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| * '''When Dream and Day Unite/Images & Words Kit''' - This Tama kit was bought originally by MP himself through working three jobs. It was used until the end of the Images and Words tour when MP got signed by Sabian and Mapex. Also this was the kit he used when he was with the band Intruder. | * '''When Dream and Day Unite/Images & Words Kit''' - This Tama kit was bought originally by MP himself through working three jobs. It was used until the end of the Images and Words tour when MP got signed by Sabian and Mapex. Also this was the kit he used when he was with the band Intruder. Noticeably being upgraded since that era. | ||
| * '''Mapex Awake kit''' - This kit was used on the world tour supporting the album Awake. | * '''Mapex Awake kit''' - This kit was used on the world tour supporting the album Awake. | ||
| * '''The Purple Monster''' - Adopted in the late 90s and used for the recording of Scenes For A Memory and the North and South American tours, it is so named because of its striking colour. There also exists a Green Monster (for use in Europe) and a Red Monster (for Japan). | * '''The Purple Monster''' - Adopted in the late 90s and used for the recording of Scenes For A Memory and the North and South American tours, it is so named because of its striking colour. There also exists a Green Monster (for use in Europe) and a Red Monster (for Japan). | ||
Revision as of 15:11, 16 February 2005
Mike Portnoy is a drummer in the progressive rock band Dream Theater.
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.
Although Portnoy 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. He left the band after being awarded a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston.
An avid collector of many things, Portnoy 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 (see Ytsejam Records). His huge video collection includes favorite films such as 2001 - A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Jacob's Ladder and The Wall along with episodes of The Simpsons and memorable boxing matches.
Portnoy says his biggest influences are Rush drummer Neil Peart and Frank Zappa. Other favorites include drummers Terry Bozzio, Vinnie Colaiuta, Simon Philips, John Bonham, Keith Moon, Ringo Starr and Bill Bruford and bands such as The Beatles, Queen, Yes, Rush, Pink Floyd, Metallica, Jellyfish, Iron Maiden, U2 and Jane's Addiction. In the late 80s and early 90s he was also a fan of rap music, but his interest has since waned.
Portnoy has won 19 awards from Modern Drummer magazine, including "Best recorded performance" (5 times) and "Best Progressive Rock Drummer" (10 times in a row), and has been added to their Rock Drummer Hall of Fame.
He has also been the catalyst for founding several other progressive rock groups: TransAtlantic, Liquid Tension Experiment, and O.S.I..
Mike and his wife Marlene live in Rockland, New York with their daughter Melody Ruthandrea, son Max John, dog Bongo and cats E.T. and Cypress.
Equipment
Mike Portnoy's current drum set is known as the "Siamese Monster", which was built by Tama for the recording of the Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence album and tour. It is so called because it is basically an amalgamation of two individial kits, thus being a 'siamese' kit. It even comes with two stools (which he often puts to good use by having special guest drummers perform duets with him at Dream Theater concerts).
Throughout his career he has used several other kits, all of which were built by Tama except for the Awake-era kit, which was a Mapex. To date, he has used the following drum sets:
- When Dream and Day Unite/Images & Words Kit - This Tama kit was bought originally by MP himself through working three jobs. It was used until the end of the Images and Words tour when MP got signed by Sabian and Mapex. Also this was the kit he used when he was with the band Intruder. Noticeably being upgraded since that era.
- Mapex Awake kit - This kit was used on the world tour supporting the album Awake.
- The Purple Monster - Adopted in the late 90s and used for the recording of Scenes For A Memory and the North and South American tours, it is so named because of its striking colour. There also exists a Green Monster (for use in Europe) and a Red Monster (for Japan).
- Liquid Tension Experiment kit - A modest kit used in his supergroup project Liquid Tension Experiment.
- TransAtlantic kit - A small jazz-style set for use in the band TransAtlantic.
- The Siamese Monster - This is a predominantly black kit with purple Majesty symbols around each individual drum. There are three identical versions of this kit for use in different continents, as with the Colored Monsters. It was built for the recording of Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence and is still his main set.
- Yellow Matter Custard kit - A specially designed set for use in Mike's Beatles tribute band, Yellow Matter Custard. It is modelled on Ringo Starr's kit, and is quite simple compared with his Dream Theater kits.
- Hammer Of The Gods kit - A John Bonham-style kit that was used in Mike's Led Zeppelin tribute band. It has a transparent orange finish, and is always played while wearing the obligatory bowler hat.
Tama have marketed a Mike Portnoy signature snare, known as the Melody Master (named after his daughter Melody), since the late 1990s. There is also a set of "Max Stax" (named after his son Max) released by Sabian.
He has endorsed Promark sticks since the mid-1980s, when they allowed him to design his own set of purple sticks for use in Dream Theater.
Quotes
"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."
External link
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