Ex-DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy recently spoke with Ultimate-Guitar.com about his work with ADRENALINE MOB and FLYING COLORS. An excerpt from the interview is available below:

UG: Flying Colors had a built-in audience with fans of Dream Theater and the Dixie Dregs. Did you think, “We better do a great record”?

Portnoy: "I never doubted it. I mean any album and project I’ve ever been a part of, I’ve always put a thousand percent into but I’ve always worked with other people that are as passionate and driven as I am. I’ve never done a project or an album that I wasn’t fully positive of the people I was working with. I knew that this lineup would be exceptional musicians and passionate artists and I knew that we would get along and work great."

UG: You have worked with the Flying Colors musicians before.

Portnoy: "I’ve done 10 albums with Neal before and I’ve done several tours with Dave LaRue before and several tours with Steve before and I had known Casey for years. So I knew this chemistry between all of us was gonna be a really positive experience and we would come out on the other end with something that was incredibly quality."

UG: Did you know the type of album you wanted to make?

Portnoy: "I didn’t necessarily know what the style would be—if it was gonna be prog or if it was gonna be pop or whatever. That kind of wrote itself once we started working together. But I knew regardless of what the direction would be, it would be great quality."

UG: The album came together in nine days, which must be on the other side of the scale of the way Dream Theater used to work.

Portnoy: "Well, it was a very similar writing process to Dream Theater. With Dream Theater and especially myself, John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess, the three of us worked at an incredibly fast pace when it came to writing. Jordan, myself and John had that kind of quick experience with LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT. So realistically the writing chemistry I had with John and Jordan for all those years was really similar with these guys in Flying Colors. It’s just that with Dream Theater we had the budget to stretch it out for months and months but that was usually the tracking process and not necessarily the writing. The writing with Flying Colors went almost as quickly and was very, very similar to the Dream Theater writing process. When you have a group of guys that are very professional and focused, you can get a lot done with the right people."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Flying Colors will release their eponymous debut album in the UK on Monday, March 26th, followed by a North American release on Tuesday, March 27th.

Released by Music Theories Recordings, the debut album includes the talents of Mike Portnoy (drums, vocals), Dave LaRue (bass), Neal Morse (keyboards, vocals), Casey McPherson (lead vocals, guitar), and Steve Morse (lead guitar).

"The album has bits and pieces of what you'd expect from each of us,” says Portnoy. “The sum of all its parts led to brand new, unchartered territory for everyone involved."

The formation of Flying Colors began with a simple idea: virtuoso musicians and a pop singer joining together to make new-fashioned music the old fashioned way. Refreshing, classic, old and new, the recordings are saturated with the many styles, tones and hues of the players who, in becoming a band, have delivered a unique fusion of vintage craftsmanship and contemporary music.

Mike Portnoy was the co-founding member and drummer for one of the world’s biggest prog metal bands, Dream Theater. Neal Morse is the co-founding member of the prog rock band SPOCK'S BEARD and is currently the prog rock supergroup TRANSATLANTIC. David LaRue plays bass for the DIXIE DREGS and has also worked with JOE SATRIANI and STEVE VAI. Steve Morse has been playing lead guitar for Deep Purple for the last 16 years. Founder and leader of ALPHA REV, Casey McPherson, has enjoyed major success in the US with multiple hits including the song 'New Morning'.

"It was quite an experience,” recalls Dave LaRue. “The band moved at a fast pace, ideas flying around the room at all times. Sections of tunes were arranged, and then re-arranged. Ideas were tried every which way until we made them work, or, in some cases, discarded them altogether. Just keeping track of everything was a challenge!" The album is filled with trial and triumph. It's been an inspiring challenge melding folk, prog, pop, and metal all into one big recording."

Check out "making of" footage for Flying Colors' debut album below: