LIFTING SHADOWS OFF A Dream

It was the reunion that no one thought would ever happen, but after 15 years of making music without him, Dream Theater have welcomed back co-founder Mike Portnoy on their 16th studio album. The drummer discusses Parasomnia, healing old wounds and touring the classic line-up for the band's 40th anniversary.

- Rich Wilson

For over a decade, the chances of drummer Mike Portnoy returning to the band he co-founded back in 1985 appeared to be remote. But with a gradual warming of relations between members, and Portnoy working on Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci's second solo album, there seemed to be an unstoppable momentum and inevitability about his return to the band in late 2023.

The timing was perfect, with Dream Theater celebrating their 40th anniversary this year.

"It's interesting you brought up the word 'inevitable' because I've used that word myself a few times to describe it," says Portnoy cheerily. "There were many baby steps that got us to this point. First and foremost, the most important thing was to rebuild our personal relationships before we even thought about playing music together. It started with John Petrucci and I, with our families getting together for the holidays and things like that.

It was the same with Jordan [Rudess, keyboards]. I kept in touch with Jordan and would get together with him on occasions.

During those phases, it was just about reconnecting and getting rid of all the drama and bullshit from over the years. There was a time when I started to think it would be really sad if it didn't happen. Now, here we are and thank God it happened. I've often been asked if I had any regrets about leaving the band. I would say that at this point, my regret was not leaving the band; the regret is that it took so long to reunite. Now that we're back together, it feels so natural, so good and so right. I just wish it had happened sooner.