DREAM THEATER Drummer Answers Fan-Submitted Questions

Drummer Mike Portnoy of progressive metal giants DREAM THEATER recently answered a number of fan-submitted questions for the MusicRadar.com web site. A couple of excerpts from the question-and-answer session follow below.

MusicRadar.com: Roberto Campos asks, Have you or the rest of DREAM THEATER come up with ideas for the next record? Any musical directions, or even a concept?

Mike Portnoy: "Nothing, nothing, nothing. We never work on ideas separately or on tour. It's always done once we convene in the studio. So, until it's time to work on a new record, we're concentrating on touring right now. Once it's time to really get down to working on a new album, that's when we'll start letting the ideas flow."

MusicRadar.com: Sami Jaber wants to know how you and the other guys feel about file-sharing. He says he's from Saudi Arabia, and although it's not impossible to get his hands on your music, it's very difficult.

Mike Portnoy: "I can't speak on behalf of the other guys. We're five different personalities with five different opinions. Speaking for myself, however, I don't mind it, much to the fear of record companies around the world that are panicking. For me, I want the music to be heard, and if hearing the music via file-sharing is what gets people interested in our band and gets them to come to our concerts, then so be it.

"Ultimately, it's not about money, at least for us it isn't. DREAM THEATER doesn't make money off of record sales. The label does, but we don't. File-sharing affects multi-platinum artists who sell millions and millions of CDs around the world. That's not us. We sell in the hundreds of thousands of records area, so the reality is much different. People who share files and download things from wherever, they're not taking money out of our pockets; they're only taking money from the record company.

"The only time when I do take issue with file-sharing, and maybe I'm contradicting myself here, is when we're talking about a brand-new release. I'm very protective of a new album, and I do get upset if something leaks before it's supposed to be out there.

"When you put a new record out, it's a big deal, or at least it should be. You want the whole world to share in it at the same time and be in on the experience. Also, I want to make sure that the sound quality isn't compromised, which does happen. So it's not a money thing, it's a creative thing. I want people to experience the album together, with the lyrics, the artwork, the full fidelity, the whole deal. Once an album's out, there's only so much you can control, and I get that."

MusicRadar.com: Akhil Pa asks, Is there any drummer whose style you feel but just can't emulate?

Mike Portnoy: "Hmmm. That's a good one. I don't know. Any drummer who's been a big influence on me, I've always been able to replicate what they do and work up a mock version of their style — to a certain degree. John Bonham, Keith Moon, Ringo, Neil Peart - I've played their music in all of my tribute bands. I feel them, I know their style, and when I played their parts in those tribute bands I was able to replicate them respectfully and somewhat authentically.

"There's other drummers: Terry Bozzio is one of my favorites, and I feel a strong presence of his style within me. As much as people love to bash on him and hate him, Lars Ulrich is great - there's a lot of him in what I do. Stewart Copeland, too — I love to emulate what he does."

"Anybody I can't replicate? I don't know. Maybe some of the super, super-technical guys like Thomas Lang and Virgil Donati and Mike Mangini — they do things that I physically can't do. But the drummers who really influenced me, they're all in me and they come out, whether I like it or not."

Read the entire question-and-answer session at MusicRadar.com.