In the premiere episode of the Jay Jay French Connection: Beyond the Music podcast hosted by Twisted Sister’s Jay Jay French, Mike Portnoy discussed some of his most important musical influences, amongst other things. Here is what he said:
“The Beatles were my first big love and passion. I was born the day they completed ‘Sgt. Pepper‘. April 20, 1967 was the last day of the sessions where they were signing off on the mix and also did some overdubs. I was a fan from day one with them. My dad was a rock-and-roll DJ so I literally came out of the womb surrounded with those black 45s green apples on them. The Beatles were four Elvises. You had four guys, each had a distinctive personality and it’s no wonder they blew up the way they did.
There are drummers who are leaders of their bands, like Lars Urlich, Phil Collins or Don Henley. Those are the people I admire. I grew up with Lars Ulrich as my hero. Not because of his drumming, although his drumming was indeed a huge influence on me, but it was more the fact that he was more than a drummer. People like that really inspired me. Neil Peart was an amazing drummer but he was also a lyricist and he oversaw all the artwork and that kind of stuff. I always wanted to be more than just a drummer. When I was going off to Berklee, I didn’t want to just play drums, I wanted to learn about music theory, harmony, arranging. I took all those classes because I wanted to be an overall musician. I always wanted to break that stereotype and stigma with the drummer jokes, you know.”
Listen to the full interview HERE.
What were your earliest influences?