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DISTURBED David Draiman Interview Fri 13 Mar 2009, 01:53
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DISTURBED David Draiman Interview
By Shauna O'Donnell
- Feb. 2009
DISTURBED
David Draiman (Vocals)
(Chicago, IL)
MUEN: I'M REALLY EXCITED BECAUSE TODAY I HAVE DAVID DRAIMAN THE VOCALIST OF DISTURBED ON THE PHONE. HI DAVID AND THANK YOU FOR TALKING WITH ME TODAY….
My pleasure, how are you?
MUEN: I'M REALLYGOOD. HOW ARE YOU DOING?
Good, I'm just starting up the new leg of this touring cycle. We are starting off in Milwaukee here.
MUEN: THE TOUR STARTS TODAY RIGHT?
Yes.
MUEN: COOL. WHO ARE YOU GUYS OUT WITH?
Sevendust and Skindred.
MUEN: THAT'S GOING TO BE A GOOD TOUR. IT GOES THROUGH THE END OF FEBRUARY. WE WILL START WITH A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY ON THE BAND. YOU BECAME THE SINGER OF DISTURBED BY ANSWERING AN AD PLACED BY THE OTHER THREE MEMBERS THEN KNOWN AS BRAWL. YOU THEN RE-NAMED THE BAND DISTURBED AND WENT ON TO HAVE THREE CONSECUTIVE NUMBER ONE ALBUMS. WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO BE ONE OF SIX BANDS IN HISTORY TO HAVE ACCOMPLISHED THIS?
Very, very surreal. I still have a lot of difficulty wrapping my head around it. It doesn't seem valid to me (laughing), but the numbers don't lie. It's very humbling to know that we are in such mighty company.
MUEN: YEAH, METALLICA IS ONE OF THE SIX. THAT'S REALLY GREAT. CONGRATULATIONS ON THAT.
Thank you.
MUEN: YOU GUYS ARE ALSO NOMINATED FOR A GRAMMY THIS YEAR FOR "BEST HARD ROCK PERFORMANCE". CONGRATULATIONS ON THAT AS WELL.
Yeah, keep your fingers crossed.
MUEN: OH! I WILL. THE AWARDS WILL BE HANDED OUT ON FEBRUARY 8TH AT THE STAPLES CENTER IN LOS ANGELES. WILL YOU GUYS BE ATTENDING THE SHOW?
Oh! Yeah!
MUEN: COOL, IS THIS YOUR FIRST TIME GOING TO THE GRAMMY'S?
It's the first time we have had a reason to, so yeah.
MUEN: WILL YOU BE PERFORMING TOO?
No, that would have been great. I'm not sure that the Grammy's are ready for a Disturbed live performance. (laughing) Who knows, give them maybe one more year and then maybe rock will have overturned back to the forefront enough. Thank God we have the Metallica's and the AC DC's of the world to still hold the candle. We will see what happens the next time around.
MUEN: YOUR LATEST ALBUM INDESTRUCTIBLE IS YET AGAIN ANOTHER ALBUM WITH ONE POWERFUL SONG AFTER ANOTHER. HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO RECORD THIS ALBUM?
Four months.
MUEN: IT WAS SELF-PRODUCED RIGHT?
Yes.
MUEN: IS THIS THE FIRST TIME YOU GUYS PRODUCED ONE OF YOUR ALBUMS?
That is correct.
MUEN: DO YOU THINK YOU WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE THEM YOURSELVES?
I don't see any reason why not. The results kind of speak for themselves and the process itself was a little bit liberating in ways.
MUEN: WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY LIBERATING?
You get to go at your own pace, whether that's faster than you normally would or slower than you normally would. (Laughing) You are able to focus on your own internal, creative juices a lot more. It's a lot more concentrated. You have to learn to rely on your brother's opinions more than you normally would because there isn't that outside opinion of the producer. It was kind of nice to be able to take care of things internally.
MUEN: YOU HAVE A LOT MORE FREEDOM TO DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO BASICALLY.
Yeah, in many ways.
MUEN: DO YOU WRITE ALL OF THE LYRICS?
Yes.
MUEN: YOU ARE AN AMAZINGLY TALENTED SONGWRITER. BECAUSE YOU HAVE HAD SO MANY NUMBER 1 HITS, IS THERE ALWAYS THAT PRESSURE THERE TO DO IT AGAIN?
Yeah (laughing) every time. It's ok; it's a good problem to have.
MUEN: WHY DID YOU DECIDE NOT TO HAVE "THIS MOMENT" ON THE ALBUM?
"This Moment" was a left over from the Ten Thousand Fists recording. We always use three or four tracks from the recording session for B sides, soundtrack opportunities and things of that nature. We don't always have the time in the middle of the touring cycle to write and record something so we try to make sure that we have some ammunition left over. "This Moment" was one of those tracks. We wanted to make the Indestructible record have all of its own, new, unique stuff.
MUEN: WELL THAT MAKES SENSE. IT'S A GOOD SONG.
Thanks.
MUEN: YOU HAVE ANOTHER CD AVAILABLE CALLED INDESTRUCTIBLE IN GERMANY THAT CONTAINS SIX SONGS FROM YOUR LIVE PERFORMANCE AT ROCK AM RING GERMANY. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THAT PARTICULAR PERFORMANCE TO PUT ON A LIVE CD?
The intensity of it. There were 80,000 people, you really can't beat it. (Laughing)
MUEN: THAT'S A LOT OF PEOPLE.
It was unreal, one of the more career defining moments.
MUEN: WAS THAT THE BIGGEST AUDIENCE YOU HAVE PLAYED FOR?
That's up there, no question.
MUEN: I LOVE ALL OF YOUR ALBUM COVERS. DO YOU GET TO PUT INPUT IN AS TO WHAT GOES ON THEM?
Oh yeah! It's all us. We start it and end it. We get artists to help us with it, like David Finch with this record, or Todd Mc Farland with the last one, but the ideas for them come from within the Disturbed camp.
MUEN: SO YOU GUYS ARE VERY "HANDS ON." THAT'S GOOD.
Very much so.
MUEN: LET'S TALK ABOUT YOUR VIDEO FOR THE SELF TITLE TRACK "INDESTRUCTIBLE." FIRST OF ALL, WHEN YOU LISTEN TO THE SONG AND WATCH THE VIDEO IT GIVES YOU A SENSE OF EMPOWERMENT. IS THAT WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO GET ACROSS IN THE VIDEO?
Absolutely, it will make you feel like you can run through a brick wall.
MUEN: WELL IT WORKS, THAT'S THE WAY I FELT WHEN I WATCHED IT.
Good.
MUEN: SO LIKE WE WERE TALKING ABOUT EARLIER, YOU GUYS ARE STARTING YOUR HEADLINING NORTH AMERICAN TOUR WITH SEVENDUST AND SKINDRED TODAY IN SUPPORT OF "INDESTRUCTIBLE". YOU HAVE BEEN ON THE ROAD ALMOST NON-STOP HAVEN'T YOU?
Pretty much since March.
MUEN: ARE YOU TOURING MORE ON THIS ALBUM THAN YOUR PREVIOUS ONE?
No, it's about the same. We are a touring entity, that's why we make records. It's a means to an end and the end is getting up there for the live performance.
MUEN: I BET YOU HAVE A LOT OF STORIES TO TELL.
It's funny, everyone is always looking for the tour story. It's really not necessarily as exciting as you might imagine. Particularly at this stage in the game. For me, it is kind of an awkward time because I'm newly single, broken up from an engagement. I am once again the last single guy in the band, everybody else is married. It's a little awkward for me. I'm the only guy that isn't a couple at this point. It's not like there is God knows, what kind of Sodom and Gomorrah going on out here. It's really much more laid back than you might imagine. I can't drink or smoke. I have to be pretty much straight edged out here in order to be able to pull off these performances one after the next.
MUEN: IT REQUIRES A LOT OF FOCUS.
Yeah, and a lot of determination.
MUEN: WHEN YOU ARE NOT ON THE ROAD OR WRITING WHAT ARE SOME OF THE OTHER THINGS YOU ENJOY DOING?
I'm a big motorcycle freak. I'm a big scuba diving fanatic. I still really enjoy and love checking out other live shows. I sill love going to see bands play live. That is still one of my favorite things.
MUEN: WELL, THAT'S GREAT. WHEN DOES THE "MUSIC AS A WEAPON 4" TOUR BEGIN?
That is the third week of March, I believe.
MUEN: THAT SHOW IS GOING TO BE AMAZING. YOU'LL BE HEADLINING WITH KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, CHIMAIRA AND LACUNA COIL.
Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to that.
MUEN: I WAS ACTUALLY TALKING TO JOHN REESE THE OTHER DAY AND HE WAS TELLING ME A LITTLE ABOUT THE SHOW.
Oh, ok cool.
MUEN: WHAT IS REALLY COOL ABOUT IT IS THAT THERE WILL BE A TATTOO AND MUSIC FESTIVAL AS WELL. SO PEOPLE CAN ACTUALLY GET TATTOOED AT THE SHOW.
Tattoos and there are different expeditions. Harley Davidson will be setting up stuff there. It's going to be really cool. We are really turning it into something special this time around.
MUEN: YOU STARTED THE TOUR RIGHT?
Yeah, Music as a Weapon is our tour.
MUEN: ARE THEY TATTOOING PEOPLE WHILE YOU ARE ON STAGE?
My understanding is that it is done earlier in the day. Let's say, best case scenario, there may be twenty tattoo artists. That means there is a maximum of twenty people at any given point in time getting work done out of what will hopefully be about 10,000 people.
MUEN: HOPEFULLY, YOU WILL BE COMING THROUGH CALIFORNIA WITH THAT TOUR.
Oh yeah, we are planning on it.
MUEN: DO YOU HAVE ANY TATTOOS?
No, not yet. I've been holding off.
MUEN: YOU KNOW THAT LITTLE LAUGH YOU DO BEFORE "INSIDE THE FIRE?" DO YOU THINK YOU COULD DO THAT FOR ME NOW?
Oh man! Wow! It's always something. It's either the noise before "Down with the Sickness" or the laugh before "Inside the Fire." No one ever asks me to sing a melody... It's always a laugh or a noise. (Laughing)
MUEN: IT'S BECAUSE YOU DO IT SO WELL AND IT'S REALLY SEXY.
Well, thank you, I appreciate that. (Laughing) You just got a tiny tidbit of it there.
MUEN: OK, THANK YOU.
Sure!
MUEN: WELL IT HAS BEEN AWESOME TALKING TO YOU. BEFORE I LET YOU GO IS THERE ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO ADD OR SAY?
We are looking forward to heading out there and bringing on the thunder!
MUEN: WELL I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU TO COME. I'D REALLY LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. IT HAS BEEN A REAL PLEASURE.
The pleasure is mine.
DISTURBED David Draiman Interview
By Shauna O'Donnell
- Feb. 2009
DISTURBED
David Draiman (Vocals)
(Chicago, IL)
MUEN: I'M REALLY EXCITED BECAUSE TODAY I HAVE DAVID DRAIMAN THE VOCALIST OF DISTURBED ON THE PHONE. HI DAVID AND THANK YOU FOR TALKING WITH ME TODAY….
My pleasure, how are you?
MUEN: I'M REALLYGOOD. HOW ARE YOU DOING?
Good, I'm just starting up the new leg of this touring cycle. We are starting off in Milwaukee here.
MUEN: THE TOUR STARTS TODAY RIGHT?
Yes.
MUEN: COOL. WHO ARE YOU GUYS OUT WITH?
Sevendust and Skindred.
MUEN: THAT'S GOING TO BE A GOOD TOUR. IT GOES THROUGH THE END OF FEBRUARY. WE WILL START WITH A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY ON THE BAND. YOU BECAME THE SINGER OF DISTURBED BY ANSWERING AN AD PLACED BY THE OTHER THREE MEMBERS THEN KNOWN AS BRAWL. YOU THEN RE-NAMED THE BAND DISTURBED AND WENT ON TO HAVE THREE CONSECUTIVE NUMBER ONE ALBUMS. WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO BE ONE OF SIX BANDS IN HISTORY TO HAVE ACCOMPLISHED THIS?
Very, very surreal. I still have a lot of difficulty wrapping my head around it. It doesn't seem valid to me (laughing), but the numbers don't lie. It's very humbling to know that we are in such mighty company.
MUEN: YEAH, METALLICA IS ONE OF THE SIX. THAT'S REALLY GREAT. CONGRATULATIONS ON THAT.
Thank you.
MUEN: YOU GUYS ARE ALSO NOMINATED FOR A GRAMMY THIS YEAR FOR "BEST HARD ROCK PERFORMANCE". CONGRATULATIONS ON THAT AS WELL.
Yeah, keep your fingers crossed.
MUEN: OH! I WILL. THE AWARDS WILL BE HANDED OUT ON FEBRUARY 8TH AT THE STAPLES CENTER IN LOS ANGELES. WILL YOU GUYS BE ATTENDING THE SHOW?
Oh! Yeah!
MUEN: COOL, IS THIS YOUR FIRST TIME GOING TO THE GRAMMY'S?
It's the first time we have had a reason to, so yeah.
MUEN: WILL YOU BE PERFORMING TOO?
No, that would have been great. I'm not sure that the Grammy's are ready for a Disturbed live performance. (laughing) Who knows, give them maybe one more year and then maybe rock will have overturned back to the forefront enough. Thank God we have the Metallica's and the AC DC's of the world to still hold the candle. We will see what happens the next time around.
MUEN: YOUR LATEST ALBUM INDESTRUCTIBLE IS YET AGAIN ANOTHER ALBUM WITH ONE POWERFUL SONG AFTER ANOTHER. HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO RECORD THIS ALBUM?
Four months.
MUEN: IT WAS SELF-PRODUCED RIGHT?
Yes.
MUEN: IS THIS THE FIRST TIME YOU GUYS PRODUCED ONE OF YOUR ALBUMS?
That is correct.
MUEN: DO YOU THINK YOU WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE THEM YOURSELVES?
I don't see any reason why not. The results kind of speak for themselves and the process itself was a little bit liberating in ways.
MUEN: WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY LIBERATING?
You get to go at your own pace, whether that's faster than you normally would or slower than you normally would. (Laughing) You are able to focus on your own internal, creative juices a lot more. It's a lot more concentrated. You have to learn to rely on your brother's opinions more than you normally would because there isn't that outside opinion of the producer. It was kind of nice to be able to take care of things internally.
MUEN: YOU HAVE A LOT MORE FREEDOM TO DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO BASICALLY.
Yeah, in many ways.
MUEN: DO YOU WRITE ALL OF THE LYRICS?
Yes.
MUEN: YOU ARE AN AMAZINGLY TALENTED SONGWRITER. BECAUSE YOU HAVE HAD SO MANY NUMBER 1 HITS, IS THERE ALWAYS THAT PRESSURE THERE TO DO IT AGAIN?
Yeah (laughing) every time. It's ok; it's a good problem to have.
MUEN: WHY DID YOU DECIDE NOT TO HAVE "THIS MOMENT" ON THE ALBUM?
"This Moment" was a left over from the Ten Thousand Fists recording. We always use three or four tracks from the recording session for B sides, soundtrack opportunities and things of that nature. We don't always have the time in the middle of the touring cycle to write and record something so we try to make sure that we have some ammunition left over. "This Moment" was one of those tracks. We wanted to make the Indestructible record have all of its own, new, unique stuff.
MUEN: WELL THAT MAKES SENSE. IT'S A GOOD SONG.
Thanks.
MUEN: YOU HAVE ANOTHER CD AVAILABLE CALLED INDESTRUCTIBLE IN GERMANY THAT CONTAINS SIX SONGS FROM YOUR LIVE PERFORMANCE AT ROCK AM RING GERMANY. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THAT PARTICULAR PERFORMANCE TO PUT ON A LIVE CD?
The intensity of it. There were 80,000 people, you really can't beat it. (Laughing)
MUEN: THAT'S A LOT OF PEOPLE.
It was unreal, one of the more career defining moments.
MUEN: WAS THAT THE BIGGEST AUDIENCE YOU HAVE PLAYED FOR?
That's up there, no question.
MUEN: I LOVE ALL OF YOUR ALBUM COVERS. DO YOU GET TO PUT INPUT IN AS TO WHAT GOES ON THEM?
Oh yeah! It's all us. We start it and end it. We get artists to help us with it, like David Finch with this record, or Todd Mc Farland with the last one, but the ideas for them come from within the Disturbed camp.
MUEN: SO YOU GUYS ARE VERY "HANDS ON." THAT'S GOOD.
Very much so.
MUEN: LET'S TALK ABOUT YOUR VIDEO FOR THE SELF TITLE TRACK "INDESTRUCTIBLE." FIRST OF ALL, WHEN YOU LISTEN TO THE SONG AND WATCH THE VIDEO IT GIVES YOU A SENSE OF EMPOWERMENT. IS THAT WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO GET ACROSS IN THE VIDEO?
Absolutely, it will make you feel like you can run through a brick wall.
MUEN: WELL IT WORKS, THAT'S THE WAY I FELT WHEN I WATCHED IT.
Good.
MUEN: SO LIKE WE WERE TALKING ABOUT EARLIER, YOU GUYS ARE STARTING YOUR HEADLINING NORTH AMERICAN TOUR WITH SEVENDUST AND SKINDRED TODAY IN SUPPORT OF "INDESTRUCTIBLE". YOU HAVE BEEN ON THE ROAD ALMOST NON-STOP HAVEN'T YOU?
Pretty much since March.
MUEN: ARE YOU TOURING MORE ON THIS ALBUM THAN YOUR PREVIOUS ONE?
No, it's about the same. We are a touring entity, that's why we make records. It's a means to an end and the end is getting up there for the live performance.
MUEN: I BET YOU HAVE A LOT OF STORIES TO TELL.
It's funny, everyone is always looking for the tour story. It's really not necessarily as exciting as you might imagine. Particularly at this stage in the game. For me, it is kind of an awkward time because I'm newly single, broken up from an engagement. I am once again the last single guy in the band, everybody else is married. It's a little awkward for me. I'm the only guy that isn't a couple at this point. It's not like there is God knows, what kind of Sodom and Gomorrah going on out here. It's really much more laid back than you might imagine. I can't drink or smoke. I have to be pretty much straight edged out here in order to be able to pull off these performances one after the next.
MUEN: IT REQUIRES A LOT OF FOCUS.
Yeah, and a lot of determination.
MUEN: WHEN YOU ARE NOT ON THE ROAD OR WRITING WHAT ARE SOME OF THE OTHER THINGS YOU ENJOY DOING?
I'm a big motorcycle freak. I'm a big scuba diving fanatic. I still really enjoy and love checking out other live shows. I sill love going to see bands play live. That is still one of my favorite things.
MUEN: WELL, THAT'S GREAT. WHEN DOES THE "MUSIC AS A WEAPON 4" TOUR BEGIN?
That is the third week of March, I believe.
MUEN: THAT SHOW IS GOING TO BE AMAZING. YOU'LL BE HEADLINING WITH KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, CHIMAIRA AND LACUNA COIL.
Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to that.
MUEN: I WAS ACTUALLY TALKING TO JOHN REESE THE OTHER DAY AND HE WAS TELLING ME A LITTLE ABOUT THE SHOW.
Oh, ok cool.
MUEN: WHAT IS REALLY COOL ABOUT IT IS THAT THERE WILL BE A TATTOO AND MUSIC FESTIVAL AS WELL. SO PEOPLE CAN ACTUALLY GET TATTOOED AT THE SHOW.
Tattoos and there are different expeditions. Harley Davidson will be setting up stuff there. It's going to be really cool. We are really turning it into something special this time around.
MUEN: YOU STARTED THE TOUR RIGHT?
Yeah, Music as a Weapon is our tour.
MUEN: ARE THEY TATTOOING PEOPLE WHILE YOU ARE ON STAGE?
My understanding is that it is done earlier in the day. Let's say, best case scenario, there may be twenty tattoo artists. That means there is a maximum of twenty people at any given point in time getting work done out of what will hopefully be about 10,000 people.
MUEN: HOPEFULLY, YOU WILL BE COMING THROUGH CALIFORNIA WITH THAT TOUR.
Oh yeah, we are planning on it.
MUEN: DO YOU HAVE ANY TATTOOS?
No, not yet. I've been holding off.
MUEN: YOU KNOW THAT LITTLE LAUGH YOU DO BEFORE "INSIDE THE FIRE?" DO YOU THINK YOU COULD DO THAT FOR ME NOW?
Oh man! Wow! It's always something. It's either the noise before "Down with the Sickness" or the laugh before "Inside the Fire." No one ever asks me to sing a melody... It's always a laugh or a noise. (Laughing)
MUEN: IT'S BECAUSE YOU DO IT SO WELL AND IT'S REALLY SEXY.
Well, thank you, I appreciate that. (Laughing) You just got a tiny tidbit of it there.
MUEN: OK, THANK YOU.
Sure!
MUEN: WELL IT HAS BEEN AWESOME TALKING TO YOU. BEFORE I LET YOU GO IS THERE ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO ADD OR SAY?
We are looking forward to heading out there and bringing on the thunder!
MUEN: WELL I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU TO COME. I'D REALLY LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. IT HAS BEEN A REAL PLEASURE.
The pleasure is mine.
