Mike Portnoy Quotes

Music has always been a part of me and art in general. I love visual art as well.

It's all about the music, and I work as hard as I do strictly because of the music. It's not a money thing; it's not a career thing. It's simply to do with me being a music fan with a broad taste, wanting to do different styles and wanting to work with lots of different people.

When it comes to music, it's my clothes, it's my guitar, it's my voice, it's my song.

First and foremost I am a drummer. After that, I'm other things... But I didn't play drums to make money.

Picking up a guitar - I couldn't imagine doing anything else.

Music is just kind of an expression of who I am. It's what I do.

If I'm inspired and music inspires me, then I will continue to play it.

I mean, when it gets down to it I just wanted to play the drums. The rest of it never meant that much to me.

I'm a musical person, and that's what I want my life to be about.

I fell in love with the piano. I knew it was me. I was dying to play.

I was attracted to a lot of different art forms - dancing, painting. But there's something about music that people hold so close. It's such a powerful art form, and that's why I live for it.

Musicians own music because music owns them.

A friend of mine, that I had known for some time, came up one day with an old guitar. I don't know where he got it, I don't know how long he'd had it, but he knew about two chords on it. He proceeded to teach them to me, and then we proceeded to go crazy over music.

I miss the physicality of drumming. There's immediateness about it that I'm always striving for in my acting. Maybe I'm in the wrong profession. I certainly wish I could spend more time pursuing music. It feels like a part of me I'm neglecting.

When I started learning the cello, I fell in love with the instrument because it seemed like a voice - my voice.

I'm always writing. And, I mean, I always counsel people when they call me a musician: I really do not have the skills of a musician. I really don't think like a musician, though I love music and I perform and sing.

I think I'm a music fan before anything else.

Music is where I'm still. It's where I'm focused. It's such a joy. I'd like to make it a big part of my life.

Music is so important to me that that's got to be the only way I can do it. In the purest possible way.

I just have this real love and connection with what I'm doing when I play music.

I think I will never stop working with music; it has become a part of who I am.

Just because I have a guitar, it doesn't mean that changes me. I still rhyme, I still sing.

The one thing I do know is that I'm the best Taylor Hawkins drummer there is, and that is all I can hope to be. And when it comes to music, musicianship and skill, there is no such thing as better or worse because so much is personal opinion, and I can see that now.

Music is such an important part of my life.

Music, even if I ended up doing something different or do end up doing something different in the long run, it's just something that is life blood. If I'm not participating in some way, I feel like I'm wasting my time.