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Mike Portnoy interview

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Feb 14th, 2016
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  1. Hi Mike! Thank you very much for the time that you give us. First, how are you? Mike Portnoy:
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  3. Super! So how was the tour so far? M: It's great, it started in America last October, about a month with the United STATES, and here we are at the beginning of the European tour. We remain in the area until late February, then we will go to Japan in April, and in South America in May. Basically, we quietly went around the globe. And what was the reaction of the public, especially to new titles? M: Really good. Wherever you go, the return is excellent, people are very attached to the group. On your latest album, Hot Streak, can you explain to us how it was written and produced? M: There was not really of the idea behind all this was just a new album Winery Dogs [laughs] . We just met, and like the first album, we exchanged ideas, we wrote together. We started from scratch, we had no ideas or pre head riffs. You see, the real difference with the first album, is that now we are a real band. When we recorded the first, it was more or less an experiment, we did not know what to expect or what would happen. But now you have the experience of a group, to have played together. So it was just the next album! With three huge musicians like Billy, Richie and you, there were fears of ego problems, as often happens, how you avoid them? M: I think if we did that, say around 20, maybe we would have such concerns. But all three, we do that for so many years, each one has our individual success. And we're older, when you're 40, 50, 60, you get softened, you work with others more easily. It's not as if we had all three need to fight for control of the group, or to assert ourselves, as is the case when you're younger. I think we're all three very comfortable in our current situation, and suddenly we easily work together. The pieces of Hot Streak seem faster and direct than the previous album: there's a reason this? M: Really? I never really paid attention. As I told you, there was no concept or even discussion on the direction to take. We just made ​​this album like it was coming. We just met to write. And this is what came out. Regarding your drumming, the size of your kits course has melted in recent years is that it changes a lot of things for you, including your vision of the battery? M: it changes a lot according to the groups, and I am now in six of them. In each case, I have a different configuration depending on the style. It is true that I have really reduced the size of my batteries for the last tour with the Winery Dogs , it was a small kit of five parts. And it was fun! It was just a reaction to all these years behind monstrous kits with Dream Theater . I really wanted to upset my habits. But on this tour, I redo a step towards the large kits: I have two bass drums, a variety of toms ... So it's a little bigger. It had missed me? M: [laughs] Yes a little ! And I always want to try what I have never done, whenever it comes to experience something new. Whether with my kit, with the pieces, with the style, with the people I work with. That's how I try to evolve. What can we expect from the concert tonight? M: Well I know that the Parisian public is always on top, regardless of the group which I come. I love playing here, the public is always waiting for you. I therefore expect no less tonight, a lot of passion and enthusiasm, as always. What you can expect from us, a circus with three members: we love playing together! I love playing in a power trio, because there is no singer in front of me, I am not obliged to fix his ass while his evening [laughs] . Billy is on my right, Richie is on my left, and I'm in the middle. And when it was only three, that leaves a lot of space, musically speaking. It really is like a circus: you can look at any of us and you will be entertained! Regarding the first part of tonight Inglorious, how was their choice, and what do you think of their album? M : I have actually no role in their decision, but I validated when we proposed them. But I have not sought and chosen myself, as I do with my other groups. I really think they are a great band, and I also told them yesterday that they could be the first part I prefer, among all those I have had with Winery Dogs . Musically, I think it fits very well, they sound old-fashioned, like Deep Purple , Whitesnake ... I think the poster is very consistent. You spoke just now of your many parallel projects, which reminds me that in our last interview, you had mentioned your hyperactivity. It improves with age? M: Actually it's not really ... wait, you said "better"? I was about to answer it worse? [Laughs ] It has not changed! I hope I will stay like that until I die, I will not slow down, I do not want to stop. Fortunately, I earn my living doing something I love, and I now have the chance to have this fantastic address book in my phone, which allows me to contact a crazy number of great people with whom I can make music. All I can dream can! And I have more of these six groups full of cool projects like this tribute to Chris Squire I mounted on a cruise, or the charity concert for Tony Macalpine , where I played with everyone ... whether John 5 , Zakk Wylde , Paul Gilbert ... so even outside my six groups I have other things: so I think it will never arrange Moreover, speaking of this book 'well supplied Address: you said somewhere that you wanted to organize a special concert for your birthday in 2017. can you tell us more? M: It will actually make an official announcement soon. The place and date are already set for a big celebration of my 50 years. It will not be a tour but just a special evening. I have lots of great ideas. I want to organize something that covers my career as a whole, with all my friends, and musicians with whom I played for the last thirty years. A great evening of sharing with the fans. ! It will be good You also talking about Tony Macalpine, you're him? M: All I know is that he gives everything for a successful treatment in Spain. He and his wife are fighting both against cancer, they are both treated in Spain. We traded emails after the charity concert in December and was so grateful for what we had done. It hangs, it holds good. I can not say anything more, except that all think of him, and that concert meant a lot to him. About your many projects, how do you manage to keep them separate, and to have an identifiable style in each of them? For example, you collaborate with Neal Morse in his group, but also in Transatlantic and Flying Colors ... M: Each of these projects is very different. I played with the Winery Dogs is classic rock with Metal Allegiance is the metal thoroughly balloons with Twisted Sister is very straightforward hard rock ... The three examples you've cited with Neal are very interesting because in these three cases, we do not play at all the same roles. In Transatlantic , Neal and I are sort of the first officers of the group. In Flying Colors , one is patches. And in the Neal Morse Band , he is the leader, and I accompany. In all these cases, the configuration is very different. This is what makes things interesting and makes me want to be in multiple projects. All I do is very different, it allows me to meet many aspects of myself.
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