Mike Portnoy-A very 'modest' drummer!

**Rufus** · 03-11-2016

Mike Portnoy says while receiving awards is “nice” he doesn’t consider himself to be special

Mike Portnoy says he doesn’t consider himself to be a great drummer.

The Winery Dogs sticksman is known for his range of work across all aspects of the rock genre and has picked up many awards during his career. But he says while it’s nice to be recognised, he still thinks of himself as just a kid who loves to play drums.

He tells RockMap: “All the awards to me are very flattering but also intimidating because they then put this expectation on me, and I don’t consider myself a great drummer – I consider myself just a music fan that’s a very passionate artist and the drums just happen to be my instrument.

“But every time I win one of these awards, it’s nice but I don’t want people to think that I think I’m this great drummer because to me, I’m just a kid playing drums and I love music. I don’t even like doing drum solos live – it doesn’t really interest me.”

Portnoy has a busy 2016 ahead and will split his time between The Winery Dogs, Twisted Sister, Metal Allegiance and the Neal Morse Band. But he refuses to take the credit for his success and say it’s his fans who have helped shape his career.

He continues: “I have a lot of gratitude for this incredible career. I get to play with so many great musicians and I have great fan support.

“There’s not many drummers that could leave such a high profile band and have a career that’s as busy and successful as mine has been.

“I don’t take the credit for that – I give the credit to my fans for allowing me to be able to have a career like this.”

**JKL2000** · 03-11-2016

Let me get this straight: he thinks it's nice that he gets awards, but he also thinks he's just a kid who loves music and plays the drums? Do I have that right?

LOL. Did you write this, or is it on display somewhere on the internets? You do know Scrotum Scissors is going to stop by, right?

All kidding aside though, Portnoy's music fandom and enthusiasm do come through more than anything else, and I see him as basically a music fan before seeing him as a member of a famous band, and that's refreshing. Also, he says he has OCD which used to make him obsessively collect all the Dream Theater ephemera (now I guess it's Winery Dogs stuff), so he's really just one of us. Sort of.

**Yodelgoat** · 03-11-2016

Mike is a great drummer and a bad singer. I dont know about his songwriting, but his playing is fantastic, if not at times a little too busy. He makes me smile sometimes with his playing, but he is certainly one of my personal favorites. The problem I have with many fantastic drummers, is that I dont always like the music they play. I love Buddy Rich, but I can only handle so much of his type of music. Some of the metal drummers, I have littler interest in, because they play music that I dont appreciate. In that sense, I kind of like Bun E Carlos, but only a little.

I really Like and respect Mike Portnoy, but I dont like the same kind of music he does.

**Scrotum Scissor** · 03-11-2016

Originally Posted by JKL2000

You do know Scrotum Scissors is going to stop by, right?

I've already come and gone, Jed.

**Mikhael** · 03-11-2016

Portnoy's one of my favourite drummers. He tends to play the way I think, when I play on my own stuff. I was sorry when he quit DT, and as great a drummer as Mangini is, I don't think DT's been the same since Portnoy left. I also appreciate his work with Transatlantic; busy when it needs to be, and sparse at the proper moments. I know this opinion is unpopular around these parts, but hey, it's what it is.

**YESHEAD777** · 03-11-2016

Portnoy is my favorite modern drummer. i think He's much more versatile than most give him credit for. His work with Neal Morse alone is proof of that.

**Steve983** · 03-12-2016

The first rule for musicians is to be modest. As soon as a muso says or even thinks "I am the greatest..", that is the beginning of the end. My point is that being great at something does not come easy. It takes years of practice and dedication and being great today does not mean that you will be great tomorrow. Great sportsman and athletes have to work similarly hard to maintain their performance but sportsmen and women get much greater recognition (Olympics) whereas musicians don't get any beyond their own group of fans.