Drummer Mike Portnoy (ADRENALINE MOB, FLYING COLORS, ex-DREAM THEATER) has checked in with an update on his new project with bassist Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, TALAS) and guitarist Richie Kotzen (ex-POISON, ex-Mr. Big):

"Well, recording has officially begun!

Arrived at Richie's with some Poquito Mas to start the day (as we always seem to!) and settle in. Tama delivered my kit yesterday and it's all set-up, miked and ready to go. It's the same silver sparkle kit that I always use in LA. I've used it live with LTE, TRANSATLANTIC, NEAL MORSE, Metal Masters 3, PSMS, That Metal Show...I also used it to record A7X's Nightmare, film the AMOB video for Indifferent and it also appears as well on my latest covers for Rhythm and Drum! Magazine.

Although I've used this kit with all these bands and performances, the setup and configuration changes from situation to situation. You may be surprised to hear that for this album with Billy & Richie, I am stripping down my kit and going totally 'old-school!'

The music for this project is very classic rock (as I mentioned in my interview with Eddie Trunk that was quoted elsewhere). Think LED ZEPPELIN, CREAM, JIMI HENDRIX, GRAND FUNK RAILROAD, DEEP PURPLE with a touch of modern bands like SOUNDGARDEN, ALICE IN CHAINS, LENNY KRAVITZ, BLACK CROWES... so I really wanted to cop the right vibe and have a kit to make me stay in that style of playing. So it's a basic Bonham-type setup: kick, snare, 1 rack & 2 floors....the cymbals are equally simple: hi hat (15"), ride and 3 crashes...

Just to have the occasional MP-ism, I added a few more toys in case I ever want to utilize them: a set of Octobans, a Max Splash, a Max Stax and a Chopper.

Anyways, enough gear talk!!

The three of us started the session by listening down to the eight demos we did back in January and February, basically to reacquaint ourselves with the material, decide what we're liking and not liking, decide where to start, etc.

We decide to dive into one of the first ones we wrote together back in January (it was called 'Move On' - not sure if that will stick)...but we immediately go to work on completely rewriting the chorus as well as adding an extended guitar solo jam at the end... so the re-working takes several hours of trying different ideas, recording, listening back, deciding what we like and don't like, etc.

Once we get it to the point that we like it (or at least we think so! haha), we move forward and begin tracking my drums. I run through four takes and then spending the rest of the night "comping" the takes to a final drum track that I'm happy with.

So, that's a wrap for the night....we are off and running!"