Mike Portnoy may be the only person on the planet not to have heard Taylor Swift’s 2014 smash “Shake It Off,” but that’s part of the fun as he partakes in Drumeo’s online video series in which drummers attempt to guess and create parts of songs they’re not familiar with.
After learning from Portnoy’s drum tech Jose that the Dream Theater stickman has a bit of a blind spot for pop music, the Drumeo host played a version of the Swift pop hit without the drum tracks included. Without even a once through, Portnoy began laying down some drum fills and double-kick drums to the track picking up on pieces of the song upon his first listen.
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After his first run through, he asked, “Is that something that’s popular?” and when he was told the track had over 3 billion plays on Spotify and assuring he had never heard it, he stated, “It sounds like something out of Disneyland in Japan or something.”
Despite his desire to find out who was behind the song, the Drumeo crew tasked him with trying to learn the song first. But Portnoy struggled to make notes. “I don’t think I can improve on what I did spontaneously,” he explained, before bemoaning the lack of key changes and the onslaught of verses and choruses and raps in the song.
“I can’t make heads or tails of it so I’m just gonna jam to it, I guess,” stated the drummer before giving it an official go adding his improvised drum part.
When Portnoy Got Swift
Having two listens and delivered his official take on it, Portnoy was then told who was behind the catchy track.
“Oh my god, that’s Taylor Swift?! Like only the biggest artist on earth,” he exclaimed. “Biggest artist in the world and I don’t know a single one of her songs. My daughter is gonna get a kick out of this.”
Portnoy seemed to be particularly interested in the rap breakdown portion and deftly picked up on a drum pattern that mirrored that of Toni Basil’s ’80s hit “Mickey.” “Actually that’s a pretty cool kick drum pattern, pretty syncopated.,” he noted at one point in listening to the original song’s playback.
“Taylor, I’m really sorry,” he joked. “I still would play with you in a heartbeat. I swear I wouldn’t do that.”
While Portnoy might not be stepping behind the kit for any Eras touring in the near future, he has returned to play with Dream Theater. His first album back with the band is Parasomnia and it’s due Feb. 7.
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Gallery Credit: Loudwire Staff
