Mike Portnoy Gives Taylor Swift Hit A Metal Edge With Double Bass, And It’s Pure Genius

Mike Portnoy recently appeared as a guest on Drumeo and turned Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off’ into metal.

On Drumeo’s First Time series, Portnoy was challenged to create drum parts for a song he had never heard before—Swift’s ‘Shake It Off.’ After hearing a snippet without drum tracks, he jammed along. “What the hell was that?” the Dream Theater drummer said after his first take on the song.

When the host asked, “Mike, you actually don’t know what that was?” Portnoy replied, “I have not the slightest clue. It sounds like something out of Disneyland in Japan or something.”

Following his final take on the track, the rocker asked the host, “Who is it? What is it?” After learning it was Taylor Swift, Mike added, “Oh my God, that’s Taylor Swift? Like only the biggest artist on Earth. Wow, that’s Taylor Swift. I had no idea. What’s the name of that song?”

When the host said it is ‘Shake It Off,’ Portnoy sent a message to Swift, saying, “That’s exactly what I’m about to have to do. Taylor, I’m really sorry. I still would play with you in a heartbeat. I swear I wouldn’t do that [laughs].”

“Wow, well, there you go. Perfect example. Biggest artist in the world and I don’t know a single one of her songs. My daughter is going to get a kick out of this,” the musician concluded.

On Drumeo, Portnoy also previously played Nickelback’s ‘Burn It To The Ground’ with double bass. He hadn’t heard the song before, so after listening and taking notes, he played it his way.

Later, he compared it to the original with Daniel Adair on drums and noticed he added an extra bar and used double bass, unlike Adair’s pump-and-kick style. “This is why they’re rich and famous and I’m just a f*cking prog guy,” Mike said of the song.

He then shared, “That was a good song, man. I could fine-tune that and make a really cool drum part, but I think it’s better just the first impression. I’m sure if I ever did end up touring with them it would be the most fun shows ever in my life.”

Portnoy and Dream Theater will release their new album, ‘Parasomnia,’ on February 7. It’s their first with Portnoy since 2009’s ‘Dark Clouds & Silver Linings,’ after he rejoined the band in late 2023.