DREAM THEATER Drummer Talks Tattoos

DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy recently spoke to Heavy-Metal.de about his tattoos. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Heavy-Metal.de: Basically it's all about your tattoos. Which was your first one?

Portnoy: My first one was the DREAM THEATER MAJESTY symbol. I got that in 1988, so I was 21. So that's my oldest one and I have seen hundreds, maybe thousands of MAJESTY symbols throughout the world. It's good to know that I've had the first one that anybody ever had. And the second one was Charlie Dominici — our old singer.

Heavy-Metal.de: So what was next?

Portnoy: The second one?? (Thinking for a moment) I cannot remember at this point. Maybe this ankle bracelet!? Me and my brother went and got them together. That was in 1989 or so. Then came these music notes and everything I added next to the MAJESTY symbol. I don't know — then perhaps the "Images and Words" — the sacred heart — that may have been next. I got that right after we finished Images and words in 1991. Before it came out. Then I probably got the Carpe Diem tattoo. Oh no no (corrects himself!) — next was my name in Japanese. I got that on the Awake-Tour while we were in Japan. I wanted to get something in Japan, while we were over there. So I got my name.

Heavy-Metal.de: Do you have a special tattoo place, where you always go or is it just…

Portnoy: It's all different ones. I mean some of them — like the early ones – are all from the same guy. But then, as I've been touring… A lot of times on tour I'd like to maybe go to a place and like…you know, like this one, with the octopus. I was on tour, on the Gigantour and it was in Atlanta and me and MEGADETH's bass player both got tattooed together. This guy came to the gig…

Heavy-Metal.de: But doesn't take a long time…for such a big thing.

Portnoy: Yeah, this piece took about four hours. The outline and the shading was done before the show like two hours before the show. Then we had to stop and I had to play the show and he had to finish the colouring afterwards. And that was really painful, because you know — the first two hours it was fine, but then by the time I played the show it had time to really get and start to get sore. You know, from playing…

Heavy-Metal.de: …and sweating…

Portnoy: …and everything. So by the time then after the show, when he had to finish it and colour it in, that was probably the most painful tattoo I had. Because he was working on it and it was already swollen and sore and that was really painful. And then have been other tattoos, that have come out on tours like this. I got this (Points on the tattoo on his hand) in New Jersey on the Gigantour as well.

Heavy-Metal.de: What does it stand for?

Portnoy: That's the symbol for alcoholics anonymous…and I've been clean and sober now for over seven years, but I got that once that I got to my five-year mark. I haven't had a drink or drug in seven-and-a-half years and once I reached my five-year mark, I thought it would be a good thing to put here (points to the tattoo again) to really always…you know…before I reach for a drink to be reminded, how important my soberity is.

Heavy-Metal.de: Yeah! How did you come up with the idea of having tattoos at all? I know it's very big in rock music, but also there are many people without any tattoos.

Portnoy: I think through the years it has become so acceptable. I mean, when I started getting tattoos in the late '80s or early '90s, not everybody had them. If you watch videos of bands like in the late '80s and '90s, I mean you know METALLICA, ANTHRAX, SLAYER and all the bands around them. None of them were tattooed. And now?! Now they all are. It just seems that in the past 10 years or so, it has become so much more…accepted. In America they have these reality shows like "Miami Ink" and "L.A. Ink" and it has become very acceptable. People walk around with full sleeves and… you know… and don't even think twice about it.

Read the entire interview at Heavy-Metal.de.

(Thanks: NJthrasher)