Mike Portnoy was born on April 20, 1967 and raised in Long Beach, New York,
where his interest in music started at an early age. "My father was a rock
n' roll disc jockey, so I was always surrounded by music constantly. I had
this huge record collection when I was real young and loved the Beatles and
then later on Kiss. It was inevitable that I'd become a musician."
Although Mike taught himself how to play the drums, he did take music
theory classes in high school. During that time he began playing in
local bands Intruder, Rising Power and Inner Sanctum, the latter of
which released their own album. Mike left the band after being awarded a
scholarship to attend Berklee Music College in Boston.
An avid collector of many things, Mike has a vast array of Dream Theater
memorabilia including bootlegs, posters, clippings and everything else
under the sun with the band's name on it. He is also responsible for
capturing everything the band does on video tape and DAT. His huge video
collection includes favorite films as 2001, A Clockwork Orange, Jacob's
Ladder and The Wall along with episodes of The Simpsons and memorable
boxing matches.
Mike says his biggest influences are Rush drummer Neil Peart and the
late Frank Zappa. Other favorites include drummers Terry Bozzio, Vinnie
Colaiuta, Simon Philips, John Bonham and Keith Moon and bands such as
The Beatles, Queen, Yes, Metallica, Jellyfish, Iron Maidon, U2 and
Jane's Addiction. He is also a fan of rap music.
Mike and his wife Marlene live in Rockland, NY with their daughter
Melody Ruthandrea, new son Max John, dog Bongo and cats E.T. and
Cypress.
I would like to start by saying I was one of those Portnoy-fanatics, who
think Portnoy is the fastest drummer on earth and his technique is the
most incredible thing there is.....
I now know he isnt...But guess what? That hasn,t changed my opinion
about him. He is still my favourite drummer by far. Technique-freaks
like Lang and Donati should bow to him, IMO. He plays advanced and
complex parts and still remains very musical and warm and makes it all
work in the context of the song.
He has created some of drummings all time most *MEMORABLE* drumparts
like: 6:00 and Under A Glass Moon.
Of course I respect Lang and Donati for their dedication to drumming and
especially drum technique. But I just dont think they have achieved so
much as Portnoy in all of drumming, cos´ Portnoy is so much more than
just drum technique.
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