Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci says that former drummer Mike Portnoy’s decision to tour with Avenged Sevenfold, marked the beginning of the end for the co-founding member.
“Mike had played on Avenged’s album [‘Nightmare’] and that was fine,” explains Petrucci. “We all do side projects when time permits. But touring with the band, that was a different story. That was taking significant time away from Dream Theater at a point when we were all planning to start recording. Initially, we put off recording to go on tour with Iron Maiden — that was too good an opportunity for us to turn down. And then when Mike said he was going on the road with Avenged Sevenfold right after the Maiden tour, that didn’t feel right.”
Speaking with Guitar World, the shred king said that Portnoy didn’t initially want to leave the band, but he did want to take a break from it. “In the end, it was something we couldn’t do,” says John. “Mike wanted to hold all the cards. He wanted to get back together when it suited him. We couldn’t abide by that. So he decided to quit. It was quite a blow. As much as we wanted to continue as a band, we didn’t want Mike to leave.”
In the months following Portnoy’s departure, the renowned drummer reconsidered his decision to leave and asked Dream Theater if he could rejoin. Unfortunately, for him by that time it was too late. Dream Theater had already brought in Mike Mangini as Prtnoy’s replacement.“Mike Portnoy asking to be back in was a problem on a few levels,” maintains Petrucci. “First, we were very happy to have selected Mike Mangini [as the new drummer]. Second, [Mangini] had quit his teaching gig at Berklee. We certainly weren’t going to hang him out to dry when he sacrificed so much for us. Mike Portnoy was too late in asking to come back. We had moved on.” Said Petrucci..
Petrucci went on to give his opinion on why Portnoy decided to leave the band in the first place. “I can’t speak for him. I can only see things from my point of view,” he says. “For him to leave a successful band, one he had been with for 25 years… he must’ve had his reasons. I guess he really needed a change. Maybe he was confused or conflicted at the same time. I don’t know. The biggest thing for me is to not be negative or resentful. I understand the way life is, and change is part of that. People get divorced. They leave companies. They quit bands – it happens. Mike needed a change in his life. That’s really the only way I can look at it.”
The full interview will be available in next month’s issue of Guitar World.