Back in July drummer MIKE PORTNOY (ADRENALINE MOB, FLYING COLORS) spoke with Michael Schetter at Prog-Sphere.com. An excerpt is available below:

Q: I don’t really want to talk about the (DREAM THEATER) split per se, just: Are you happy now?

Portnoy: "I could not be happier. I am, you know, I’m getting to do everything I’ve ever wanted to do, anything my imagination can think up. I’m getting to play with some of my favorite musicians in the world, ranging from RUSSELL ALLEN to BILLY SHEEHAN to PAUL GILBERT to STEVE MORSE. You know, these are all people I admire and respect, and I’m getting to work with them all and make music with them all and getting to do such a wide range… You know, from the metal of Adrenaline Mob to the pop kind of stuff with Flying Colors to… you know, I’ve got this thing with Richie and Billy which is more like a classic rock power trio thing. So I am incredibly fulfilled and to be honest, if I had stayed with Dream Theater, in the last two years, I would have made one album and just done one tour with one band, playing that same album over and over and over, but what I’ve done in less than two years, I’ve made six albums and I’ve played live on stage with, I think, ten or twelve bands now. Not only the bands that I am a part of, but I also got to fill-in gigs with STONE SOUR, HAIL! and FATES WARNING, and I did the Metal Masters gigs with the SLAYER, ANTHRAX, PANTERA and MEGADETH guys. I mean, it’s the last two years have been maybe the two most creatively fulfilling years of my entire career."

Q: When you left Dream Theater I figured that one thing that would really come to life would be TRANSATLANTIC, which to my surprise never happened. Why?

Portnoy: "Just hasn’t happened yet. Just because Flying Colors was already scheduled. You know, when I left Dream Theater, I basically went right to work with Neal on three different things. I finished with AVENGED SEVENFOLD December 15th or something like that, then literally a couple of days later I flew to Nashville to do the Testimony 2 album. And then with Flying Colors in January and we did YELLOW MATTER CUSTARD in February, so literally the first three things I did was with Neal, with other things that were already planned and booked, so there was no time to fit Transatlantic in – yet. But we’re still trying, we’re still trying to get Transatlantic back on the calendar and do a follow-up."

Go to this location for the complete interview.