MIKE PORTNOY: 'I Don't Consider Myself A Great Drummer'

Spain's RockMAP recently conducted an interview with drummer Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER, THE WINERY DOGS, AVENGED SEVENFOLD). You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On being named "best drummer" by various magazines and web sites:

Portnoy: "All the awards, to me, they're very flattering, but they're also intimidating, because they then put this expectation on me. I don't consider myself a great drummer. I consider myself just a music fan that's a very, very passionate artist, and the drums just happen to be my instrument. But every time I win one of these awards, it's nice, but I almost feel like, 'No! No!' I don't want people to think that I think I'm this great drummer, because, to me, I'm just a kid playing drums, and I love music. I don't even like doing drum solos live; to me, it's, like, 'Ehhh.' It doesn't really interest me."

On why he no longer does drum clinics:

Portnoy: "I stopped doing drum clinics about twelve, thirteen years ago. In the '90s, I did hundreds of them, and it was a good thing for me at that period of my life. But now, at this stage of my life, I have other interests. I'd much rather play with other musicians and make music and be a drummer in the context of a song. So these kind of drum festivals, I stopped doing them, just 'cause… I have no interest in playing drums by myself and doing drum solos and talking about technique. I'm just at a different phase in my drumming."

THE WINERY DOGS is the power trio featuring Portnoy, legendary bassist Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, TALAS, DAVID LEE ROTH) and guitarist/vocalist Richie Kotzen (MR. BIG, POISON). The band's sophomore album, "Hot Streak", debuted at No. 30 on The Billboard 200 chart, having shifted 13,000 equivalent album units in the week ending October 8, 2015.