Mike Portnoy: ”Opin Lars Ulrichilta kohtelemaan faneja oikein”

Yhdysvaltalainen useissa eri äänestyksissä jopa maailman parhaaksi rumpaliksi valittu Mike Portnoy on antanut hiljattain Classic Rockille haastattelum, jossa Portnoylta on udeltu mitä asioita hän on oppinut muilta rumpaleilta. Portnoy on haastattelussa kertonut tehneensä Metallican Lars Ulrichin kanssa joskus yhteisen nimmarointisession ja oppineensa tuon session aikana kunnioittamaan faneja samalla tavalla kuin Lars. Portnoy on kuvaillut kokemusta Lars Ulrichin kanssa seuraavasti:

”Lars and I were doing an autograph session together for Tama drums, as we both had signature snare drums coming out at the same time, and he’s in one of the biggest bands of all time, so I figured he’d be the type that wouldn’t even look up and push the line along as quickly as possible, but he was actually the total opposite. He was so completely gracious with each and every person, and he’d look every single one of them in the eye and spend a few minutes asking them questions. That was a tremendous lesson for me. I’ve done signings with guys that are in one-hundredth of the band that METALLICA is, and they’ve had attitudes and wouldn’t give fans the time of day. But watching one of the most famous drummers in the world have that kind of attitude, even after all these years, was really inspiring to me.”