DISTURBED: The Interview
TheSceneLA
By Caren Spitler


Straight outta the South Side of Chicago, and causing quite a "disturbance" on the scene, Disturbed is turning (or is that busting?) heads all over the nation. Recently signed to Giant records, and on a break from touring before the OzzFest shows this summer, we caught up with David Draiman (vocals), Dan Donegan (guitar), Mike Wengren (drums), and Fuzz (bass) backstage at the Troubadour. They gave us a little insight into where they've been, where they're headed, and what all the noise is about.


How long has Disturbed been together and how did you become a band?

Dan - We've been together for three and a half years, me, Mike and Fuzz were playing together for a while in Chicago. We started looking for a singer. We finally picked up Dave through a local ad.

Are you all from the Chicago area?

David - We're from the South Side of Chicago.

What is the music scene like in Chicago, and how was your band received when you first started playing?

Fuzz - We were not well received at all. The South side has always been very good to us. In Chicago they've always been supportive, but you have to earn what you get. In the city of Chicago there are clubs that are very clique-ish you have to be part of a certain crowd of people to play in those clubs. Especially since we were a heavier act, metal is kind of looked down upon there, they are more about the "Classic" style of rock. So we had to fight tooth and nail to get into clubs like the Metro and play there on a regular
basis.

Heavy music is coming back in a big way. When did you notice things were turning around for heavy music.?

David - A lot of things have happened in general for the band. It has nothing to do with the metal resurgence.

Dan - I think the suburbs were actually more into the metal scene than Downtown Chicago. It took them a bit longer to realize that a lot of kids come out to the shows and they want heavier bands.

Can you describe your musical philosophy?

David - New school metal, but it's very rhythmic, heavy, syncopated heavily. The drums, guitar riff, the bass line or even vocal style they all try and compliment one another. Everything is brought together to enhance the rhythmic nature of the song. While still maintaining that rhythmic nature, also maintaining a certain melodic element to the music.

Fuzz - With a touch of electronics to add a little flavor -- a little spice.

Who are the band's biggest musical influences?

Mike - We all have different musical influences, that's part of what helps to make our music unique. We get a blend of all our influences. They all come together. Anything ranging form Pantera, Tool, Soundgarden, Black Sabbath, and Metallica. There's a little bit of a range there.

Do you feel that plays a part in what makes your music stand out -- that you draw from so many different influences?

David - It has nothing to do with drawing from anything that makes us separate. What makes us separate from anyone is the unique combination of individuals that you see here. It has absolutely nothing to do with any other form of music that is in existence, because I guarantee you that when we all sat down we did not have a plan. This came out of us, this grew from us. So, there wasn't a specific band or bands we were trying to emulate, be like or copy stylistically, or even be influenced by. Yes, we each individually have our own influences, but it is truly a product of the four of us combining that makes our sound unique. That's what gives us our individuality and our identity.

How do you write your songs and who writes the lyric?

Dan - It always starts out with music. We usually end up starting with a guitar riff and a progression. Then Mike will start accompanying it, trying to come up with a drumbeat. Fuzz will come in with the bass. I am really the final addition to that. I try to play with something in my head melodically and rhythmically to get a pattern of how I want to write the lyric. The words end up coming last. When everything is said and done, we all beat the hell out of it for about another couple of weeks and make sure structurally it's all as strong as we'd like it to be.

Have you pick a song to be released as the first single of "The Sickness?"

David - It's "Stupefied." It was going for ads on active rock on the 21st of March. We went for ad on agro radio a while back. Basically the label sent out a five song EP and metal radio was free to choose whatever songs they wanted from it. We got 144 ads and we're the number one most added band in agro.

What is the song Stupefied about?

David - It's against discrimination, it's against intolerance, against racial boundaries. It came out of a relationship that I wanted to happen between myself and a girl who was Latina. It became a big issue, due to the fact that we were from different races, with her family and my family. It really angered me, it became this whole mountain that didn't really need to be there because it wasn't even that serious and it wasn't that big of an issue. Just because I was who I was and she was who she was, everybody's perception was that it couldn't even be allowed for a minute. The situation "Stupefied" me and I don't understand why people have to act that way towards each other.

How has it been being signed to Giant, and how did you end up on that label?

Dan - We signed with them in August of '99, it's been good.

Fuzz- Cool, we got to quit our jobs.

David - We recorded our first album.

How was the experience of recording this album?

Fuzz - It was great!

David - It was night and day from the experiences of making the demos. It was a great experience, but you learn a lot each about other and about yourself when you go into the studio. You kinda see what your limitations are, your strengths, your patience, and your tolerance. It was definitely a growing experience for the band. Certainly when we look back on it, we smile, so it couldn't have been all that bad. (laughs)

Is this your first tour to support the CD? Is this your first trip out of Chicago?

David - This is our first tour, we're loving it so far, loving it!

Mike - We went to Utah for the Sundance film festival, played a couple of shows in Arizona.

Fuzz - Fortunately a lot of people have gotten their hands on our cassette samplers, so they already know who we are. We gave out some through the website.

Mike - There were actually a couple of people who'd seen us on HBO Reverb. We went out in August and filmed it for HBO at CBGB's in New York. They aired us with Kid Rock, so we got a lot of exposure off of that.


How did you decided which songs to record for "the Sickness?" and did you find that some songs worked better for what you wanted to do with this album?

David - We did our own process of elimination before we even go to the point of signing a deal. When we went into the studio to start things off, we pretty much tracked everything we had, which was 14 songs. It was tough because all of these songs are kind of like our children, we all kind of think that. We love them all the same. A couple of them we had to keep off the album, not because they are any weaker than the others, but because we had to strategically pick ones that would compliment either soundtracks, B-sides or foreign movies.

Were a lot of the songs on "the Sickness" written for this CD or were they mostly "tried and true" Disturbed songs?

David - Some are older, there are quite a few new songs on the CD that the fans are slowly getting acclimated to. One of the songs we actually finished in studio. The first track on the album "Voices." A lot of the songs are familiar to our fans, particularly the ones that came from our demos.

Why did you choose to cover the Tears for Fears song "Shout?"

David - We went through a number of different songs to make our "own." We thought it be a good idea to make it our own. This particular song, being from a ways back, but not in the realm of "classic rock" yet, was still current enough. We also chose it because of the message of the song. Musically we had a vision for what it could become. What Disturbed could do to the song.

Are you worried about potential record sells being hurt by MP3 and the availability of CD burners?

Dan - No, true fans are still gonna buy the CD because they want the insert. They want to see what the band looks like. They want to read the lyrics.

David - Not everybody has an mp3 player. They want to be able to pop it into their car. I'd still go buy the album.