Mike Portnoy Quotes

Had I joined a straight rock band, I'm sure my drumming would be a little bit different right now.

I got my first set of drums when I was around 3. I went from band to marching band to Latin jazz band - it's like riding a bike.

John Bonham, probably the greatest drummer ever - all of us wanted to play drums like him.

I don't always have to be on what is the newest in music is. I'm slowly educating myself in music. For me, I feel more free in not knowing everything in what I'm doing. You can start making up too many rules for yourself. It should just be love and fun and feeling good.

I've never had a plan - it was just to try and get with the people you like to play with, and try to do the best you can.

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 think what the story of Yes has been is we've wandered in and out of different styles over the years.

When I was 12, I happened to see a schoolmate playing percussion, and it looked interesting. I asked for lessons, and it felt right.

In the past, I tried to be more of a typical session guitarist. I wasn't so concerned with impressing anybody.

As a musician, I don't think I'm the greatest guitar player. I'm a bigger fan of the drums than I am the guitar; I just happen to play guitar. I play drums almost every day at my house. I wrote a lot of songs behind the drum kit, just having the music and vocals in my head and playing the rhythm.

I've been playing with Blackwell over 20 years. We used to play when I first went to Los Angeles. Blackwell plays the drums as if he's playing a wind instrument. Actually, he sounds more like a talking drum.

I'm always just looking to get back to the joy of playing music, and keeping it simple, as much as I can.

We can be whatever we want to be. We can be a country band if we need to be. We can be a rock band if we need to be.

With 'The Theory of Everything,' it seems that people really like the voice I've found with the music, which is great. But I may not do that again. Every project is different.

When I first started making music, I wrote the lyrics first, but now, because the music has got kind of wilder, I've flipped it.

I'm the type of guy, I make a lot of different beats, but sometimes I might stick to a sound for a little while.

At 14, I was in my own little classic rock country band. Then, after high school, I started another band called Northern Comfort. That was based out of Chico, Calif.

Alex Van Halen... I loved his playing because he had so much energy; he made those songs exciting, along with everything else that went with him.

The essence of Bonham is what he didn't play rather than what he did play - what he left out.

The closest things to an influence would be people like Charlie Watts or Al Jackson. But I didn't really listen to drummers; I basically played what I thought was needed for the Ramones.

If you actually go back and listen to my first album, there are some things on there that are kind of rock 'n' roll.

I like that people are still trying to guess what kind of music I'm making.

I found that the flute was too limiting. Soon I bought a microphone, then loudspeakers, then an echo, then a synthesiser. Much later I threw the flute away; it was a sort of process.

With my first album it was a little bit like I was practicing.

When I first started playing, I plunked away just like everyone else. During the Sixties I played in a blues band for a few years, and I liked it. It wasn't until I was playing for a while that I made the decision to change my style from a percussive to more of a legato approach. I just wanted a different sound.