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Mike Portnoy
(October 2005 Issue)
Dream Theater's "Train" Not Slowing
Down Apparently Mike Portnoy's
fast lane is comparable to
riding the bullet train. As the highly
acclaimed drummer reaches midlife, there seems to be no crisis in
sight. Dream
Theater's latest prog-metal release, Train Of Thought, finds Portnoy and friends playing with a focused urgency,
maturity, and forcefulness, with no signs of aging.
"This was the record we felt we needed to make at this point in
our
career," Portnoy says. "When the members of all my favorite prog acts
reached their forties, their music seemed to soften
up. I vowed that
would never happen to Dream Theater. This seemed like the right time to
make that musical statement, since
we're approaching our forties."
Portnoy's endless stream of projects has strengthened his groove
and
given him the confidence to play with commanding chops on the new DT
release. "I haven't been practicing," Mike
admits, "but 2003 was an
extremely busy year for me. I played on several other projects during
DT downtime. Touring with
Neal Morse and recording his Testimony
CD was very enjoyable, because I could just focus on the drums and
not
worry about anything else. Plus performing with Neal was one the most
emotional experiences I've ever had on
stage. I was brought to tears at
one point during the tour, which has never happened to me before. The
other '03 projects
involved more simplistic drumming, so when it came
time to record the new DT record, I was ready to bring all the chops
and
aggression back to the forefront."
Mike Haid
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