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MIKE PORTNOY: DREAM THEATER Carrying On Without Me Will 'Seriously Damage Our Relationship' - Nov. 21, 2010

Former DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy recently spoke to Classic Rock Prog magazine about his decision to quit the band he formed and led for 25 years. He said, "I'd be lying if I didn't say I am devastated [the rest of DREAM THEATER] chose to continue without me.

"After giving my heart and soul, blood, sweat and tears to the band for 25 years, I hoped they'd value me and our relationship enough to respect my need for us to take a little break. I am truly heartbroken over their decision. It also kills me that in the past the guys would never question or even debate my direction within the band. They always let me call the shots and always trusted my vision and guidance. Then, with such a huge and personal conflict, they disagreed with me for the first time — on the biggest decision of them all.

"On the surface, it may seem that life was great and full-steam ahead, but beneath the surface, there was a lot of friction and burn-out. We had one band member who would literally not even sit in the same room with the rest of us for years now. We'd only see him on stage or at meet-and-greets. Other members did a lot of complaining about the day-to-day stuff. These are obvious signs of wear and tear.

"Of course, in the wake of this split the guys have to pull together, so I'm sure they will surely look at these issues and change them. I'm just saddened they wouldn't wait for me to do it.

"Them choosing to move on without me it is ultimately going to seriously damage our relationship, as well as the legacy I spent so long building and protecting."

Portnoy, who is currently out with AVENGED SEVENFOLD as their touring drummer, previously said of his decision to quit DREAM THEATER, "Please believe me that it is not a hasty decision . . . it is something I have struggled with for the last year or so . . . After having had such amazing experiences playing with HAIL!, TRANSATLANTIC and AVENGED SEVENFOLD this past year, I have sadly come to the conclusion that I have recently had more fun and better personal relations with these other projects than I have for a while now in DREAM THEATER."

Portnoy added, "I love the DREAM THEATER guys dearly and have a long history, friendship and bond that runs incredibly deep with them — it's just that I think we are in serious need of a little break."

The drummer said that DREAM THEATER's "endless write/record/tour cycle for almost 20 years" was the main factor in his decision. He said he wanted a "break," not a "split," but that the band decided to move forward without him.

Portnoy added in a separate post on Facebook that his current gig with AVENGED SEVENFOLD had nothing to do with his departure from DREAM THEATER, writing, "They are just as shocked as you guys."

AVENGED recruited Portnoy to play on its new album, "Nightmare", following the death last December of the band's drummer, James "The Rev" Sullivan. Portnoy was Sullivan's favorite drummer.

DREAM THEATER said in its own statement, "All of us in DREAM THEATER wholeheartedly wish Mike the best on his musical journey. We have had a long and meaningful career together. It is our true hope that he finds all he is looking for, and that he achieves the happiness he deserves. He will be missed."

Ooohhh, Portnoy va a volver
Va a volver
Va a volver
Portnoy va a volver

Acuérdense

El ex-batería de DREAM THEATER y actualmente en AVENGED SEVENFOLD Mike Portnoy charló recientemente con la revista Classic Rock Prog; a continuación reproducimos un par de fragmentos.

¿Esperabas que el resto de los miembros de DREAM THEATER estuvieran de acuerdo contigo cuando sugeriste tomaros un descanso?

Portnoy: "Sabía que mi propuesta sería una sorpresa y que causaría dudas, pero esperaba que mis compañeros entendieran mi necesidad de tomarme un receso. No es la cosa más extraña de la historia de la música. Muchas bandas lo han hecho y han vuelto más grandes y con más fuerza, SOUNDGARDEN, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, JANE'S ADDICTION, FAITH NO MORE, ALICE IN CHAINS, MEGADETH, PHISH, etc. etc. Incluso RUSH, GENESIS o PINK FLOYD se han tomado largos descansos para mantener al grupo unido."

¿Te sorprendió o te sentó mal que siguieran adelante sin ti?

Portnoy: "Estaría mintiendo si dijera que no me sentí acabado cuando decidieron continuar sin mi en lugar de tomarse un descanso. Después de 25 años dando al grupo mi alma, mi sangre, sudor y lágrimas esperaba que valoraran nuestra relación y que me respetaran a mí como persona tomándonos ese periodo de soslayo. Estoy destrozado con su decisión. Supongo que también influye que en el pasado NUNCA cuestionaran mis decisiones respecto a la banda o el camino a seguir. Siempre me dejaron a mí llevarlo todo y confiaban en mi visión y en mis directrices. Pero ahora, con un conflicto personal así, estuvieron en desacuerdo conmigo por primera vez, en la decisión más importante de todas.

DREAM THEATER es mi hijo y nunca quise abandonarle, solo creo que a veces los padres necesitan un respiro para mantener a la familia unida.

Lo irónico es que yo quería tomarme un descanso para arreglar nuestra relación y fortalecer nuestros lazos, pero ahora, al decidir ellos seguir adelante sin mi, nuestra relación se ha dañado seriamente, así como el legado de DREAM THEATER que pasé tanto tiempo construyendo y protegiendo."

Además de querer un descanso de la rutina de DREAM THEATER y de tus compañeros de grupo, ¿había algo en la música de lo que quisieras escapar? ¿Estás satisfecho con los dos últimos discos del grupo? ¿Se había convertido en algo monótono que hacía que te movieras por inercia?

Portnoy: "Sinceramente, no tuvo nada que ver con la música o con la química dentro de la banda a la hora de crearla. Siempre estaba muy inspirado cuando componíamos y grabábamos juntos, y estoy tan orgulloso de los últimos discos como de cualquier otra cosa de nuestro catálogo. Era algo más interno, las relaciones personales dentro de la banda. Es cierto que desde fuera parecía que todo iba rodado para DREAM THEATER, cosas como tocar en Download o Wembley, la reciente gira americana con IRON MAIDEN, el número diez del Billboard, todos fueron grandes momentos y logros, pero bajo la superficie había mucha fricción y estábamos muy quemados. Por ejemplo, había un miembro del grupo que llevaba años sin sentarse en la misma habitación que los demás y solo le veíamos en los conciertos y en los meet-and-greets, mientras el resto se quejaban constantemente de cosas cotidianas. Para mi eso eran señales obvias de que se necesitaba un descanso para ponernos las pilas y prender la llama de nuevo. DREAM THEATER necesitaba un descanso para rejuvenecer nuestras relaciones. Supongo que ahora, con la cercanía de la separación, tendrán que mantenerse unidos si quieren que el grupo siga junto, por lo que imagino que pensarán en todas esas cosas y las solucionarán, pero me entristece que no pudieran esperarme para hacerlo yo también."

¿Te arrepientes de tu decisión?

Portnoy: "Odio como han salido las cosas y la situación en la que me pusieron para tener que hacer esto, pero no podría volver al grupo para grabar un disco en enero sin resentimientos y sintiéndome a gusto. Me obligaron a hacer algo para lo que no estaba preparado. He elegido asumir el desafío y arriesgarme en lugar de un camino más fácil y seguro.

En este momento estoy contento con mi puesto en AVENGED SEVENFOLD y no voy a dejar algo que me hace feliz para meterme en otra cosa que no me satisface en absoluto. No puedo hacer cosas en mi carrera o en mi vida solo por que tenga que hacerlas, tengo que querer para poder hacerlo. "

U.K.'s Classic Rock Prog magazine recently spoke to the four remaining members of progressive metal giants DREAM THEATER — guitarist John Petrucci, vocalist James LaBrie, bassist John Myung and keyboardist Jordan Rudess — about the surprising departure of the band's drummer and founding member, Mike Portnoy. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

On the August 30 meeting between the DREAM THEATER bandmembers in a New York City hotel room when first learned that Portnoy wanted to take a break from the group:

Petrucci: "It's definitely a bit surreal and I'm okay, but it's just so weird how things change. Basically, we went into a meeting expecting to talk about details of the studio and when and where, and it took a whole different turn. We were supposed to go into the studio in January and we had actually extended our break a bit so that Mike could finish out the rest of the year [as the touring drummer for] AVENGED SEVENFOLD. Then he brought up that he wanted to take a hiatus. There wasn't anything that led up to it in our minds and it kind of shocked us, you know?! We weren't expecting that at all."

On Portnoy's only proposed solution — for DREAM THEATER to go on an indefinite hiatus, believing that a break would help to rekindle his enthusiasm for both the DREAM THEATER machine as well as his relationship with the other members:

Rudess: Yeah, he was saying a few years, three years, five years, or whatever. I really believe that's what might've been best for him and I'm sure he doesn't want to let go of DREAM THEATER. Why should he necessarily have to? Of course, there's the reality that there are four other guys who also happen to have DREAM THEATER as their lives. I think a lot of the problem was with us personally, but to me the vibe within DREAM THEATER was fine. I mean, so you've got John Myung who wasn't really socializing with us at all anymore, but as I said to Mike, 'Tell me how it's any different to when I first joined this band.' I don't see it. And I've really got no problem with him doing what he's doing with AVENGED SEVENFOLD. I think it's pretty cool going out and playing with a really successful rock group. I just have a little bit of a problem with him thinking that he could control DREAM THEATER. It's like a captain who is trying to command his ship when he's not even standing on the ship. And all the other guys are just sitting there , cruising along with a guy saying, 'The captain has left the ship. Okay, boys, here's what we're going to do: You're going to take a break.' And they're, like, 'But wait a minute, we're standing on the ship.' But Mike remains our very good friend and I think there's a lot of love there between everyone, really, when it comes down to it. He may have been a little tired of us, but the bigger picture is that we're all brothers."

On DREAM THEATER's decision to carry on without Mike Portnoy:

Petrucci: "You know, we've known each other for a long time, 25 years-plus, and I love Mike. One of the first things I said was that I was trying to understand where he was coming from and that I don't judge him. Everyone is their own man and I get it. But from my perspective and from that of the other guys, you could take those same elements mentioned by Mike, the fact that we've been a band for 25 years, that this is something that we have built up and that we love, as a reason not to stop it or even take a break."

Myung: "We love what we do and we didn't want to wait around as things became unstable. What was initially a four-month break suddenly turned into a hiatus, then changed to a year and four months, which then could have turned into anyone's guess."

Petrucci: "It was an extremely emotional moment and the whole thing to me is very heartbreaking and very sad. You know, you walk around afterwards going, 'Is this really happening?' It's almost like that feeling when somebody dies. You feel like you're in some kind of weird, limbo dream state and it's hard for me to imagine this band without him. But I think the whole beauty of DREAM THEATER is the collective nature and everybody has their talents. I think we've always been about more than just one individual and that's part of our strength. Of course we are going to miss Mike a lot, but we move forward, as is our right."

On the fact that DREAM THEATER is replacing more than just a drummer — Portnoy was the band's mascot, chief interviewee, driver of concepts, selector of setlists and was always at the forefront when the band was deliberating over a musical direction:

LaBrie: "Yes, Mike was all about those things and not to simplify it or belittle it, but that will just have to be something that we allocate to each and every one of us to take over. So that will be a major difference in the band. Instead of one person handling all of those responsibilities, it's going to be spread out over four others."

Rudess: "I guess we're excited about being able to look at all the cool stuff Mike did and spread them around a bit. We've got an amazing team of managers and tour managers, we're all very capable guys and we're not scared. This is not rocket science. This is not curing cancer, this is a rock band, and I think we can handle it."

On whether in a few years time, when all this turbulence has subsided and Portnoy feels sufficiently recharged, he would be welcomed back in DREAM THEATER:

Petrucci: "You know, I've played with Mike for so long and we have done so many things together that at some point we will play together again, and we told each other that. It would be ridiculous to think that we won't play together again. That's kind of silly. Whether it's in DREAM THEATER or something else or we reunite down the line, who knows?! If that's the way the planets align and things work out in both of our lives, then I'm certainly open to that. But in the meantime, I think we owe it to ourselves to carry on with focus and intention. Right now, we have to find an ass-kicking drummer…"