SONS OF APOLLO Feat. PORTNOY, BUMBLEFOOT, SOTO: 'Alive' Music Video

SONS OF APOLLO — the new progressive metal supergroup featuring former DREAM THEATER bandmates Mike Portnoy and Derek Sherinian, as well as guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (ex-GUNS N' ROSES),bassist Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, THE WINERY DOGS) and vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (W.E.T., TALISMAN) — has released the official music video for the song "Alive". The clip was directed by Vicente Cordero, who has previously worked with MR. BIG, THE WINERY DOGS, KILL DEVIL HILL, GREAT WHITE and TRAPT, among others.

SONS OF APOLLO's debut album, "Psychotic Symphony", was released October 20 by InsideOut Music. It sold around 5,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release, earning the band the top position on Billboard's Heatseekers chart, which focuses on top-selling albums by new or developing acts, defined as those who have never appeared on the top 100 of the Billboard 200.

Portnoy recently told Let's Rock about SONS OF APOLLO's chemistry: "I'd like to say that I was surprised by how easy it came together, but, to be honest, I kind of expected that. That wasn't really a surprise. I knew it would work. I knew it would be easy once once we started playing just because I know the guys involved. So, I can't really say there were many surprises. Everything kind of went according to plan. Everybody was kind of chosen for the band because I knew their personalities. And Jeff and Bumblefoot in particular are the two most easy-going guys, and [laughs] that's very rare for a guitar player and a singer. But in this case, you couldn't ask for two sweeter guys. That's a huge part of [the] importance in picking band chemistry. A lot of times, it's well beyond the music. It's more about the personalities and in this case, it's a great group of guys."

Speaking about the band's future, Mike said: "This isn't just a one-off, make-a-record project. This is a band that is going to be on the road all of 2018, going all around the world. The tour will begin in February. We'll just travel all around the world and hit as many places as we can. Whenever you form a band, you want to go as far as you can with it. This isn't just some sort of recording project; this is a real band. We just happen to be 30 years into our careers, but it's no different than forming your first band. You want to go for it and go as far as you can. We're all prioritizing this. Personally, I've been juggling three to four bands a year for the last seven years, since I left DREAM THEATER. And actually, even when I was in DREAM THEATER, I still juggled a million things while still having a main home. So that's the thing — this will be our main home, and everybody is free to do other things and will do other things. All those things will still happen, but they'll happen around SONS OF APOLLO's schedule."

SONS OF APOLLO recently announced plans to perform alongside an orchestra during its concert appearance at the Ancient Theatre in Plovdiv, Bulgaria on September 22. That night, the group will perform two sets — one of which, says Portnoy, will be a "very special covers set" — and record the show for a future live CD/DVD.