MIKE PORTNOY On How He Reunited With DREAM THEATER & If They’ll Do A Scenes From A Memory Sequel

Dream Theater shocked the steel world in late October once they introduced the return of founding drummer Mike Portnoy. Portnoy left Dream Theater in 2010 and was changed by Mike Mangini for 13 years… however how did the reunion even come about?

In line with Portnoy throughout a Q&A session on the Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy Camp’s Metalmania III (as captured by Blabbermouth), it began when he and Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci reunited for Petrucci‘s 2020 solo album Terminal Velocity solo album. After which in fact issues solely progressed from there when Portnoy and Petrucci acquired along with Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess for the primary Liquid Tension Experiment document in 22 years.

“Nicely, it has been 13 years now. And it is loopy how time flies. However the final couple of years, I suppose throughout the pandemic, yeah, I reconnected with John Petrucci. As soon as we had been in lockdown and all of my bands could not tour, and Dream Theater could not tour, John Petrucci was doing a solo album, and he requested me to play on it. After which from there we determined we needed to do one other [Liquid Tension Experiment] album, which is with Jordan Rudess. After which shortly after that, John requested me to go on tour with him. So it simply looks as if we have been type of reconnecting by way of the previous few years.”

He continued: “We’ve such an extended historical past — nearly 40 years now — collectively, and our households grew up collectively, our wives performed in a band collectively, and our children grew up collectively. So, actually, it simply felt prefer it was the best factor in the best time… [Our kids] actually grew up all collectively, within the prime bunks throughout from one another on the bus. My daughter and John‘s daughter have lived collectively in New York for the final 4 or 5 years. So, yeah, there’s a lot household historical past past simply the music that it simply felt just like the time was proper to do it.”

Dream Theater plans on hitting the studio in 2024 for his or her first album with Portnoy since Black Clouds & Silver Linings in 2009. When requested if there’s any likelihood Dream Theater would do a sequel to their 1999 progressive steel masterpiece Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Reminiscence, Portnoy stated the band does not have any particular plans for brand new materials in the intervening time.

“We’ve not talked about it but, however that may be the apparent factor. However possibly as a result of it is the apparent factor, we would not do it. However you by no means know… It undoubtedly could be enjoyable to do, however I believe, uh… I do not know. We’re gonna begin from scratch and reconnect and simply go into the studio and dwell collectively. We’re in a unique part of our lives. After I left the band 13 years in the past, we had been all in our 40s; now we’re all in our 50s and 60s. It is gonna be attention-grabbing to see how we type of exist now on this new world. So, yeah, I am simply wanting ahead to being with the blokes and making music collectively once more.”

As for enjoying Mangini-era Dream Theater dwell and balancing it out with Portnoy-era materials, Portnoy stated it is too quickly to inform what’s going to occur. He later added that coming again into the fold with Dream Theater over a decade later means looking for his position inside the band as soon as once more.

“After I left the band 13 years in the past, I used to be the one writing the setlist and issues like that. So, we have not even mentioned what the brand new dynamic is gonna be. I am open to it, in fact, so I absolutely would do it, if that is what they wanna do. However it’s undoubtedly gonna be a unique dynamic.”

He continued: “I believe once I left all these years in the past, I used to be working lots of stuff, and I believe now they’ve gotten so used to working extra as a collective band that I believe it is a very completely different dynamic now that I am gonna have to seek out my place in and with out stepping on anyone’s toes. I’ve to respect that they have been doing all of it this time with out me. So, no matter they wanna do, I am up for it. However that being stated, there may be a lot music of ours to come back again and play that… Personally, I stay up for revisiting all that stuff, but when they wanna do the newer stuff as effectively, no matter they need is ok with me.”