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Did Mike Portnoy answer your question? Read on and find out! (© Scott D. Smith/Retna ./Retna Ltd./Corbis)

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Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy is undoubtedly a popular guy. When we asked MusicRadar readers what question they wanted to pose to the drum master, songwriter, producer and all-around overseer behind the progressive rock behemoth, we knew the response would be huge.

But we were knocked flat-out by the staggering amount of questions that flooded our Facebook page, website, e-mail accounts and the like. To paraphrase actress Sally Field, "You like him! You really like him!"

Needless to say, combing through such an overwhelming batch of queries took some doing. However, we did manage to pick the best cross-section of questions that we could, making sure to cover all the bases. Topics ranged from drumming techniques to Portnoy's involvement with Avenged Sevenfold, plans for the next Dream Theater album, lyrical concepts - oh, and someone even wanted to know what was up with his beard (which is dyed an attractive hue of blue).

We spoke to Portnoy, a man who seems to need little time for rest - this year alone he's playing in four different groups - while he chilled in his hotel room in Portland, Oregon. Dream Theater is a few weeks into their stint as 'special guest' openers for the hotter-than-ever Iron Maiden on the British band's Final Frontier Tour. The drummer is pleased as punch at the response Dream Theater are receiving from what could very well be a most-hard-to-please Maiden audience.

"We're having a super time," Portnoy said. "Iron Maiden have been great to us, and the fans have been very cool. I'd say they're definitely becoming Dream Theater fans.

"Being an opening band is a bit of an adjustment for us," he continued. "We have 50 minutes and limited stage space, but we're making the most of it. The setlist I wrote for this tour is full-on metal, specifically aimed at the Maiden fans. Normally, when I write the setlist for a Dream Theater show, I'll change it up every night and we can basically play whatever we want. This time, the goal is to give the Iron Maiden fans a crash course in the metal side of Dream Theater, and that's the kind of setlist I wrote. It's all about grabbing them, not letting go and hoping that they get it - and it seems as though they are."

Ahhh, so what about your questions? OK, we won't keep you waiting. Without further ado, here we go:

Roberto Campos asks, Have you or the rest of Dream Theater come up with ideas for the next record? Any musical directions, or even a concept?

"Nothing, nothing, nothing. We never work on ideas separately or on tour. It's always done once we convene in the studio. So, until it's time to work on a new record, we're concentrating on touring right now. Once it's time to really get down to working on a new album, that's when we'll start letting the ideas flow."

Olivia Nogal asks, Would Dream Theater ever consider a residency stand at one venue similar to what The Allman Brothers Band do? Perhaps you could play all of Dream Theater's albums in their entirety.

"It's an interesting concept. I like pursuing different approaches and ideas when it comes to the setlist. Marillion does something similar to that; in fact, I saw some people talking about it on my forum, wondering if we would ever consider doing a Dream Theater Weekend, which is what Marillion does. They'll basically set up in one place and play two or three different nights, do special setlists and complete albums.

"Yeah, I like that idea. I like utilizing different approaches, whether it's doing complete albums or covering things. I'd be open to it. It's just a little difficult for us to be stuck in one place for three to five different days, or three to five different shows. There's so many places we can play, and positioning ourselves in any one city could be tough. But you never know."

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