SONS OF APOLLO PREPARE FOR LIFT-OFF
18th August 2017



sons of apollo

Portnoy and Sherinian's long-promised supergroup preview new album and worldwide touring plans for 2018...

As exclusively revealed in MetalTalk's recent interview with the serial supergrouper, he and Sherinian had long-held plans to put together a killer band.

"Finally, the big one is my new band with Derek Sherinian. That album is pretty much finished at this point and will be coming out later this year. We haven't made any formal announcements yet because we're waiting until we get closer to the release date, but by the end of the summer we should be ready to make a big announcement and unveil the band. We look to pretty much focus all of 2018 on that."

Check out the full conversation right here.

Now that the Winery Dogs are taking a break and with Sherinian's commitments with Black Country Communion extending currently only to early next year, the coast is clear for the release of the psychotically symphonic debut album on 20th October 2017. Check out the official album teaser here:



The full band line-up is certainly impressive, with the inclusion of Jeff Scott Soto and Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal equally surprising and satisfying. Better still is the announcement of full Metal band name, rather than a clumsy acronym of the players' names - PSSST anyone?

The supergroup of Portnoy, Sherinian, 'Bumblefoot' and Scott Soto is completed by Billy Sheehan (The Winery Dogs, Mr Big, David Lee Roth) and 'Psychotic Symphony' will be released on InsideOutMusic/Sony Music.

The album 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 twenty 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."

Sherinian continues:

"Mike and I work at a relentless pace in the studio. 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? Portnoy explains:

"Derek was mainly the one behind the name. 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. Sone 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 InsideOutMusic.

"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 and Portnoy declares:

"This is a real band. 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!"