Mike Mangini, world-renowned as the former drummer of Dream Theater and Extreme, and a distinguished Berklee College Of Music professor, unveils his highly anticipated solo project on a new episode of The Mistress Carrie Podcast. He talks about his split from Dream Theater, recording his upcoming solo album, theories behind his playing, songwriting, and more.

On his departure from Dream Theater

Mangini: "I don't think about the future too much. There are things that are out of my control and things that can change for the worse, or better. This is happening (the split with Dream Theater) and everybody's in the place they need to be. The situation made sense to me when I heard it in that... 'Original band member going back to a band.' I get that, and that is literally it. That's everything. A decision was made that I understood."

A day after it was announced that Mike Mangini would be vacating the drum stool in Dream Theater to allow for the return of Mike Portnoy, Mangini has shared details of his debut solo album, Invisible Signs, due November 11, 2023. He posted the following message on social media:

"I’m so happy to finally announce the date for the release of my upcoming album Invisible Signs, coming your way on 11/11/23 . Swipe left to see the full tracklist! Can’t wait for all of you to hear it!! Don’t forget to pre-order your autographed physical copies clicking the link in my bio… you can also pre-save it in its digital format."

Joining Mangini on Invisible Signs are bassist Tony Dickinson, guitarists Ivan Keller and Gus G. (Firewind, Ozzy Osbourne), and vocalist Jen Majura (Evanescence).

Tracklisting:

"Freak Of Nature"
"Invisible Signs"
"Habit To Change"
"Not Drowning"
"Deep Inside"
"Saying Sorry"
"So Alive"
"Glamorous Shades"
"It's Noise"
"Let Me Shine"
"Seek And Find"
"Black Box"

"Freak Of Nature" lyric video:

Mangini commented on the lyrics for "Freak Of Nature":

"Beyond being about forces of nature like hurricanes, as well as other unstoppable forces, this lyric was inspired by elite athlete Rob Gronkowski who played TE (tight end) for the New England Patriots. The way that he would pound through opposing players reminded of what a hurricane does. Players in many sports have special qualities. Neither critiques nor praises affect their nature, change what they are or how they work. The non-effect of critiques and opinions seems pointless and somewhat funny to me. They simply do what they do while seeming like super-heroes at times. For a song lyric, 'force of nature' didn’t sound as impactful as 'freak of nature.' The sound of the 'ka' in 'hurricane' was more similar to 'freak' than say, 'tornado.' It is sound that put the two together. Like all the lyrics on the album, they can be interpreted by the listener."

"Not Drowning" lyric video:

Mangini spoke about the lyrics for "Not Drowning":

"While listening to the chorus part of this song sometime in 2018, I heard word sounds in my mind and the word 'drowning' fit it pretty well. I didn’t want to write about it literally though. Also, the lyrics on this album aren't about personal events or stories and they're supposed to be simple and quickly digestible, not complex like the content (below) that I found. This album is purposefully not 'prog' in any way."

"Searching terms related to 'drowning' eventually led me to the word 'confusion.' That made me think of the confusion surrounding the findings of Quantum Mechanics. I found instances of physicists and mathematicians saying that the test results seemed strange and 'wrong,' and that they could not reconcile it with their view of reality. Some said there are things about it we cannot know, or maybe are not supposed to know. It seemed to me that spending too much time immersing oneself in it can make a person crazy. Einstein died confounded by it spending countless hours trying to recocile it with the reality he knew. The myriad of unfounded conjectures outside the physics community conjured up a comedy skit in my mind, yet there is something that is not adding up at the very core of it all and that's not funny. The lines 'Not Drowning' and 'I will breathe' each relate to the hope of clearing away what is blurring the reality of something in all kinds of situations."

"For a song lyric, I suspected that singing about physics wouldn’t be as common as the idea of jumping in a saltwater pool. I needed a descriptive location for it. 'Backyard' didn’t work, so I used the word 'nation' because everyone lives in one. That word led me to 'radiation,' as that’s what heats up a pool and has a cool sound to it when sung. Mainly, words come to me as sounds, then I search around and form something cohesive, but try not to sacrifice how the words sound."

"I thought this might be interesting to know about. At the end of the day, however, it’s just a song for rocking out!"

"And then there's the simultaneous 7/8 in Common Time and a wild solo section for the Musos!"

Mangini's official statement on leaving Dream Theater reads as follows:

“I understand Dream Theater’s decision to get Mike Portnoy back at this time. As was said from Day 1, my place was not to fill all the roles that Mike held in the band. I was to play the drums in order to help the band carry on. My main role of keeping our live show working tightly on a nightly basis was an intense and rewarding experience. Thankfully, I got to experience playing music with these iconic musicians, as well as some fun times laced with humour. I also really enjoyed spending lots of time with the crew. And then there’s the Grammy win, which was amazingly satisfying. To the fans: thank you so much for being amazing to me. I cherish the pictures I have of you all losing your minds and having fun. Finally, I really love the band, crew, and management and wish them and the entire organization all the best.”

For further details, visit Mike Mangini on Facebook.