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Draiman puts heart in Asylum Wed 25 Aug 2010, 06:55
CrowX
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When Disturbed vocalist David Draiman began writing material for the band's new album, Asylum, he'd endured a string of depressing, tragic events that could've put many people in such an institution.
"My life experience prior to making this record was not a pleasant one," Draiman says prior to a show in Omaha, Neb., on the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar tour. "It was definitely necessary to have that cathartic release that writing these songs and making this record makes."
The string of bad luck runs as follows: a breakup with his fiancé, a best friend who swindled him out of US $300,000 on a business deal that "he's still running away with," and a pet dog Draiman describes as a "touring companion" who died during the Music Is A Weapon tour last year.
That doesn't include ordering a new puppy which died in transit or ending up relocating to Austin, Tex., with a girlfriend who he would hit a rough patch with soon afterward.
"So I get home to no significant other, no pup and my new empty house in a town I only know a couple of people in," he says. "That's the environment that bore those songs. They (the band) knew what I needed as far as a musical palette was concerned, and they were very good at delivering."
Needless to say, Asylum -- on sale Aug. 31 -- is a dark, deep and rather beefy album highlighted by the first two singles: the title track and Another Way To Die. Draiman says he knew he had something right from the beginning of the writing process.
"It was heading in the right direction from the first song I started working on, to be honest with you, and that song was Asylum, the title track," he says. "It was one of the first pieces of music that was sent to me and that I wrote a melody and a rhythm for the vocal to. It just came together pretty naturally and organically."
Another tune getting tons of airplay is the edgy, brawny Another Way To Die, a song Draiman says deals with environmental destruction. A video for the track drives that message further home.
"(It's about) the tremendous abuse and profiteering of the planet we live on," he says of the song. "The neglect, the species are forced into extinction, the enhanced effect of global warning, the pollution we contribute to this planet and the atmosphere."
One bonus is that Asylum comes with a 75-minute documentary entitled Decade Of Disturbed, something Draiman says looks at the band's highs and lows with plenty of funny moments.
But to the singer it surprising it's been 10 years already for the Chicago band.
"It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that we got on stage at 10 o'clock in the morning at our first Ozzfest, it really doesn't," he says. "It's very surreal to be in the position where we're the elder statesmen of the genre at this point, the veterans. It's very, very weird."
So why has Disturbed been able to survive in an era that has chewed up its fair share of bands?
"I think we've had consistency, we've always put out records that are front-to-end the type of records you can listen to all the way through," Draiman says. "We've put out the type of records people utilize to strip them of fear, and feel powerful and strong, and get through difficult periods of time in their lives. I think our fan base has grown to trust us."
When Disturbed vocalist David Draiman began writing material for the band's new album, Asylum, he'd endured a string of depressing, tragic events that could've put many people in such an institution.
"My life experience prior to making this record was not a pleasant one," Draiman says prior to a show in Omaha, Neb., on the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar tour. "It was definitely necessary to have that cathartic release that writing these songs and making this record makes."
The string of bad luck runs as follows: a breakup with his fiancé, a best friend who swindled him out of US $300,000 on a business deal that "he's still running away with," and a pet dog Draiman describes as a "touring companion" who died during the Music Is A Weapon tour last year.
That doesn't include ordering a new puppy which died in transit or ending up relocating to Austin, Tex., with a girlfriend who he would hit a rough patch with soon afterward.
"So I get home to no significant other, no pup and my new empty house in a town I only know a couple of people in," he says. "That's the environment that bore those songs. They (the band) knew what I needed as far as a musical palette was concerned, and they were very good at delivering."
Needless to say, Asylum -- on sale Aug. 31 -- is a dark, deep and rather beefy album highlighted by the first two singles: the title track and Another Way To Die. Draiman says he knew he had something right from the beginning of the writing process.
"It was heading in the right direction from the first song I started working on, to be honest with you, and that song was Asylum, the title track," he says. "It was one of the first pieces of music that was sent to me and that I wrote a melody and a rhythm for the vocal to. It just came together pretty naturally and organically."
Another tune getting tons of airplay is the edgy, brawny Another Way To Die, a song Draiman says deals with environmental destruction. A video for the track drives that message further home.
"(It's about) the tremendous abuse and profiteering of the planet we live on," he says of the song. "The neglect, the species are forced into extinction, the enhanced effect of global warning, the pollution we contribute to this planet and the atmosphere."
One bonus is that Asylum comes with a 75-minute documentary entitled Decade Of Disturbed, something Draiman says looks at the band's highs and lows with plenty of funny moments.
But to the singer it surprising it's been 10 years already for the Chicago band.
"It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that we got on stage at 10 o'clock in the morning at our first Ozzfest, it really doesn't," he says. "It's very surreal to be in the position where we're the elder statesmen of the genre at this point, the veterans. It's very, very weird."
So why has Disturbed been able to survive in an era that has chewed up its fair share of bands?
"I think we've had consistency, we've always put out records that are front-to-end the type of records you can listen to all the way through," Draiman says. "We've put out the type of records people utilize to strip them of fear, and feel powerful and strong, and get through difficult periods of time in their lives. I think our fan base has grown to trust us."
