Dream Theater's new drummer is MIKE MANGINI

One of the 5 times I've seen Dream Theater perform was with The Dixie Dreggs, at the Rave in Milwaukee Wisconsin. As a drummer, the chance to see Mike Portnoy and Rod Morgenstein at the same concert is easily one of my greatest drum-related memories! It was full of awesome! :)
 
I spent some time with Derek Roddy last year at the Drum Road Trip in Upstate New York. So I was super excited for him to see that he got called into audition...if for no other reason than it would be a great boon for his reputation and hopefully lead him to other great opportunities. I was rooting for him.

His post here bear out some of the philosophies we spoke about in NY...about the BUSINESS of drumming. Yes, Dream Theater is an amazing gig for a Prog/Metal player. But at what cost to the other aspects of ones life?

I agree with Derrek that a cult band like DT isn't necessarily going to be the most lucrative move for some players. Why would a guy like Lang, who charges $800 a head for his drum camp and does well with his dvd's (and is a nicely paid hired gun) want to join a band and where he now has to take on the debt involved in being a member?? It had better be BIG $$ to take on the 'band member' role rather that 'the hired gun' role.

I know lots of guys who go on tour, come home in debt and to a family who barely recognizes them. It happens...

No one wants to end up like Richie Hayward...in his 60's and sick with no medical insurance.

My point is...there were many more factors to consider for the 7 auditionees other than "when does the tour start'?

From the looks of it, the DT guys have a stable small to medium size business going for them. By contrast, when Metallica hired Rob Trujillo, they gave him A MILLION DOLLARS UP FRONT. Now we are talking!

I did enjoy the audition vids...and thought every drummer played to their strengths. All of them were phenomenal. I would have loved to hear what Virgil or Lang came up with at more length, or to hear a more extreme take that Derrek or Peter could add to DT.

I am an old school Prog fan ...ELP, YES, FLOYD...but after watching this whole process I can see why the critics back then HATED prog. So pretensions and overly dramatic!! So it is no surprise that the DT have a lot of those same qualities. But they seem like nice guys to me.

But Derrek did make me proud!!

t
 
One question though...Why wasn't Terry Bozzio invited to audition? That would have be incredible to see, and probably made sense for that music. Although...he would have been in full 'interpretative" mode all along!
 
One question though...Why wasn't Terry Bozzio invited to audition? That would have be incredible to see, and probably made sense for that music. Although...he would have been in full 'interpretative" mode all along!
They would of had to bring in a thousand more toms for him, and then listen to him tinkle around on everything. :)
 
One question though...Why wasn't Terry Bozzio invited to audition? That would have be incredible to see, and probably made sense for that music. Although...he would have been in full 'interpretative" mode all along!

Bozzio is going to audition. He's still setting up his set. I couldn't pass that one up. Notice the age of these guys, all under 40.

I think that people who don't get prog or are overly critical of it do not understand the satire in it. Many of these guys wanted to be jazz players, and of course Bruford has spoke at length about his love of jazz, esp Max, Morello and Art. Emerson loved Oscar Peterson and Dave Brubeck. But this was the music of their time. Overly dramatic? It's English music. If anything the English know their dramatics.

I can understand that people don't get the satire. I went to visit my folks the other day and joked about spending 3.99 to fill up. I said, "I could remember the good old days when I paid 3.83," which was what I paid the week before. They didn't get the humor, that someday, probably next week I'll wish I could have paid 3.99 a gallon. You can go through life explaining yourself; but that is no fun.

As Peter said, it would be nice to see more. A dvd with the best audition takes of what these seven had to offer would be great. I'd buy it.
 
. Notice the age of these guys, all under 40.

Umm....not true. Most were in their 40's. Virgil is 52. Mangini is 48 himself.

As for Bozzio, I couldn't see it happening. At this point in his career, I doubt Bozzio's auditions for things, you hire him, or don't. And at age 60(!) he is quite a bit older than everyone else in DT.

And while Bozzio is a very humble person as a player, he is a shrewed businessman. He would want a guaranteed contract, and stipulations to cover himself financially if Portnoy came back, and such. Plus he's not much of a fan of learning a back catalog. Just no way would he work out. And as alluded to by others, I can't see him making that level of commitment to the band at this point in his career. And on an odd note, everyone in DT is happily married, Bozzio is twice divorced. In the end, he'd still lose out to Mangini.

But we could be here all day making a list of drummers who could have auditioned.
 
And while Bozzio is a very humble person as a player said:
Ain't that the truth! Did you read the MD interview (or was it DRUM!) where Bozzio gave all the dirt on his past gigs? He ain't no fool!! He sure would want a buy out clause when Portney inevitably returns, plus %'s of merch and the rest.

In that same article, he outlines a 'creative work environment" based on improv and jamming...rather than learning set parts that were pre-written by a composer or a past drummer.
 
Interesting collection of audition videos. I did think it odd that Lang and Minneman were not selected based on criticisms of bringing too much "interpretation" to the music. I see that as a good thing; but if the band members want more of a Portnoy clone, that is their decision to make.

Mangini was definitely impressive: I think he and Minneman expressed the most energy in their playing along with killer chops. Mangini also seemed like a really personable guy.

As for Dream Theater in general, never really cared for them--that kind of prog rock always seemed to me to be a combination of pretension (like Rush on a really bad day) and Cheez Whiz. Don't get me wrong: all the players appear to have great chops, but most of the music leaves something to be really desired. Overboard technical displays can turn to boredom easily.
 
Umm....not true. Most were in their 40's. Virgil is 52. Mangini is 48 himself.

wow, they're older than I thought. After I wrote it I thought oh Virgil must be well in his 40s, but I though Mangini was much younger. But Extreme were big in the 80s, weren't they? He looks good for his age. :) I am sure he has taken care of his interests as has Mike Portnoy. You don't have to be shrewd, you just have to have a shrewd agent.

Portnoy put up a video on youtube of himself and his boy playing drums. I think he is going through a midlife crisis, and I think part of it has to do with what people have been talking about. Weckl said the same thing,. He said, "when I was young playing drums for 12 hours a day, that was all that mattered. Now all that matters is my daughter."
 
Ain't that the truth! Did you read the MD interview (or was it DRUM!) where Bozzio gave all the dirt on his past gigs? He ain't no fool!! He sure would want a buy out clause when Portney inevitably returns, plus %'s of merch and the rest.

In that same article, he outlines a 'creative work environment" based on improv and jamming...rather than learning set parts that were pre-written by a composer or a past drummer.

It was DrumHead Magazine.

I could see Bozzio coming in and doing a great album, but when it came time to tour, he'd lose interest in playing all the old stuff. And touring is the bands bread and butter.

wow, they're older than I thought. After I wrote it I thought oh Virgil must be well in his 40s, but I though Mangini was much younger. But Extreme were big in the 80s, weren't they? He looks good for his age. :) I am sure he has taken care of his interests as has Mike Portnoy. You don't have to be shrewd, you just have to have a shrewd agent.

Portnoy put up a video on youtube of himself and his boy playing drums. I think he is going through a midlife crisis, and I think part of it has to do with what people have been talking about. Weckl said the same thing,. He said, "when I was young playing drums for 12 hours a day, that was all that mattered. Now all that matters is my daughter."

Even the guys in Dream Theater aren't that young. Images and Words came out in 1991, that was 20 years ago.

As for Portnoy, between seeing him briefly at NAMM and the last few video interviews he's given, I've never seem him look happier. It seems being out of DT has felt liberating for him.

He has admitted over the years that he is very OCD. And so in the band, he wasn't just the drummer. He co-produced all the albums, directed all the DVDs, wrote lyrics and music, and had this insane database of every song played at every gig in every city the band had ever played at, and he would use that to write a custom set list for every night of a tour.
So it wasn't drumming that burnt him out, it was doing everything else. And I think it got the point that he just didn't know how to say, "someone else needs to handle this". So he just stopped altogether.

But for the rest of band, Tom hit it earlier. They're not Metallica. 10 million world wide sales is nothing to sneeze at, but the band needs to tour to make an income. John Petrucci said it in the first video, they built a business, and they need to keep it going.
 
Mike Mangini is Dream Theater's new drummer.



Cool.
 
Portnoy put up a video on youtube of himself and his boy playing drums. I think he is going through a midlife crisis, and I think part of it has to do with what people have been talking about.
This:
DrumEatDrum said:
As for Portnoy, between seeing him briefly at NAMM and the last few video interviews he's given, I've never seem him look happier. It seems being out of DT has felt liberating for him.
Delta, what do you base your assumptions? Did you see the MP-interview I gave a link a
page or so before in this thread?
Deltadrummer said:
Many of these guys wanted to be jazz players
I don't think this is true for the guys in DT, or for most of the new school, prog metal, musicians.
If anything, they tend to classical music I'd say. Jordan Rudess was at Julliard at age 9.
DT clearly go for intriguing composition, not improvisation in the sense that jazz musicians
work on and explore.
 
FourOnTheFloorTom said:
One question though...Why wasn't Terry Bozzio invited to audition?
I've heard Bozzio say in an interview years ago that he's not very much interested in "popular
music" these days, meaning including music as DT plays, I suppose. Nor would he listen
to it much, as it seems. So I think he wouldn't be interested at all. And I agree with the others,
he's probably too old for the intensity DT will be carrying on writing, touring and traveling.
 
One question though...Why wasn't Terry Bozzio invited to audition? That would have be incredible to see, and probably made sense for that music. Although...he would have been in full 'interpretative" mode all along!

not enough "ostinatos" in DT music for Terry.
 
Delta, what do you base your assumptions? Did you see the MP-interview I gave a link a
page or so before in this thread? .

Yes, but I am basing it on having gone through it. :) I think when guys get to be Mike's age they reevaluate their life. I'm not saying that burn out and other factors are not the cause. I am just adding that it is possible that a lot of that has to do with where he is in his life. They are not mutually exclusive. Relentless touring and groupies are fun at 24. Not so fun at 44. when you have to choose between family and being a rock star, the wise man chooses the former.

BTW Wait 3 years Ian. :)


I don't think this is true for the guys in DT, or for most of the new school, prog metal, musicians.
If anything, they tend to classical music I'd say. Jordan Rudess was at Julliard at age 9.
DT clearly go for intriguing composition, not improvisation in the sense that jazz musicians
work on and explore.

That is one of the interesting dichotomies here. While the old school guys often wanted to be jazz musicians and certainly grew up listening to swing, the new school guys grew up listening to the old school guys.
 
Hitler should know, Italians make the best metal drummers. :)
 
Back
Top