Mike Portnoy's Modern Drummer interview

[Madman Shepherd]

So, this is the first time he answers that way, and I really appreciate that. In the recent past he used to say something "I really don't wanna talk about it anymore, BUT ..... " and so on.

Very true.

That was a good response he gave, though.  The interviewer tried to be high and mighty and then got caught doing what everybody else does

[Mosh]

Also, I don't buy the "MP isn't responsible for DT's movement towards thrashy metal."  If there were any songs where he had influence, it would be the ones in his 12-step suite...and they're part and parcel of DT's change in style over the years.

Two of the 12SS songs aren't thrashy at all, and they've continued to do that style of metal even without him, including BITS, LNF and TEI (and we've yet to fully hear DT12).
Whether you "buy" it or not, JP ie. a main songwriter and the guy who writes and plays the riffs, is just as responsible for DT's direction on recent albums in regards to thrashy riffing.

Yea. I don't know how correct this is, but from the Score doc I always got the impression that ToT was JP's idea.

[Setlist Scotty]

I think a lot of you are missing the point of the OP. I'm pretty sure what the OP was trying to say is, if MP says he doesn't relate to the material, then why has he said numerous times that he'd rejoin DT in a heartbeat? Why would you want to rejoin a band if you don't relate to it anymore?

He'd probably find it more relateable if say. He was in the band and had creative input on the final project.

Pretty much agree with the above statement. I don't think it's a matter of MP not being interested in prog-metal - if that were the case, why is he doing the Progressive Nation at Sea thing? I think what it really boils down to is that he's not interested in the direction that DT has taken since he left the band. Although this is purely speculation on my part, I wouldn't be surprised if to some degree he thinks that they have regressed to some degree, falling back on what made them popular, as opposed to pushing the extremes, especially in the metal direction, which MP seems to be far more interested in (in general) than the other guys. So that's why I don't think it is confusing or hypocritical of him to say that he wouldn't mind rejoining DT if the band welcomed him back.

And yet if that's the case he hasn't pushed any metal boundaries since being a solo artist. AMob were as close as he's got to metal and he pushed those boundaries all the way to 1999.

Fair point, but I'm not saying the man is just wanting to do nothing but metal from that point forward. I believe he thought it was in DT's best interests to continue pushing things in a more metal direction, rather than revert back to something much more closely to what they had done on previous albums, which is generally what it appears DT is doing (with JP even stating something to the effect that ADToE was a return to their roots).

As for MP getting his taste of metal, yeah he did get that with AMob (even if dated) and before that, A7X. And I wouldn't be surprised in the least if at some point in the future we'll see him in a much heavier thrash or death metal band.

[Daso]

I can´t remember an ex-member of ANY BAND being more criticized by the fans than Mike Portnoy. Cut him some slack, guys...he did what he thought was right at the time. And who´s to say it wasn´t the right decision? We´re all aware of the friction in the band at the time BCSL came out, and isn´t it SO much better now? I certainly didn´t want him to leave, but since he did, I will appreciate DT for what it is today, and will listen to every project Mike does. The ONLY criticism I could have of Mike is that he was too vocal about it when he left, and that cost him a lot, and even drifted the attention of some of the projects he had in mind - joining Avenged Sevenfold for example. But hey, like I said in another thread here, Kevin Moore left years ago, wants to erase DT from his past completely, and still gets more respect in DTF than Mike. I struggle to understand that.

Anyway, it seems Mike is finally moving on. Here´s an excerpt of an interview he posted on his Twitter page 02 days ago:

Daniel/HRM: Some readers are going to want to hear about all that Dream Theater drama. But I'm not going to humor them. No one moves forward if they stay in the past. All I'll ask is if you all are on good terms now or at least "forgive and forget" about it.

Mike Portnoy/TWD: You just said you weren't gonna ask about it. (laughs) I'd rather not even talk about it. I'd rather talk about all the good positive things in my life, all the things I'm doing right now.

The past is the past, and I spent 25 years with it as the most important thing in my life. I devoted more than half of my life to that band and that legacy will be around forever, but I'd rather discuss the new things I'm doing.

Link to the whole interview: https://www.hiprockmagazine.com/#!the-winery-dogs/c1ahf

My personal, one-side issue with MP started when he tried to "take" the band's name with him. As a DT fan above anything it came out as something completely wrong for him to do, and if he hadn't done something similar to that I would look at him in a completely different way than the one I do at the moment. Which is pretty much Moore's case: his departure wasn't really a threat to anything in the band; he left and wanted to leave all of it in the past, completely opposite to what MP did.

Regarding the interview, I think in this situation he could've said that he talks with JP and JR every now and then since it is that way according to other interviews, but he didn't  Either way, I guess it serves better the purpose of trying to leave the topic aside, which is pretty much what he should have done since some time ago.

[ariich]

My personal, one-side issue with MP started when he tried to "take" the band's name with him. As a DT fan above anything it came out as something completely wrong for him to do, and if he hadn't done something similar to that I would look at him in a completely different way than the one I do at the moment.

Wasn't this purely speculation and never actually a thing?

[Jaffa]

My personal, one-side issue with MP started when he tried to "take" the band's name with him. As a DT fan above anything it came out as something completely wrong for him to do, and if he hadn't done something similar to that I would look at him in a completely different way than the one I do at the moment.

Wasn't this purely speculation and never actually a thing?

Well, no, it wasn't purely speculation.  Here is the thread where we found out about some possible legal issues between MP and DT concerning the band name.  Lots of discussion about it here and here as well.

But here is the thread where we found out that there was no pending litigation and that Portnoy had never actually filed a formal complaint. 

So, it was definitely a thing, but it was a thing that involved a lot of misunderstanding and jumping to conclusions. 

[Daso]

Kind of ninja'd. Haven't checked into the threads, but I remember (and to sum it up) that it never came to legal matters, but there were issues around it.

[ariich]

My personal, one-side issue with MP started when he tried to "take" the band's name with him. As a DT fan above anything it came out as something completely wrong for him to do, and if he hadn't done something similar to that I would look at him in a completely different way than the one I do at the moment.

Wasn't this purely speculation and never actually a thing?

Well, no, it wasn't purely speculation.  Here is the thread where we found out about some possible legal issues between MP and DT concerning the band name.  Lots of discussion about it here and here as well.

But here is the thread where we found out that there was no pending litigation and that Portnoy had never actually filed a formal complaint. 

So, it was definitely a thing, but it was a thing that involved a lot of misunderstanding and jumping to conclusions. 

That's what I mean - he never actually tried to take the name, and claims that he did are purely speculation.

[Jaffa]

Well, I'd still disagree with 'purely speculation' - the original information definitely seemed to suggest that he was trying to prevent the band from using the name. 

But yes, it turned out that he wasn't.  Just a lot of drama over nothing. 

[Cable]

...and adding more to the pro speculation side, he has erroneously compared himself to Roger Waters' situation when he left PF, at least in his impact to the band. So I have no doubts he may have indeed felt a certain ownership of content much like RW.

[RodrigoAltaf]

...and adding more to the pro speculation side, he has erroneously compared himself to Roger Waters' situation when he left PF, at least in his impact to the band. So I have no doubts he may have indeed felt a certain ownership of content much like RW.

I think he meant it more like "I´m never going back", just like Roger did.

[Cable]

...and adding more to the pro speculation side, he has erroneously compared himself to Roger Waters' situation when he left PF, at least in his impact to the band. So I have no doubts he may have indeed felt a certain ownership of content much like RW.

I think he meant it more like "I´m never going back", just like Roger did.

I saw that; I still swear I saw that he was comparing his impact in DT and the music to Waters impact and role in PF.

[Madman Shepherd]

My personal, one-side issue with MP started when he tried to "take" the band's name with him. As a DT fan above anything it came out as something completely wrong for him to do, and if he hadn't done something similar to that I would look at him in a completely different way than the one I do at the moment.

Wasn't this purely speculation and never actually a thing?

Well, no, it wasn't purely speculation.  Here is the thread where we found out about some possible legal issues between MP and DT concerning the band name.  Lots of discussion about it here and here as well.

But here is the thread where we found out that there was no pending litigation and that Portnoy had never actually filed a formal complaint. 

So, it was definitely a thing, but it was a thing that involved a lot of misunderstanding and jumping to conclusions. 

That's what I mean - he never actually tried to take the name, and claims that he did are purely speculation.

Well, it is all speculation because it was never actually explained.  The most I heard was that there was the threat of a lawsuit in order to get things settled.  Whatever that means, who knows. 

[Lowdz]

So, this is the first time he answers that way, and I really appreciate that. In the recent past he used to say something "I really don't wanna talk about it anymore, BUT ..... " and so on.

Very true.

That was a good response he gave, though.  The interviewer tried to be high and mighty and then got caught doing what everybody else does

Had he answered all questions about DT like this since the split  I would think more fondly of him, and eventually they would stop asking and putting him in that position. Never too late though. Keep going in this vein Mike.

[WheyWaffles]

My personal, one-side issue with MP started when he tried to "take" the band's name with him. As a DT fan above anything it came out as something completely wrong for him to do, and if he hadn't done something similar to that I would look at him in a completely different way than the one I do at the moment.

Wasn't this purely speculation and never actually a thing?

Well, no, it wasn't purely speculation.  Here is the thread where we found out about some possible legal issues between MP and DT concerning the band name.  Lots of discussion about it here and here as well.

But here is the thread where we found out that there was no pending litigation and that Portnoy had never actually filed a formal complaint. 

So, it was definitely a thing, but it was a thing that involved a lot of misunderstanding and jumping to conclusions. 

That's what I mean - he never actually tried to take the name, and claims that he did are purely speculation.

Well, it is all speculation because it was never actually explained.  The most I heard was that there was the threat of a lawsuit in order to get things settled.  Whatever that means, who knows.

He was quite vague about it, but in the new issue of Guitar World with JP on the cover he mentions in The Interview Inside that the legal dust, so to say, has only recently settled.  Something about organizational legal issues that take a long time to sort out after a long-time band member splits.  The usual stuff like royalties, no doubt, but it seems naive not to suppose there were other details--lesser at least--that had to be settled.  If the rights to the name was part of it, who knows.

If the name was part of it, I seriously doubt MP had any intention of ever using the name on his own, so I'd expect he would have only sought a settlement.

[Orbert]

I never took it as Mike wanting to use the name, but I did understand him potentially having a problem with the rest of the band continuing to use it.  Just because he left the band doesn't mean he automatically gives up all rights to the name, especially if he is a part owner and those rights are spelled out in some kind of legal documentation.  That's what needed to be sorted out.