Mike Portnoy says that has “no desire or interest” to play with DREAM THEATER again.
Asked by Australia’s Triple M radio station how he feels about the fact that DREAM THEATER has been performing some of the songs from the “12 Step Suite” on its recent tours, Portnoy said: “Well, look, I left the band and they’re free to do whatever they want. I have no control over that. It feels weird to me when I hear that they’re performing some of those specific songs, ’cause they’re very personal to me. ‘A Change Of Seasons’ I wrote for my mom, who died in a plane crash. So you don’t get more personal than that. So when I hear these stories of them performing a song like that now, or performing one of my ’12 Step’ songs, it’s just strange. But, obviously, I can’t stop them and I can’t expect them to do it or not do it — that’s their prerogative — but, for me, it’s a little strange. But it is what it is.”
According to Portnoy, he is “on very good terms” with his former DREAM THEATER bandmates John Petrucci (guitar) and Jordan Rudess (keyboards). “We stay in touch and send each other nice e-mails and texts, and I’ve even gotten together with both of them,” he said. “So, yeah, I stay in close contact with those two guys.”
Pressed about whether he hopes that he could one day play with DREAM THEATER again — possibly at a one-off celebration show similar to the band’s 2004 gig where they invited original vocalist Charlie Dominici and ex-keyboardist Derek Sherinian to perform with them in Los Angeles — Portnoy said: “I have no hopes of it, I have no desire or interest at this stage, and I don’t think they do either.
