After a well deserved night in Paris and after an excellent gig, RUL got the chance to chat with Mike Portnoy about The Winery Dogs and many other stuff, check this out!
Hello Mike, how are you?
Mike Portnoy (drums) : Good, très bien merci.
You just played yesterday with Richie and Billy, how was the gig last night?
M : Great, very hot, very packed. Were you there?
Yes!
M : Did you like it?
Yeah! It was great! Always too hot at La Maroquinerie.
M : Yeah, very small, very intimate but there was a good vibe.
How special is to play in Paris? It’s basically sold out each time you’re here!
M : It’s sounds like old shit but it’s the truth, Paris is one of my favorite audiences in the world. Always, no matter what band I’m with, it’s always my favorite show when I come to Europe. So yesterday was not a disappointment, I even said it to the guys before the show “this will be one of the best ones” and it was.
So The Winery Dogs’ album is released today in France, isn’t it weird to tour knowing that the album isn’t available for the fans on the gig day?
M : It is weird but this is one of the only cases. Because when we went to Japan, it was already out, in South America already out, and even the preceding shows in Europe, I think for some of them, certain markets like England it was already out. This was a unique situation. But I assume most people downloaded the day it has been out and they know it anyway. I just hope they’ll buy the record to support the band.
So while it’s out today, what can they expect from it?
M : If you haven’t heard the band yet, you know it’s a straight up rock band. It’s not a progressive band, not a metal band, shred up classic rock vein of Zeppelin or the Stones, The Who or Aerosmith. What do you call Alice In Chains? Or Van Halen? I don’t know whatever that is, that the style of The Winery Dogs.
How did you three come up and say “hey, let’s play together and make an album”?
M : Well it started… I had another project going on with John Sykes (Tygers Of Pan Tang, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake) and I really wanted to bring Billy Sheehan to that. So I brought him and, long story short, it kind of just stopped, going anywhere, and John didn’t want to move forward so Billy and I got in picture waiting, Billy and I decided “maybe we’ll do something else” and that’s when Richie was suggested and as soon as Richie came on board, we started from scratch and that’s how this band is born.
Can you explain us the guidelines around the record? The way you thought these songs, the themes.
M : Well, lyrically, you’ll have to ask Richie. He wrote all the lyrics except for one. Musically, there were no guidelines; we didn’t even discuss the style of direction beforehand we just knew the three of us would make a good combination of people and once we started playing, this is what came out.
We noticed something: the last track is titled “Regret” and on the Flying Colors album, there’s “Repentance”. Is there any links with the Alcoholics Anonymous Suite? Is it a coincidence or is it a way to continue this Suite?
M : No, well Richie wrote “Regret” and I have a tattoo “No Regrets” (laugh) and then I wrote a song called “You Saved Me” and Richie has a song called “Can’t Save Me”, so honestly Richie and I are very much in opposite with our opinions and lyrics; but there’s not connection. “Regret” is Richie’s lyrics and “Repentance” lyrics are mine. I said possibly everything I wanted to say and even more, with those five songs. Enough, done.
If you had to pick up three songs that describes the best the record, which ones and why?
M : “Elevate”, “Desire” and “I’m No Angel” the three that we did the performance videos for. I think those three sums up the style of the band, the best. But something like “Regret” I don’t think it sum up the style because it’s so different however, I think it’s such a unique song that you want people to hear it, understand the range what the band can do.
Will there be a second album in the future?
M : Oh yeah, absolutely! We plan on this being an ongoing band, not a one-off project.
Because when you quit from Adrenaline Mob, fans were like “Will there be a second album?”
M : Well I mean, I guess you never know. Because I assumed Adrenaline Mob would be an ongoing thing as well but situations played themselves out in way that sometimes, you don’t know how the future’s going to ravel. But Richie, Billy and me, we have every intention and every hope to be an ongoing band, of course you can never tell the future.
People often say that you have multiple side projects here and there, isn’t it boring to hear that or you don’t care?
M : It’s boring hearing anything that’s been said about me. (laugh) It’s frustrating; everybody think they know what’s right for me and I should be doing, but you know what? It’s my life, it’s my career, at this point my life I want to do multiple things, I’m not ready to commit exclusively to only one band, that’s one of the reasons I needed a break from Dream Theater, I was very tired, very bored of being exclusive and doing one thing with one group of guys, the whole routing got very stalled to me. I need to do many many different bands. You know, the problem with that is sometimes to coordinate; that was one of the problem I had with Adrenaline Mob, they wanted me to be exclusive and I couldn’t say “fuck off” to everything else, and just be exclusive to AMob, I’m not ready for that at this stage of my life. I’m at the stage where I want to do lots of different things with lots of different people. So as long as I can continue to juggle that, I will.
And the moment you can’t do that anymore?
M : Well the moment I can’t do that, I’ll have to take decisions. The moment where I have to pick and choose, then I will. Adrenaline Mob put me in that situation, to pick and choose, and unfortunately that one had to go away. You know, Adrenaline Mob want to do a new album but I already had four or five months’ worth of touring scheduled with The Winery Dogs.
So it seems that the next Transatlantic record is written. Is it recorded yet?
M : Yes it’s done and it comes out in January and the tour is in March.
You’ll be playing at Sweden Rock Festival, could it be possible to see you at Hellfest too?
M : Not Transatlantic, there’ll be a proper show in Paris, at Le Bataclan. But I would love to play Hellfest with The Winery Dogs; I’d love that, absolutely. I’m hoping so.
Did you listen to Avenged Sevenfold new album?
M : Well I think it’ll probably be huge for them. I think they set out a crossover album or something that would be little bit more mainstream. For me personally, it’s not necessarily my cup of tea, you know I like the longer songs, the more adventurous playing. To me, that’s just part of the appeal, for me, that’s just my personal taste. I know when Metallica came out with the “Black Album”, I preferred the more adventurous playing and style of writing so; but I’m sure it’ll be huge for them.
Did you heard about the little clashes between Mr. Shadows and Robb Flynn from Machine Head?
M : Yeah, yeah. Well I’m friend with both and obviously I have a history and friendship with Avenged Sevenfold but I’m also friend with Robb Flynn, Phil and Dave as well, so I’m not gonna get involved. (laugh)
Lots of artists “wrote” autobiographies, have you ever been tempted to do so?
M : After I left Dream Theater I got many offers to write a book and I turned them down because the feelings were too sensitive and I decided to wait. There was such drama with Dream Theater, with Avenged Sevenfold, it’s like I don’t want drama, I want to make music. So I decided “well just wait a few years and everybody calls down, having a little objectivity in what’s going on” so I passed those opportunities.
Maybe one day?
M : Maybe in the future yeah. Maybe now, the smoke is clearing and the dust is settling.
We interviewed Anneke a few weeks ago and she got lots of tattoos. You also have some tattoos, what do they represent for you?
M : Well for me, my tattoos, I mean at the beginning they represented anything that was going into my life. My first couple ones were Dream Theater and then, as I got more tattoos, it goes beyond meaning and now it’s just like artwork. Now I like to collect tattoos from certain artists that I like: Kate Von D, Chris Garver, Bob Tyrrell.
Which is Kate Von D’s tattoo?
M : Kate did my dogs! (Showing the tattoo). Kate did those and she signed it for me, she featured me in her last book and Bob Tyrrell also featured me in his latest book. Now it’s just the point of having tattoos from artists that I love.
And about your bear, how do you choose the color? Does it also represent something? (laugh)
M : I had blue, I had purple and I had red. Blue last the longest so I stuck with the blue.
Can you give advices to Yann, our photographer?
M : You need to bleach it first. You bleach it blond and then
Y : Yeah I know, it getting me older.
M : How old are you?
Y : Nearly 40
M : Well, I’m 46 and I have no grey hair on my beard. I got them up here but not there. So I have to bleach it blond and then have the color.
Thanks for the advices!
M : I done purple but it washes every week or so. Red one, I don’t like because it looks like I’ve got girls period on my beard. (laugh)
(Everybody laughing)
M : But Dimebag had it, the red too, so.
Any message to your French fans? That are following you with each one of your bands.
M : The ones who are following me every time: thank you! The ones that say shit about me: fuck you!
Finally, we are “RockUrLife”, so as a conclusion, what rocks your life?
M : What rocks my life? Music and movies, those are my two biggest loves. My iPod is still full of hundreds of bands and I love following new bands, discovering new bands.
What are the last bands you listen to?
M : Oh God; well let’s take my iPhone and see what’s in there (unlocking it and scrolling down the list), there’s only new music from this year. What do I have? Well, Between The Buried And Me, Biffy Clyro, Clutch, Deftones, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Gojira, Haken is one of my favorite new prog albums.
What do you think about Ghost? (While seeing it in the list)
M : I like the last album but I’m not crazy about the new one “Infestissumam” (2013).
And about the orchestration on stage?
M : It’s cool. I mean, lot of people really love it or at least are excited about. To me it reminds me Mercyful Fate, a version of Mercyful Fate.
(Continuing the list)
M : New Kill Devil Hill is great, what else? The Ocean, I love that one. This band, The Pillbugs, there’re not around anymore, from the 90’s/2000, sound like The Beatles; Queens Of The Stone Age, Sixx:A.M., Slash, Spock’s Beard, Sykes/Portnoy here you go! Twelve songs that you’ll never hear (laugh); the new Transatlantic, Twelve Foot Ninja is very cool, they’re from Australia, remind me band like Faith No More. So there you go, that’s the latest stuff I’m into.
Merci beaucoup! March 15th with Transatlantic and hopefully back next summer with The Winery Dogs.
Website : thewinerydogs.com
