Disturbed has been around for as long as I can remember and they're one kick ass rock/metal band! They originated in Chicago, Illinois in 1996 and they've came out with album after album, each one with a new flare. Recording their fourth album, these guys have plans to come out stronger than ever in 2008 and I can't wait for the tour! Today Disturbed's front man, David Draiman, took the morning off to come into the studio for an interview and discuss their upcoming album and future plans for the band and here's what he had to say.
JUICY BANDS: When are you coming out with your next album?
DAVID: As soon as possible, we're actually in the process of working on it right now, we've been working on it since November and we're still currently working on the different songs and trying to get it done.
JUICY BANDS: Do you have a title for the album?
DAVID: Right now we’re calling it Indestructible.
JUICY BANDS: Do you have a release date yet?
DAVID: We’re lookin at the spring of 2008 but don’t have an exact date.
JUICY BANDS: I'm super excited, you guys always seem to come up with something new and crazier, what's the new album going to be like?
DAVID: I think this is going to be a much darker record than the previous two. It has a lot more definement than the first record. It certainly doesn’t divorce itself from the more melodic aspect and the more rhythmic and soloing that Danny (Donegan, guitarist) has started doing. It seems to be a darker record, be a little bit more aggressive, and be a little bit more like the vibe of The Sickness. It still seems to take all those enhanced qualities that the Believe record and the Fists (Ten Thousand Fists) record brought out of us; and take em to the next level as well. Basically when we sat down for lunch, me and Mikey were discussing what we wanted the record to be like. I’ve had a rough past few years [laughs]. It’s been challenging in my life lately. I’m like look man, just give me the angriest, happiest, you know the most in your face aggressive shit you can. Everybody agreed [laughs]. That’s where this stuff came from, to give you an idea.
JUICY BANDS: How many tracks are going to be on the album?
DAVID: Umm, not sure. I think there’s gonna be eleven or twelve.
JUICY BANDS: You have that unique sound where you can put out a single without telling anyone and once I hear it on the radio, I know it’s Disturbed. What inspires you to write your lyrics?
DAVID: It’s a myriad of things really; life experiences probably more than anything. Life experiences, my view of world events, other incidents that I have witnessed; or situations that I have been part of that I can describe in a certain way. Sometimes I just paint a story. It really depends on the song. With each separate song, you kinda need to respect what it is musically first before you interpret what it is lyrically. For instance, I don’t write the lyrics until everything is done musically. It’s the vibe of what the song is singing musically that gives me the inspiration of what to write. It’s the feel of the song that inspires me and what direction to go lyrically. You can have an in your face song and you can write something that’s a softer subject, and it’s just not gonna be appropriate.
JUICY BANDS: I heard you guys are producing this album yourself, how's that going?
DAVID: It's good, I mean we're all about doing the whole package. It takes a lot of dedication and a whole lot of time, but we're dedicated and we're willing to give it our all.
JUICY BANDS: I can't wait for the new album it sounds pretty kick ass! After Disturbed is done with the album, are you guys planning a tour?
DAVID: We’re looking to start things off in Europe for the festival. I know that we’re looking into doing something for a summer tour in the U.S. but we’re not sure what yet.
JUICY BANDS: I've seen you guys perform and you guys put on one hell of a show! You guys rock the house and sound awesome live!
DAVID: [laughs] Thanks, much appriciated.
JUICY BANDS: Disturbed has been around for a while, do you see your self taking this long term and still performing and touring in another 15 years?
DAVID: Hell yeah! I Wouldn't mind being around another 20 years if our fans keep on demanding us and we can keep switching it up, then that would be awesome. I love touring and I'm living my dream so yeah, in in this long term.
JUICY BANDS: Any ideas of who you're going to take along to perform with you guys?
DAVID: Not a clue yet. I’ll tell ya, the environment is dwindling. There aren’t too many bands that we can pair up with anymore.
JUICY BANDS: What do you mean? I bet a lot of bands would want to work with you guys, You guys are kick ass!
DAVID: Well, thank you. Let me put it to you this way, we could go ahead and get a number of any bands anytime; it’s just that a lot of the bands that were our colleagues so to speak, have fallen off the face of the planet. You know what I mean? We're usto like, being able to bring out a whole grouping of new bands just to give them a flavor they haven’t heard yet. And it’s getting more and more difficult to do that. It’s challenging but we’ll see. So I don’t know. We’re willing to talk to everybody and anybody. We don’t have any problems touring with anybody. We get along with everybody so it’s really not an issue. I know that there are a number of things that are being talked about but I’m not at liberty to reveal anything.
JUICY BANDS: Thinking back when you started as a local band, did you think it would be anything that it is now? Did you ever imagine the success?
DAVID: You know, I always had hoped. I always had belief. I thought it was good enough to stand the test of time. The question in my mind was always going to be whether or not we could continue to remain relevant and remain in the game over the course of time. I don’t think there are too many bands “like us” that still go out there and fill venues with five to ten thousand people and sell one and a half to two million records. We’re very, very fortunate in the loyalty of our fan base. They are there, they’re not going anywhere, they’ve been with us from the beginning; and as long as we continue to give them records that they can be proud of, I think they’re gonna stick around.
JUICY BANDS: Now you also have your own record label company, Intoxication Records. Can you tell us a little about the label and how it got started?
DAVID: Well, we’re always looking at acts and that’s another reason why we wanted to push and produce this record ourselves; because Danny and I always have other acts that we’re looking at in terms of potentially signing to the label or producing. There’s a number of people that we are looking at but nothing that’s ready yet.
JUICY BANDS: Have you guys signed anyone one the new label yet?
DAVID: No, nothing yet. We’ve been close a couple times but haven’t signed anyone. With the first band signed to a label, you gotta make sure it’s the right one. We’ve had a bunch of near misses but nothing yet.
JUICY BANDS: You covered the song "Land of Confusion" by Phil Collins. He’s a great artist. What made you choose that song?
DAVID: It’s a good song. You know, lyrically, it made sense with a lot of what I was writing about at the time. We had a vision of what we could turn it into as far as making it our own. I think we did. We like to metamorphosize and shit. We just had visions of what that song could become with our version.
JUICY BANDS: I appreciate you taking the time out to come down here this morning. I wanted to thank you personally for what you guys have done for me in my personal life. Disturbed was one of the handful of bands that inspired me to become a journalist.
DAVID: Oh, hell yeah, man. That’s exactly what the stuff is for. It’s to make you stronger. It’s to help you come to terms with whatever problems you are experiencing in your life and to get it out there and let people know what's going on with us. Fuck yeah!
JUICY BANDS: Thank you so much, we're Looking forward to your new album Indestructible coming out next year and seeing a tour kicked off as well. You guys are amazing.
DAVID: Thank you.
For More on Disturbed
be sure to check out:
Disturbed Official Site:
http://www.disturbed1.com
Disturbed Official myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/disturbed
