Michael Mangini

Mike Mangini
Mike Mangini in Singapore 2004
Background information
Birth name	Michael Mangini
Born	(1963-04-18) April 18, 1963 (age 54)
Origin	Newton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Genres	Progressive metal, thrash metal, funk metal
Instruments	Drums, percussion
Years active	1987–present
Associated acts	Dream Theater, John Petrucci, G3, Steve Vai, Extreme, Annihilator, James LaBrie, Tribe of Judah, Shredding the Envelope, Dave Reffett
Website	mikemangini.com

Michael "Mike" Mangini (born April 18, 1963) is an American drummer. Since 2010, he has been a member of progressive metal band Dream Theater, following the departure of founding drummer Mike Portnoy. He has also played for bands and artists such as Annihilator, Extreme, James LaBrie, and Steve Vai. Before joining Dream Theater, Mangini was a faculty member at Berklee College of Music. Between 2002 and 2005, he set five World's Fastest Drummer records. Mangini appeared on the Discovery Channel show Time Warp, displaying his drum skills for high speed cameras.

Born in Newton, Massachusetts, Mangini first started playing the drums when he was two and a half years old, being inspired by Ringo Starr of The Beatles. He would practice two to four hours a day and by the time he was nine he was already mimicking Buddy Rich performances. Other influences include Bobby Colomby, Danny Seraphine, John Bonham, Neil Peart and Terry Bozzio.

By high school, he was performing in bands and participating in the prestigious All-State, and All-Eastern United States ensembles.

After graduating from Waltham Senior High School in 1981, Mangini put aside his music studies to pursue a computer science major at Bentley University. After graduating Mike started programming software for the Patriot Missile program. At the same time, he was working on a program that studied the links between the human brain and body.