Me Under’ video.

Edward: Correct, yes. And my question was, is that video exclusive to Chicago or was it a series of different venues?

MP: No, that was – that was just that one show and that’s why we played it a second time just to get the footage. That was our very first music video and it was sprung on us at the last minute like, “Hey, we got to get a video ‘cause it was going crazy at radio and we weren’t planning on doing a music video, but it was doing so well at radio the label wanted to have something and it just sent a couple of video people to the show and just filmed it. But yeah, all that footage, which was pretty low-budget footage, was all from that particular show, that one – that one show.

ET: Here’s Drake in New York.

Drake: I was just wondering if there’s any plans to make a movie of the concept of Scenes From A Memory.

MP: Interesting question. There has been talk about that. I don’t want to prematurely talk about it. Somebody wrote a full-length novel based on the album that came out, and it’s actually out and available now. So it’s been expanded into a full-length story. We’ve always kind of pictured that. The story was a big process for us to make that album.

ET: There’s a lot of Dream Theater stuff that obviously would lend itself to those visuals and doing a movie, including the newest record. People have seen the video for ‘Night Terrors’. I mean, it’s wild, it’s really cool.