Disturbed’s David Draiman Talks Return From Hiatus, ‘Immortalized’ Album + More
It's on! As we found out earlier this week, Disturbed's lengthy hiatus has come to an end. The band will release a new album called 'Immortalized' on Aug. 21. Vocalist David Draiman took some time to speak with 'Loudwire Nights' host Full Metal Jackie about the band's return, what they picked up from their other projects and what musical statement they wanted to make after the time away. Check out the chat below.
David, it was never described as a full fledged parting but a lot of people thought the Disturbed hiatus might be permanent. What made you know it was time for Disturbed again?
There were a number of factors, to be honest, Jackie. It's interesting, that everybody always wants to assume the worst. [laughs] No matter how clear we were, no matter how definitive we were, we were very explicit that it was just a hiatus, just a break. Everybody automatically assumes doom. And there were a number of factors. One, we had our colleagues and our advisors were advising us on when was too long and when was not long enough and we were trying to bridge that gap in terms of how long to get away. We really just wanted to get away from predictable and cyclical and an assembly line and reinvigorated everything. And when you look at reports that were issued recently by Spotify and the touring marketplace showing that hard rock and heavy metal have the most dedicated fan bases, are the hungriest as far as consuming music and that hard rock/heavy metal festivals and concerts are still the top draw on the planet, that's encouraging. That sounds like a good time to come back. Then you have our colleagues like Slipknot and Five Finger Death Punch and bunch of other bands putting out the great records that they have of late and it starts to feel like a new wave is coming. We hope to be a part of that.
When you started making Disturbed music again, what changes did you notice in each other as a result of playing with different bands?
You know, I think that the more you hone your craft as an artist or as a musician, the more people you work with and the more opportunities you have to expand your palate and your musical horizons, the better off you are. The more you can broaden yourself better, I feel. And I think all of our collective musical experiences along our careers, whether inside or outside of Disturbed, continue to make us better musicians and better at what we do. So it definitely was a big part of the strength of our coming back together.
But what was really unique about this time was the way we went about it. We hadn't written in the same room together since Believe. We had become very reliant on technology and sending files across the country. From my home in Austin, Texas to Daniel's home in Chicago and Mike's home in Milwaukee and back and forth and finally reconvene at the end of things. Well, this particular time, we wrote in the same room together every single night. We bounced ideas off of each other directly and it was an incredible reinvigorating and rekindling of that flame. We are so fortunate to have the chemistry that we do and I think that we had forgotten the joy and the power that we were able to achieve by creating in the same room together. I think it really shows on this record.
What did you find yourself missing most about not working under the Disturbed banner?
[laughter] It's funny, you think that if you've got a little bit of a pedigree or you've done a little bit of work like we have and at least established somewhat of a legacy, that it would make the journey easier to start a baby band again and the answer is no, it's not. In fact, in many ways it's more difficult because you're battling against a specter of your own success and sometimes the grass is not greener on the other side. There's something very wonderful about the chemistry that we have as a band and it's not very often in life that you find your songwriting partner. For me to find Steven Tyler and Joe Perry and that's what Dan is for me. He's my songwriting partner and Mikey as well. It's a very unique and lush situation we have and I think it made me appreciate it that much more.
In what ways did time away from Disturbed revitalize you creatively?
Well, you need time to be a human being for a while. You need time to get away from the "assembly line" type of feel. When you get into this monotonous make a record and tour scenario, it can be stifling creatively. It can be stifling in terms for excitement for both the band and the fans. So from here on out, Disturbed records and concerts are going to be an event. They're not going to happen every other year, they're going to happen every once in a while and when they do happen to occur, people need to seize the opportunity and jump on it because it's not going to be as often of an occurrence anymore.
After a hiatus, musically what statement did you feel you absolutely had to make with this new album?
I think we all felt that the album had to be powerful enough and good enough to make people feel that the hiatus was justified, which is a very daunting thing. I think that we all collectively feel like we did that, and it's up to the fans. It's always one thing for the artist to talk about their own work. We're too close to it. It's very hard to not be the proud papa every single minute of the day when it comes to your own creation. At the end of the day it really will be up to the fans and I hope that they feel that it is something that was worth waiting for.
Tell us what we can expect in terms of touring for 2015?
I have no idea, [laughs]. The thing that's really weird about keeping something a secret for so long, and not being able to tell anyone? You can't start making touring plans or negotiating deals either, so now that the word is out, now we can start mapping all of that out and we'll be able to put something together. As soon as we know what our touring plans are, believe me, everyone else will as well.
Thanks to Disturbed's David Draiman for the chat. The band just released a new single called "The Vengeful One" from their upcoming disc, Immortalized. The album is due Aug. 21. Pre-order info is available at this location. Tune in to Loudwire Nights With Full Metal Jackie and Tony LaBrie Monday through Friday at 7PM through midnight online or on the radio. To see which stations and websites air ‘Loudwire Nights,’ click here.
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