When Mike Portnoy announced his return to Dream Theater in October 2023 after a 13-year absence, it was a moment of excitement and curiosity for fans of the progressive metal giants. How would his reintegration affect the band’s dynamic? What would he bring back to the table after more than a decade apart?
In a recent interview with Japanese music critic Masa Ito of TVK’s Rock City, Portnoy shared his thoughts on stepping back into a group that had evolved in his absence. When asked what he thinks he has added to the band after his return, his answer was very humble.
“It is not really for me to say. I can’t sit here and pat myself on the back and kind of tell all the things I bring to the band. I think it’s more for the fans or the listener to kind of come up with that opinion. But I think it’s pretty well known what I bring to the band. It’s been this way since the beginning of the band 40 years ago.”
Throughout his initial 25-year tenure with Dream Theater, Portnoy was much more than just a drummer. He was instrumental in shaping the band’s direction—not only through music but also in areas like production, merchandise, and fan engagement. His departure in 2010 forced the remaining members to reallocate those responsibilities among themselves, fundamentally changing the inner workings of the band.
“I was always contributing in every area — not just the drums, but collaborating on the music and the lyrics and the melodies and the production and the merchandise and the fan club and everything that goes into being in a band. I’m a very hands-on type of person, so for the first 25 years of the band, I oversaw all of that stuff. And then when I left the band, the guys had to kind of figure out how things were gonna get distributed amongst themselves. And however they decided that, that’s the way they continued without me. And now coming back in the band, I’ve had to be very, very respectful of what they’ve been doing all the years without me. It’s a very different organization than when I left in 2010.”
That shift in structure meant that his return required a different approach. No longer the dominant decision-maker, Portnoy recognized the necessity of adapting to the band’s current workflow.
“When I left in 2010, I was a control freak and overseeing everything and very protective of everything. But now coming back, I need to respect that they’ve been touring for all these years without me and making records without me, so they have perhaps different ways of doing things. So, I had to come in very respectful and kind of tippy-toe my way around each area to see how much they wanted from me. There are some areas where they put complete control back into my lap. There are other areas that maybe they wanted to retain some control and maybe ask me to take a step back.”
Over the past year, that adjustment process has been about rediscovering the band’s chemistry while respecting the evolution that took place in his absence. Portnoy admits that with age and experience, he has gained a new perspective on collaboration.
“So, it’s been a learning process over the past year or so, how the new chemistry was going to function. And it’s been very easy, I think. We’re all older and wiser at this stage of our lives. When I left the band in 2010, I was in my early 40s. Now I’m in my late 50s. And I think as you get older and you have more life experiences, you learn more, you learn how to behave in a more mutually beneficial way and try to be respectful of other people’s opinions and ideas. And that’s a lot of the stuff I learned all the years outside of Dream Theater. I did so many other bands and projects and albums, each one of which had a very different chemistry that I would have to adapt to. So I think adapting to all those different situations throughout the years really helped me to be more of a team player than maybe I was the first time around.”
