The Mike Portnoy Appreciation/Discussion Thread (merged)

[KevShmev]

While not that big a deal, this is not the first time he has done that in an interview, list all of the great bass players he has played with and not mentioned Myung, and to me the interviewer failed big time in this instance by not following up and asking, "What about the guy you played with for 25 years, John Myung?"  Then again, it seems like the vast majority of interviewers these days are major fanboys and they probably don't want to jeopardize getting more interviews in the future by asking a tough question or anything like that, so they lob softballs.

[Stadler]

FYI, we're talking about Powerslave, by Iron Maiden, in another thread here, and one of the b-sides is a pretty heated argument between Steve Harris - bass player - and Nicko McBrain - drummer - recorded surreptitiously by "some c***" (Dickinson).   Incidentally, that argument was recorded after a gig in Allentown, PA.  Must be something in the water there that only affects drummers and bassists...

[bosk1]

...but then again, we're talking about adults in a closed-loop system; if you don't like something say something.   "Hey man, we don't see eye-to-eye, I get that, but how 'bout a truce?  I'll participate in your fucking stupid commentaries, Michael Stephen Coppola, and if'n I throw out a bon mot or two, in return, you don't drag it through the sewer system? Comprende?"

And it's all fine to say that, in the abstract.  I mean, yeah, "JM's a grown man.  If he didn't like something, he could have just been a man and stood up for himself.  If he didn't, that's on him 100%."  Right?  But on the flip side, if you're in a band with someone, and their personality is more nonconfrontational, then I think the more "Type A" personalities in the band owe it to that member to take that into account and be a bit more sensitive to the fact that not everyone handles their business the same.  I think it was Mike who penned the words, "Kindness--it's not that hard."

[nobloodyname]

[...]and to me the interviewer failed big time in this instance by not following up and asking, "What about the guy you played with for 25 years, John Myung?"  Then again, it seems like the vast majority of interviewers these days are major fanboys and they probably don't want to jeopardize getting more interviews in the future by asking a tough question or anything like that, so they lob softballs.

This. A thousand times this.

As for the interview in question, what a good interview it was (aside from the point raised by KevShmev, above). Shame no-one seems to be discussing the rest of the content. But why do that we can beat around the same tired old bush, eh?

[Peace and Love]

Usually when the MP thread gets bumped, I think "Oh no, what controversial thing has he said now?".

Except this time we've managed to have a 1 page discussion about what he didn't say!

[Stadler]

...but then again, we're talking about adults in a closed-loop system; if you don't like something say something.   "Hey man, we don't see eye-to-eye, I get that, but how 'bout a truce?  I'll participate in your fucking stupid commentaries, Michael Stephen Coppola, and if'n I throw out a bon mot or two, in return, you don't drag it through the sewer system? Comprende?"

And it's all fine to say that, in the abstract.  I mean, yeah, "JM's a grown man.  If he didn't like something, he could have just been a man and stood up for himself.  If he didn't, that's on him 100%."  Right?  But on the flip side, if you're in a band with someone, and their personality is more nonconfrontational, then I think the more "Type A" personalities in the band owe it to that member to take that into account and be a bit more sensitive to the fact that not everyone handles their business the same.  I think it was Mike who penned the words, "Kindness--it's not that hard."

I don't disagree, other than to say that I'm not saying "he's a man, it's on him 100%".  All I'm saying is that in my experience, I have rarely if ever watched a one-man wrestling contest or a one-man boxing match.   

[Cool Chris]

I have a strong suspicion that he wanted DT to be "his" Anthrax, where the drummer is the sort of catalyst - singer, arranger, lyricist, writer, spokesperson, all-around metal AF captain of the ship...

That seems like a fairly valid speculation, and not even an unfair one. Every ship needs a captain. A 5-member band with 5 captains is going to have rough sailing. But that doesn't mean every person is best suited to be a captain. Not does it mean the other 4 should be relegated to swabbing the decks.

[Anguyen92]

All I'm saying is that in my experience, I have rarely if ever watched a one-man wrestling contest or a one-man boxing match.

Would this count as a one-man wrestling contest since it's technically one man vs a sex doll?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LApVz53Spw

[MinistroRaven]

Leader or Guest?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdA67L7abMA

[gzarruk]

Leader or Guest?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdA67L7abMA

I actually enjoyed watching this, thanks for sharing!

[Anxiety35]

That's been the best interview Mike has done in a long time.

[Adami]

So when he was asked between Billy Sheehan and Paul McCartney, why didn't he answer John Myung?

[nobloodyname]

So when he was asked between Billy Sheehan and Paul McCartney, why didn't he answer John Myung?

You beat me to it

[MinistroRaven]

He was specifically asked about those 2. It wasn't an open question 

[Evermind]

I mean I'm fairly sure this was sarcasm

[cramx3]

I mean I'm fairly sure this was sarcasm

spot on sarcasm too 

[nobloodyname]

I mean I'm fairly sure this was sarcasm

spot on sarcasm too 

Gotta love the pragmatics field of linguistics

(Not being critical of you, MinistroRaven, just expressing my love of the subtleties of language!)

[MoraWintersoul]

While not that big a deal, this is not the first time he has done that in an interview, list all of the great bass players he has played with and not mentioned Myung

Yeah and it's not great. It seems that JLB and JM are the people who haven't really rebuilt their relationships with MP, and as a result he doesn't even wanna mention them now when it's warranted to do so, and previously they were only singled out in a negative context. We can argue about why that is*, and why JLB and JM have gotten this treatment while JP and JR get a full public reconciliation. Mike isn't hostile, but the more people are telling him about the optics of making these comments, the more he doubles down, because in his head he didn't mean to do harm by simply not mentioning someone he doesn't wanna mention, and if someone else wants to read it that way, that's their problem.

Well, maybe Mike should tell some little white lies here and there; it's the general assumption that James and Mike are not exactly the best of buddies, but in the occasional interview you see the casual remark from James about how Mike was doing a great job at creating setlists or whatever. It would stick out like a sore thumb if James would say "Petrucci is so great at writing setlists I can't imagine anyone else in the band doing it". The casual mention of his former bandmates, for Mike, should come easy as long as it's just a casual remark and not a detailed request to go very in depth.

Because James is very much aware about the implications of what he says and of what he doesn't say. In fact, he got burned very hard by MP because of what someone else implied in a headline to an article about a James interview post-split. So now he's aware of the implications of what others can say as well.

* Not that we should! But it's inevitable, most splits nowadays follow the business script and they always say there is absolutely no bad blood, so it's interesting to see someone openly holding grudges that we know they must have. What's sad about MP's case is that he always seems like he is pissed off every time someone takes his words at face value and says "well, this guy has a grudge", and it's like he doesn't understand why that happens. Well, here's why.

[cramx3]

I mean I'm fairly sure this was sarcasm

spot on sarcasm too 

Gotta love the pragmatics field of linguistics

(Not being critical of you, MinistroRaven, just expressing my love of the subtleties of language!)

Well it also goes back to the history of this thread recently  but yea, I get it sometimes it's hard to understand the subtleties of text.

[Grappler]

Metal Allegiance is on a mini-tour out west.  I love their live shows and setlists - this tour is ending in San Francisco with a big lineup of bay-area thrash guests.  Cool to see Max join them this time!

Soulfly / Prophecy with Max Cavalera:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr9AmpE5AxE

Pledge of Allegiance with John Bush:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BJzVDSD1-s

[KevShmev]

While not that big a deal, this is not the first time he has done that in an interview, list all of the great bass players he has played with and not mentioned Myung

Yeah and it's not great. It seems that JLB and JM are the people who haven't really rebuilt their relationships with MP, and as a result he doesn't even wanna mention them now when it's warranted to do so, and previously they were only singled out in a negative context. We can argue about why that is*, and why JLB and JM have gotten this treatment while JP and JR get a full public reconciliation. Mike isn't hostile, but the more people are telling him about the optics of making these comments, the more he doubles down, because in his head he didn't mean to do harm by simply not mentioning someone he doesn't wanna mention, and if someone else wants to read it that way, that's their problem.

Honestly, I don't think it's a big deal if he never mentions JLB or Myung again.  Not every friendship is for life, and if they aren't friends anymore, it's not a big deal.  Sure, they were all in the same band together for decades, and it would be a nice touch if he'd give Myung a mention when asked about the best bass players he has worked with, but he didn't; they have all moved on.  In a perfect world, they would all be buddies again and could sit down with the fans and all sing Kumbaya, but that is not how life works. 

[Architeuthis]

While not that big a deal, this is not the first time he has done that in an interview, list all of the great bass players he has played with and not mentioned Myung

Yeah and it's not great. It seems that JLB and JM are the people who haven't really rebuilt their relationships with MP, and as a result he doesn't even wanna mention them now when it's warranted to do so, and previously they were only singled out in a negative context. We can argue about why that is*, and why JLB and JM have gotten this treatment while JP and JR get a full public reconciliation. Mike isn't hostile, but the more people are telling him about the optics of making these comments, the more he doubles down, because in his head he didn't mean to do harm by simply not mentioning someone he doesn't wanna mention, and if someone else wants to read it that way, that's their problem.

  In a perfect world, they would all be buddies again and could sit down with the fans and all sing Kumbaya, but that is not how life works.

Unfortunately true..  Silly human race!

[The Letter M]

It's April 20th, and you all know what that means...

Happy Birthday to Mike Portnoy!!!

-Marc.

[cramx3]

 

[Mladen]

Happy birthday to one of my favorite drummers. 

[ReaperKK]

It's April 20th, and you all know what that means...

420 smoke we. . . . oh wait, yea, Happy Birthday MP

[ytserush]

It's April 20th, and you all know what that means...

420 smoke we. . . . oh wait, yea, Happy Birthday MP

Thought about this after seeing the date on a bank sign on the way to the grocery store this morning.  Not on Facebook or Twitter so I really have little idea of what he's up to after he locked his forum.  Other than what is posted here of  course.

[goo-goo]

Some drumhead auctions that will start tomorrow I believe.

https://www.backstageauctions.com/catalog/mike-portnoy/ac/0/1444/?fbclid=IwAR0NaRVEDM8AmukxDYV43_MbgznMkP8z3mWxc4SZYKkKPZV4_Nzz2BO6bgs

[Anxiety35]

Some drumhead auctions that will start tomorrow I believe.

https://www.backstageauctions.com/catalog/mike-portnoy/ac/0/1444/?fbclid=IwAR0NaRVEDM8AmukxDYV43_MbgznMkP8z3mWxc4SZYKkKPZV4_Nzz2BO6bgs

Is he doing this because he needs to make money or because he doesn't want all that stuff in his house/storage?

[gzarruk]

Some drumhead auctions that will start tomorrow I believe.

https://www.backstageauctions.com/catalog/mike-portnoy/ac/0/1444/?fbclid=IwAR0NaRVEDM8AmukxDYV43_MbgznMkP8z3mWxc4SZYKkKPZV4_Nzz2BO6bgs

Is he doing this because he needs to make money or because he doesn't want all that stuff in his house/storage?

I don't think Mike needs the money, it's just a fun thing to do, and will make some fans with lots of cash very happy.

[SystematicThought]

The BC&SL bass drum head never made sense to me? What's it supposed to be? It was the back of the album, I remember that.

[rumborak]

https://www.cameo.com/mikeportnoy

Was sent this link earlier. Thoughts? I have to admit that to me, it looks desperate.

[Adami]

https://www.cameo.com/mikeportnoy

Was sent this link earlier. Thoughts? I have to admit that to me, it looks desperate.

I'm confused. You pay 50 bucks for MP to record you a nice video?

[rumborak]

Yup.

[Adami]

Yup.

I mean.......seems like easy money, but leaves a weird unwanted smiley taste in my mouth.

I dunno.