Mike Mangini Confident In His Dream Theater Spot

Mike Mangini

By: Staff

New Dream Theater drummer Mike Mangini is very confident in his position as Mike Portnoy’s replacement.

In a recent interview with Radio Metal, Mangini was asked what he felt hearing that guitarist John Petrucci and Portnoy, both founding members of the band, had said that they would definitely work together in the future: “I like Mike very much. He’s a friend. I now have new brothers in Dream Theater, and when you love somebody, you let them do what they need to do. So I don’t feel like it’s hanging over my head at all. I feel very comfortable I’m in the band for good. Mike’s not coming back, and that’s the deal. I’m the drummer, and that’s the end of it. I feel confident of that. My confidence doesn’t come from being told that; it comes from the fact that I know I will continue to work hard for them to want me to be there.”

Mangini also spoke of his audition for the band. “I was very alert. I showed up very prepared and skilled. Because I wanted to be in the band, I learned everybody’s parts. I was very respectful of everybody,” Mangini said. “I had a flawless audition, I had no mistakes. I’m the only person that played to that level, I think, and that’s why I was chosen.”

Dream Theater’s new record, A Dramatic Turn Of Events, comes out via Roadrunner Records on September 13th, and is the first to not include Portnoy in the lineup. Check out “On The Backs Of Angels,” the first song released from the album, below: