DISTORTED SOUND MAGAZINE
DISTORTED SOUND MAGAZINE
Written by DAN McHUGH
Photographs by HRISTO SHINDOV
When Stars Collide... Sons Of Apollo are born!
The reformation of progressive metal duo Derek Sherinian and Mike Portnoy has been a long topic of discussion for many years and 2017 has finally seen this long awaited
collaboration come to fruition in the form of SONS OF APOLLO. “Me and Mike have been talking about forming a band for about five years and the scheduling finally came
together this year.” explains Derek. “It was like not a day had passed. We’ve always had such a strong personal chemistry and it was great. He has su ch a great energy and passion for
music and for the band and I just love having a partner that has that same intensity.”
Once the wheels were set in motion the band also
consisting of Billy Sheehan, Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal
and Jeff Scott Soto hit the ground running, spending
only 10 days in the studio. One of the most amazing
factors about this group of musicians was that
some had never crossed paths before this recording
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session! “Mike brought in Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal and
I was amazed by his talent!” proclaims Derek. “The
first day I met him was in the first day in the studio
writing and recording. We were tracking as we were
composing on the spot which was pretty exciting!
Then throw in the mix of doing it with someone on
a primary instrument that you’ve never met before
let alone played with, it was like meeting the long
lost brother that I hadn’t met in 50 years and then
we were just making up for lost time in that 10 days.”
As soon as the announcement of the emergence of
SONS OF APOLLO was made there were a lot of
people coining this alliance as a super group. Despite
this Derek did not find this notion intimidating. “We
just do what we do” states Derek. “I mean labels are
labels, in a sense it kinda is a supergroup like the
Marvel superheroes, the Avengers! There’s a difference
in style and sound on top of being a virtuoso and
when we get together collectively we’ve figured out
a way to blend and compliment everyone’s fortès
and make sure that they were utilised on this record
and I think everyone really shines in a great light.”
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