On November 21, Josh Rundquist (a.k.a. That Drummer Guy) conducted an interview with drummer Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER, THE WINERY DOGS, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, METAL ALLEGIANCE).
Asked about his decision to leave DREAM THEATER in 2010 while he was on tour with AVENGED SEVENFOLD, Portnoy said: “I needed to do what I did because I couldn’t have lived with myself wondering, ‘Well, what if?’ I didn’t wanna wonder what could have happened because I was too scared to take that leap of faith. So I had to [do it]. And believe me, everyone was shocked and hurt, but nobody was more hurt than me. That was the hardest thing I’d ever done, but it was 25 years of blood, sweat and tears, 24-7, I lived and breathed every moment of my 25 years for that band and the fans. So it wasn’t like I jumped ship after five weeks; it was 25 years — three times the length of THE BEATLES’ or LED ZEPPELIN’s careers. So there was plenty of time there, and there will always be a legacy of what I created in DREAM THEATER that will be there forever for the fans to like. But I needed to explore other things in my life in order to be happy and fulfilled.