Renowned metal drummer Mike Portnoy has found time during the lockdown to not only cover the Ramones’ “We’re a Happy Family”, but play all the instruments himself. Moreover, he rewrote the lyrics to reflect his own family and the current pandemic.
Portnoy is usually one of metal’s busiest musicians. The former Dream Theater stickman is involved in numerous projects, including The Winery Dogs, The Neil Morse Band, Metal Allegiance, and the new all-star covers supergroup BPMD.
The video — filmed and edited by the drummer’s daughter Melody and son Max — shows Portnoy playing the guitar, bass, and drums, as well as singing. His lyrics mention his wife and two kids, as well as their pets, who all appear in the clip. Among Portnoy’s rewritten lines are, “Mommy’s on the couch/ Watching Netflix/ We’re all just getting by/ Selling Daddy’s sticks.”
That’s not all from Portnoy, as his aforementioned covers group BPMD — also featuring Bobby Blitz (Overkill), Phil Demmel (Vio-Lence, ex-Machine Head) and Mark Menghi (Metal Allegiance) — have just unveiled a video for their metal version of Aerosmith’s “Toys in the Attic”. The band’s debut album, American Made, arrives June 12th and is available for pre-order here.
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Watch both the “We’re a Happy Family” and “Toys in the Attic” videos below.
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