Michael Mangini (born April 18, 1963 in Newton, Massachusetts) is the current drummer for Dream Theater as of April 29th, 2011. He featured on the band's 2011 album A Dramatic Turn of Events, however he did not contribute to writing any of the music as it had already been written at the time of the departure of Mike Portnoy, Dream Theater's former drummer. It has been comfirmed by the band on one of their Twitter Q&A video that he will be involved with the writing process on their upcoming 2013 album. He also played on Live at Luna Park in 2013, and Breaking the Fourth Wall in 2014, the band's two live albums with Mangini. Before Dream Theater, he played with Annihilator, Extreme, James LaBrie, and Steve Vai. Mangini was famous for setting five World's Fastest Drummer (WFD) records. He also has written two books titled Rhythm Knowledge about his drumming techniques.
Early Life
Mike Mangini started playing the drums when he was two and a half years old. He would practice two to four hours a day and by the time he was nine he was already mimicking Buddy Rich performances. By high school, he was performing in school bands and participating in the prestigious All-County, All-State, and all Eastern United States ensembles.
In 1987, Mangini scored one of his first 'high-profile' gigs - playing drums for the Rick Berlin Band in Boston, where he worked with bassist Philip Bynoe (who would later go on to work with Mike in sessions for Journey's Steve Perry and more notably during Mike's time in the Steve Vai band). He also taught drums privately in Boston during this time.
World's Fastest Drummer Records
- Bare hands (no sticks) in 60 seconds, which he earned by executing 1,138 single strokes in April 2002. Glen Caruba passed him in 2006 with 1,140 strokes using the palm finger technique.
- Mike was the 1st person in history to break 1,200 notes when he played 1,203 single notes at the 2005 Winter NAMM Session, until Jotan Afanador passed him in 2005 with 1,219 in Puerto Rico. Mike got it back with 1,247 at 2005 Summer NAMM. In July of 2013, Mike asked for his 1,203 record to be re-instated due to its evenness throughout the attempt from which that record was made. Tom Grosset then beat Mike's official 1,203 record with 1,208 strokes in July of that same year.
- Traditional Grip which he earned by executing 1,126 single strokes in 60 seconds in 2003, stood for five years before falling to Matt Smith (1,132) in 2008. Zac Sullivan has since passed Smith for the all time hands single stroke record with 1,329 in 2010 using the push pull technique.
- Single Stroke Foot record playing 13,222 hits in 15 minutes and 4,555 hits in five minutes, records that stood for two years before falling to Mike "Machine" Mallais (13,309/4,595) in 2007. Steve Hill passed Mallais' 5 minute record in 2009 with 5,415 using the pump technique and Daniel Montgomery broke Mallais' 15 minute record in 2009 with 14,034 using the heel toe technique.
Discography
- With Annihilator
- Set the World on Fire (1993)
- All for You (2004)
- Metal (2007)
- With Extreme
- Waiting for the Punchline (1995) - tracks "Hip Today", "Leave Me Alone" and "No Respect"
- With Steve Vai
- Fire Garden (1996) - tracks "Bangkok" and "The Fire Garden Suite"
- G3: Live in Concert (1996)
- The Ultra Zone (1999) - tracks "Jibboom", "Windows to the Soul" and "Here I am"
- Alive in an Ultra World (2001)
- With MullMuzzler/James LaBrie
- Keep It to Yourself (1999)
- James LaBrie's MullMuzzler 2 (2001)
- Elements of Persuasion (2005)
- With Tribe of Judah
- Exit Elvis (2002)
- With Dream Theater
- A Dramatic Turn of Events (2011)
- Live at Luna Park (2013)
- Dream Theater (2013)
- The Astonishing (2016)