MIKE PORTNOY On THE WINERY DOGS: 'This Is Not A Side Project; I View This As My New Home'

THE WINERY DOGS, the power trio featuring drummer Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ADRENALINE MOB),legendary bassist Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, TALAS, DAVID LEE ROTH) and guitarist/vocalist Richie Kotzen (MR. BIG, POISON),was interviewed on this past Monday's (August 5) edition of Eddie Trunk's SiriusXM satellite radio show, "Eddie Trunk Live". A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On whether THE WINERY DOGS feels like "home" for Portnoy after stints with DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD and ADRENALINE MOB:

Portnoy: "We all have cleared our schedule for the rest of this year to focus on THE WINERY DOGS, and we plan on doing the same next year. We plan on riding this cycle — and this band — as far as we could take it. And we all view this as a full-time band; this is not a side project. Me, personally, I have things in the pipeline that were already in the pipeline that are coming out — FLYING COLORS, PSMS, a TRANSATLANTIC album — but other than those, they'll come out, this is the band. I view this as my new home. And the way I was in DREAM THEATER — that was my home and I did other little things when I could, I view the situation here the same… I mean, the other things that I do — TRANSATLANTIC, FLYING COLORS, those are side projects. ADRENALINE MOB, we gave it our best shot, but this, right from the get-go, it just feels great within the band — the internal chemistry is amazing — and also the external reaction has been just off the charts, unanimously supportive and positive. So it's just a great, great feeling, and I really do feel like this is my new home."

On whether there are any plans for THE WINERY DOGS to release a concert DVD:

Portnoy: "We're probably the only band in history to be this stupid. We filmed our second show ever for a live DVD while we were in Tokyo. Actually, the footage looks amazing — any production you do in Japan is amazing, top notch — but it was our second show. We're already leaps and bounds better than we were at that show… I think we're gonna keep it that it's only gonna be released in Japan — a souvenir for them. Our second show. I mean, the hardcore fans will probably be able to obtain it, because you can obtain anything on the Internet, but we're gonna leave it as a Japanese souvenir. Which is really cool, 'cause how many times do you see a DVD of a band's second show ever? So, in that sense, it's a cool collector's item, a cool snapshot of a place in time, but we would like to do a proper onem, you know, a hundred shows in and then maybe do a worldwide release with that maybe next year or something."

The self-titled debut album from THE WINERY DOGS sold around 10,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 27 on The Billboard 200 chart.

"The Winery Dogs" was released in North America on July 23 via Loud & Proud Records and in Japan on May 15 via Victor Entertainment. The CD was mixed by Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with ANTHRAX, ADRENALINE MOB, STONE SOUR and STEEL PANTHER.

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