Mike Portnoy Subtly Slams Idea That Taylor Swift Boosted His Career
During a recent appearance on Everblack Podcast, Mike Portnoy said Taylor Swift and Hello Kitty made him famous.
The host initially mentioned that when he told his wife about talking to Portnoy, she recognized him as the one who did the Taylor Swift cover. The drummer responded by saying, “Yeah, things like that, I’ve been doing this for what 30-40 years at this point, been on the won like 30 modern drummer rewards whatever, that doesn’t matter.”
He continued, “The things that are my claim to fame are the Taylor Swift video, the Hello Kitty video. It’s things like that are my claim to fame.” Then, the host also said he tried to explain that Portnoy is one of the greatest drummers ever, but his wife focused on the Taylor Swift cover instead. He found it frustrating but accepted it. “That’s okay. My claim to fame, yeah,” Portnoy added.
Earlier this month, Portnoy was a guest on Drumeo and turned Swift’s ‘Shake It Off’ into a metal version. On the show’s First Time series, he was asked to create drum parts for a song he had never heard before—’Shake It Off.’ After listening to a snippet without drums, he jammed along. After his first try, the Dream Theater drummer said, “What the hell was that?”
When the host asked if Mike knew what the song was, he said, “I have not the slightest clue. It sounds like something out of Disneyland in Japan or something.”
After his final take, Mike asked, “Who is it? What is it?” When told it was Taylor Swift, he was surprised and said, “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 revealed it was ‘Shake It Off,’ Portnoy had a message for 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].”
Portnoy previously played a tiny Hello Kitty drum kit during a visit to Loudwire. He performed songs like KISS’ ‘Love Gun,’ Slayer’s ‘Raining Blood,’ and Rush’s ‘YYZ.’
