• facebook
  • twitter
  • rss

DREAM THEATER Keyboardist: New Drummer MIKE MANGINI 'Adapted To Our World So Wonderfully'

June 20, 2011

David Brinn of The Jerusalem Post recently conducted an interview with keyboardist Jordan Rudess of progressive metal giants DREAM THEATER. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

On former DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy's change of mind and request to be reinstated after leaving the band last September:

"Mike wanted to come back after we had gone through all the emotional turmoil and pain of losing a friend, and the effort we went through to get back on our feet. We were well past our recovery phase and had made a commitment to [new DREAM THEATER drummer] Mike Mangini."

On Portnoy's decision to leave the band he co-founded and led for 25 years:

"His leaving was unbelievable, it was so emotional. He's a close friend of mine and we've been through so much together it basically brought me to tears. But being a positive person and around guys who love what they're doing, we had to figure out how to move forward."

On Mike Mangini, a former Berklee College of Music teacher and holder of five World's Fastest Drummer records:

"Mike adapted to our world so wonderfully. He's not only a great drummer, but a great guy. He came into the audition and locked in with us and nailed it. We were amazed.

"We were looking for someone who could walk onstage with us and not throw us off in the least, and we found him in Mike. As painful and said as the situation was over not being able to work with Mike Portnoy, life goes on this kind of thing, unfortunately, happens in bands and we're interested in keeping a positive direction and making really good music. And now, I'm no longer the new guy."

Read the entire interview from The Jerusalem Post.

"A Dramatic Turn Of Events" is currently being mixed by Andy Wallace, who has previously worked with AVENGED SEVENFOLD, WHITE ZOMBIE, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, SEPULTURA, SLAYER and NIRVANA, among many others.

"A Dramatic Turn Of Events" track listing:

01. On The Backs Of Angels
02. Build Me Up, Break Me Down
03. Lost Not Forgotten
04. This Is The Life
05. The Shaman's Trance
06. Outcry
07. Far From Heaven
08. Breaking All Illusions
09. Beneath The Surface

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).