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| www.AdrenalineMob.com |
Adrenaline Mob is:
Vocals - Russell Allen
Guitar - Mike Orlando
Guitar - Rich Ward
Bass - Paul Di Leo
Drums - Mike Portnoy
ANGELA: You’ve assembled many side projects and musical endeavors over the years. But, Adrenaline Mob is something that was brought to you, by a friend and fellow musician, Russell Allen (vocalist Symphony X). How did this project unfold?
ANGELA: You’ve assembled many side projects and musical endeavors over the years. But, Adrenaline Mob is something that was brought to you, by a friend and fellow musician, Russell Allen (vocalist Symphony X). How did this project unfold?
MIKE: Unlike most of my other bands and projects, I was not the matchmaker; I was actually one of the chosen ones (by them). It began with Mike Orlando and Russell Allen, who were already working on the material for at least a year prior to my involvement. Russell and I had been friends for many, many years because I took Symphony X out with Dream Theater on a couple of different tours, and he and I became good friends and always wanted to work together. Anyways, once my time with Dream Theater and Avenged Sevenfold ended, and Russ knew that I was “available,” he contacted me, and played me some of the stuff that he and Mike Orlando (Sonic Stomp) had been working on. Within literally one minute of hearing the first tune, I knew I was on board, and I immediately loved the whole vibe and the sound of it. So, once I came on board, the three of us kind of became the nucleus of the band, and at that point we brought Paul Di Leo (bassist) and Rich Ward (guitarist/Stuck Mojo, Fozzy) into the fold as well. That’s how it all came together.
ANGELA: What was the first song Russell Allen played for you?
MIKE: It was “Undaunted,” which isn’t on the EP, but it will be on the full-length album. That one song in particular is just so immediate. Literally, I hit play and I just had the biggest grin on my face. (Laughing)
ANGELA: Was it anything like what you expected from those guys?
MIKE: You know, when Russ mentioned wanting to do something with me, I kind of expected it was going to be “Symphony X-esque,” and I think even a lot of fans that are coming into Adrenaline Mob are expecting it to sound like Symphony X or Dream Theater but obviously, it’s not. It’s a completely different beast and a completely different style and genre. To me, that was so refreshing and exciting. The minute I heard the song “Undaunted,” I knew I was on board because it was just crushing grooves and riffs. After my time with Avenged Sevenfold on the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Tour, touring with bands like Stone Sour, Disturbed, HellYeah, you know the whole Uproar experience was such a pleasure to me that I knew one of the next things I was going to do musically needed to be something that was stylistically in that sound and vein.
ANGELA: Fans and new listeners may be expecting something from the “progressive” genre, especially since both you and Russell Allen have spent most of your careers in that arena of style. How would you describe the music you’ve created in Adrenaline Mob to someone that hasn’t heard it yet?
MIKE: I would absolutely not put the term progressive on this band at all, because we’re not. It’s not anything like Dream Theater or Symphony X. It’s just straight-ahead Metal. I don’t know – what would you classify Pantera or Black Label Society as? I don’t know - whatever that is, I think that’s what this is; its crushing riffs, big grooves and shredding. I mean, the only elements of progressive that this band has is the fact that the players can shred, but realistically, stylistically it doesn’t have much in common with the term progressive.
I think people need to know right out of the gates that this is not gonna be Dream Theater or Symphony X territory; it’s something else entirely. If you like Pantera, Alice in Chains, stuff like that, you know - this is what this is all about. The fact is - this is a whole other side of myself and Russell Allen.
ANGELA: You have used many different styles and arrangements of drum kits with your various bands, music projects, clinics, etc. Describe the kit you’re using on the road with Adrenaline Mob…
MIKE: The kit that I’m hitting the road with for Adrenaline Mob is actually the same exact kit that I used for the Avenged Sevenfold (Uproar 2010) tour. It’s a good-all-around Hard Rock, Metal kit which has a lot of the little knick-knacks and cymbals and drums, (stuff like that) that I’ve always used a lot of. It doesn’t need to be a giant triple-bass kit like I had with Dream Theater. I think Adrenaline Mob is like Avenged Sevenfold in the respect that it just needs to be a great, heavy metal, rockin’ kit, so that’s what I’m using for this tour.
ANGELA: Do you have advice for other artists that have thought about or are seriously considering a side project or venturing into a different genre of music?
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| www.mikeportnoy.com |
MIKE: There are all kinds of advice; there’s business advice I can give, there’s musical advice, personal advice. The entire music industry is such a learning experience; in my 25 years now, I’ve learned so many valuable lessons.
If I was to give musical advice to a drummer or an artist to keep an open mind and try to do different things; don’t just do progressive stuff or metal stuff. Try to have an open mind and branch out, do as many different things as you can. That’s what I’ve been doing with my career, for so many years now; I can branch out and play with Avenged Sevenfold and I can just do a Beatles tribute band. My love for so many different styles and genres has helped make me what I am.
Then there’s personal advice that I would give; persevere and be strong because this industry is very difficult. In fact it’s getting more and more difficult as time goes on because labels are folding, record sales are down, and so it’s a very tough business to be in. You have to persevere and not give up. You know, if you get knocked down, you gotta brush yourself off and get back up. It’s a tough business to succeed in, but only the strong survive.
ANGELA: I would think you’ve had some bizarre or weird experiences in those twenty-five years of being a musician and especially while touring all over the globe.
MIKE: Man, everything you have seen in Spinal Tap is absolutely 1,000 % true! I could relate to every single scene in that movie, and every single scene in that movie has happened to me. Whether it be getting lost on your way to the stage, or the catering in the dressing room not being up to snuff, or the in-stores. Everything that happened in that movie has happened to any band that tours.
I’ve had some weird things happen; I’ve had some weird physical injuries on stage. One night in Munich, back in 1997, I dislocated my wrist while onstage. I looked down and literally the palm of my hand was facing up; it was completely twisted and I had to hang my hand into a bucket of ice and go straight to the hospital. So, there have been weird things like that incident that make it …weird.
ANGELA: What do you love the most about ALL of this, all of your experience?
MIKE: I love touring; you know, honestly, a lot of people get asked “Do you like touring? Do you like being in the studio?” I prefer touring and just in the past two years alone, I’ve actually toured with seven different bands and I just love it. I love playing live and playing to fans and people that are enjoying the show, and having that interaction is such an important aspect of what I do.
ANGELA: Hard-Rock-Reviews.com collected a few questions submitted by drummers. One of them asked “How often does Mike Portnoy practice?”
MIKE: Honestly (and it’s been well documented) I don’t practice like I should. In fact, I don’t practice by myself like I did when I was a kid. When I was a kid, I used to play a couple of hours every day, play along to records, and I was constantly practicing. But at this stage in my life – you know, when you start doing this as a professional and once you start having different things in your life like a family, wife and kids and things like that - you know, there’s just no time for me to practice. I’ve spent half my life on stage or in the studio as it is, so it would be very selfish of me to then come home from a tour and sit in the basement practicing for six hours a day. When I come home, there’s many, many other things I’d rather do, but that’s because I’ve been doing this a long time. I’d always recommend that if you’re a beginner and you’re younger, absolutely put the time in shedding because I did for at least the first fifteen years of my life and career, I was practicing all the time. It’s just that my life is very different now than it was when I was a kid.
ANGELA: How did you guys come up with the moniker Adrenaline Mob? How did the cover of Black Sabbath’s “Mob Rules” come about?
MIKE: Originally, Mike Orlando & Russell Allen were calling the project Adrenaline Fueled Junkies but believe it or not, I think there might have been another band by that name. I really loved “Adrenaline” because I think the word is super cool and I never heard of any other bands utilizing that word. Plus, it puts you right at the start of everybody’s play list in their iPod (which is right between AC/DC and Aerosmith). I liked the idea of having a band that began with the letter A. So, we wanted to keep Adrenaline and then I came up with the word “mob” just because I thought that we felt pretty much like a gang, or you know, it felt like the mafia, like a brotherhood, a gang, you know just a tight-knit bunch of guys that were out for blood. So we thought to put the two words together and then as soon as we put “mob” into the band name, I immediately said “Hey, you know we now have to cover Mob Rules,” and that was that.
ANGELA: What was your favorite song to create and record on this album?
MIKE: On the (four song) EP, my favorite track I think is “Hit the Wall.” I think it’s got a little of everything packed into one song; a lot of different riffs, a lot of different changes, some cool drumming where I could branch out a little bit. That was my favorite on the EP, but to be honest, I think some of our best songs are the ones that haven’t been heard yet, the ones that are going to be on the full-length album. We purposely held off on some of the best songs for the full-length album so, you know, I just can’t wait for people to hear that when it comes out early next year. We’ve only scratched the surface with the EP.
"Ties to the MOB"
Mike Portnoy - Drums, Russell Allen - Vocals, Mike Orlando - Guitar, Paul DiLeo - Bass & Rich Ward - Guitar
Mob Tour Dates
Order the EP on iTunes HERE
Written by Angela Villand All Rights Reserved
ang@hard-rock-reviews.com
© Hard-Rock-Reviews.com
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The content herein, written and published by by Angela Villand is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at ang@hard-rock-reviews.com
Order the EP on iTunes HERE
Written by Angela Villand All Rights Reserved
ang@hard-rock-reviews.com
© Hard-Rock-Reviews.com
♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫
Legal Mumbo-Jumbo
Note: The content within these articles, reviews, news updates and interviews may not be used without proper attribution and credit given to both the author and the website. The content within this website is protected by License & Digital Copyright Laws. All photographs, links to other websites & news have been used with express written permission from the artist, publicists, photographers and other applicable owners of material, in all instances. This content may not be copied & re-blogged without express permission from the owner/operators of this website.
The content herein, written and published by by Angela Villand is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at ang@hard-rock-reviews.com