ION INDIE MAGAZINE November 2015, Volume 18 | Page 36

Mike: I pretty much started in Boston, I’m a Long Island boy and spent the first 17 years of my life on Long
Island, but my career pretty much started in Boston because I went off to Berklee and that’s where I formed
DREAM THEATER. The first year of my quote/unquote “career” was here in Boston--and we weren’t
necessarily playing in the clubs, we were staying in the rehearsal rooms at Berklee and practicing and writing
every day. But I would go to all the clubs like THE CHANNEL and CELEBRATIONS.
Mark: I remember those places well.
Mike: …and I remember seeing EXTREME when they were first starting out around the same time playing the
clubs--but yeah, you know, there’s different scenes and different places--you know, obviously if you live in
New York or L.A., there is a club circuit to play, but if you’re growing up in Omaha, Nebraska, there’s no club
circuit to play. So my advice is different depending on where you live. But these days there’s not many clubs
to play for young bands. I think young bands these days have the advantage of the internet, which I didn’t
have when I was younger. And these days, you know, a young band can put their music out on YouTube or
Twitter or Facebook and reach everywhere from Australia to South America; to everywhere in between. That’s
a great advantage young kids have today that they can utilize.
Mark: So you’re saying just keep plugging away and self-promote…
Mike: Well, that’s the only way any band can do it. In any generation you have to keep plugging away because
nothing’s going to be handed to you.
Mark: We know local musicians that are happy to keep playing the local scene, but others that have the
chops that are just looking for that opportunity and keep working.
Mike: Doesn’t matter--once you get that opportunity, that’s just the beginning of the struggle not the end.
When we signed our record deal in ’88 that was when all the bullshit began! Everything before your first
record deal is easy, because it’s about the music and the camaraderie and the fun. As soon as you get your
first deal, that’s when the business takes over and it becomes ten times more difficult.
Mark: Great answer! So one of the questions, I had put it out to the readers of this magazine, our writers and
the followers of my photography, and told them I have the opportunity to interview Mike Portnoy of the Winery
Dogs--what should I ask? The majority said, “Mike Portnoy,”--and to quote you--“plays in 46 bands”. Is
there anybody on your bucket list that you haven’t played with that you want to that’s in your sights, that
you’ll feel, that’s a career when you finally get to play with them?
Mike: I have been in the last five years or so, been knocking off that bucket list. Playing in a band with BILLY
SHEEHAN, you know, I’ve always wanted to play in a band with Billy. Playing in a band with STEVE MORSE
with FLYING COLORS… I’ve always wanted to play with Steve. Um, I’ve gotten to work with this great “who’s
who” list you know, playing with TWISTED SISTER, playing with ALEX SKONICK and DAVID ELLEFSON in
METAL ALLEGIANCE…you know. I’ve been knocking off that wish list and it’s been great! Yeah, of course
there’s always going to be more. There’s the dream list and then there’s the reality list. The dream list are
guys that are completely out of my reach. People like PAUL MCCARTNEY, ROGER WATERS, JIMMY PAGE,
PETE TOWNSEND--those guys are my heroes. If I ever got a phone call from any of them I would do it in a
split second: in a heartbeat. Then there are the reality guys, guys that I can call up and do something with.
There are a few people still on that list that I’d like to collaborate with. MIKAEL AKERFELDT from OPETH is
an old friend of mine and he and I--we’ve been talking about doing something for years. Maybe something
with STEVEN WILSON would be fun. There are always people I want to work with.