Recently speaking to Chris Akin Presents…, Mike Mangini shared his reaction to the news of Mike Portnoy’s return to Dream Theater, which seemed to catch him off guard.
Dream Theater announced Mangini’s departure and Portnoy’s return on October 25, 2023. When asked if he knew beforehand about Portnoy’s return to the band last fall or if it was a sudden surprise, the drummer replied:
“Immediate. But it’s like… So the fish comes up out of the water, it’s immediate, but the fish was swimming for a while. Where was the fish? Whatever.”
Mangini’s Immediate Reconciliation
Mangini then shared his perspective on the change, noting his ability to quickly accept the situation. He explained:
“The reason it was easy for me to deal with — very easy, actually — I was, like, ‘Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. Original guy back in band.’ I got I got it. And I didn’t have to go do through a drop-down menu; I didn’t have to do it. It was just I looked at it and went, ‘Okay.'”
Embracing New Opportunities
Highlighting his understanding and readiness to move on to other ventures that had been on hold, the musician added:
“And plus, I don’t know whether it was intuitive, instinctual [or] intellectual… but I have left so many things on the table for so many years — the publishing of more books, the classes that I wanna teach, the interaction that my own self-development comes largely from me having to teach and talk about it to people. At some point, I mean, I see the whole picture, the grid, and I know what I can’t do, and that inspires me.”
A Smooth Transition
Mangini’s departure and Portnoy’s return were not marred by drama or hard feelings. In an interview with Eddie Trunk about the transition, the drummer talked about the simplicity of the process, saying:
“All I know is the decision was made, and when I heard it, all I pictured was, ‘Oh, this is an original guy going back to his band. Uh, okay. All right. Let’s go to the next thing.’ It was nothing more. I was told. It was just nothing more than — it seemed so simple to me. And maybe intuitively, it’s, like, ‘Oh yeah, I get it.’ And that was that. That’s really it.”
Later, in a Drumeo interview, Portnoy appreciated how smoothly everything went without any arguments or drama, and he praised Mangini for handling his replacement with a lot of class. He was relieved by how well Mangini took the news, as it’s not easy to be replaced.
Watch the whole conversation below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uExvkazqEJQ
