http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/mi...erek-sherinian-join-forces-in-sons-of-apollo/
For the past few months, rumors have been circulating about a new secret project including former
DREAM THEATER members
Mike Portnoy and
Derek Sherinian. Now, the time has come to make the grand and highly anticipated introduction to their new band,
SONS OF APOLLO.
Reuniting to form
SONS OF APOLLO,
Portnoy and
Sherinian have joined forces with
Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (ex-
GUNS N' ROSES),
Billy Sheehan (
THE WINERY DOGS,
MR. BIG,
DAVID LEE ROTH) and
Jeff Scott Soto (ex-
JOURNEY,
YNGWIE MALMSTEEN'S RISING FORCE). Their debut album,
"Psychotic Symphony", will be released October 20 on
InsideOut Music. An album teaser can be seen below.
"Psychotic Symphony" was produced by the dynamic production duo of
Portnoy and
Sherinian, also affectionately known as "The Del Fuvio Brothers," which is the nickname given to them over 20 years ago during their time together in
DREAM THEATER.
SONS OF APOLLO got together very organically, as
Portnoy explains: "
Derek and I reunited shortly after I left
DREAM THEATER in 2010 and we put together an all-instrumental touring band with he and I,
Billy Sheehan, and
Tony MacAlpine. That was my first time working with
Derek since the '90s when he was in
DREAM THEATER and it was just great to be working with him again. Ever since that tour, which was really just a one-off live thing, he has been nudging me to start a real, original, full-time band. The timing just had never been right, because I had too many other things on my plate. Long story short, the time was finally right to take the bait and put together a band."
"
Mike and I work at a relentless pace in the studio," continues
Sherinian. "The music is modern, but we have an old-school soul. What is unique about
SONS OF APOLLO is that we have true rock 'n' roll swagger along with the virtuosity — a lethal combination!”
But what to call the next great supergroup? "
Derek was mainly the one behind the name," says
Portnoy. "I have a list that I keep on my phone of about a hundred different band names, which I constantly have to refer to every time I have a new band every year. [
Laughs] So, I pulled up the list and
APOLLO was one of the names on the list. It was a word that both of us really liked. We started fiddling with different variations of the word. One of the original band names we were working with was
APOLLO CREED, the character from the
'Rocky' movies, but after lots of different discussions on different variations,
Derek suggested
SONS OF APOLLO and it seemed to stick.
Apollo is the God of music so with that in mind it seemed like a fitting name."
Mike Portnoy,
Derek Sherinian and
Billy Sheehan previously toured together in 2012 and 2013 as
PSMS (along with guitarist
Tony MacAlpine), playing all instrumental versions from each of their previously recorded music.
SONS OF APOLLO is the next logical progression by adding a vocalist and creating all-original material. The band incorporates the progressive style and individual technical prowess that
Portnoy and
Sherinian shared together in
DREAM THEATER combined with the swagger and groove of
VAN HALEN,
DEEP PURPLE and
LED ZEPPELIN.
"I have known
Mike and
Derek for a long time, so when they came to me with
SONS OF APOLLO, I jumped on this straight away," says
Thomas Waber, label manager/A&R international of
InsideOut Music. "However, the album they ended up recording exceeded my already high expectations by a long mile! We couldn't be happier about it!"
SONS OF APOLLO will hit the road in 2018 for their first worldwide tour.
"This is a real band,"
Portnoy declares. "This is going to pick up for me and
Billy where
THE WINERY DOGS left off, in terms of this being the next logical full-time thing for us. I'm not saying
THE WINERY DOGS have broken up, because we haven't, we're just on a break.
SONS OF APOLLO is absolutely going to be a full-time band and we plan on touring all over the world all throughout 2018 and, honestly, it is the priority for all five of us."
Sherinian agrees: "We will go on a worldwide crusade in 2018 to bring
SONS OF APOLLO to as many people as possible.
Apollo was the God of music, and we are his mighty offspring!"
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