Interview with Mike Portnoy - Drummer with Dream Theater

by Paul May

Mike PortnoyOn 19th April 1993, I was lucky enough to be able to interview Mike Portnoy, the drummer with Dream Theater. The interview was published in the University of Bristol Rocksoc magazine, and also distributed over the internet to the various Dream Theater mailing lists. I recently converted the taped interview to MP3 format, and thought it would be a good idea to make it available on the internet to the new generation of DT fans who can see a bit of the group's history.

The interview was conducted in a back room of the Bristol Bierkeller a few hours before the gig, while other members of DT, plus the support group were sound-checking. The tape is a bit raw, and contains assorted sounds, like telephones ringing, interruptions, and the background sound checks, but is still interesting. The gig was part of the European 'Images and Words' tour, and was conducted just after DT had started to become more widely known, primarily for their 'hit single' Pull me Under. Some of the questions were mine, while some were compiled from a list I'd asked for from members of various DT internet fan lists. I've split the interview up into 8 sections to make downloading easier.

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