DISTURBED Frontman: 'Being Dark, Nasty And Perverse Are Necessary Elements In What We Do'

DISTURBED frontman David Draiman was recently asked by San Bernardino County Sun writer Paul Andersen what his band would write about if the world suddenly turned peaceful and less chaotic. "Our lyrics have always been passionate about moments of life, passionate about the state of world events unfolding," Draiman replied. "For us, the music is a reflection of the world, of the concept of change. But we couldn't suddenly write love songs, songs about partying. We're more poignant, more serious than (singing about) finding a girl, drinking, driving fast, breaking up with that girl and falling off your skateboard."

Then he chuckled.

"That just wouldn't be us. Being dark, nasty and perverse are necessary elements in what we do."

"We've always been politically conscious, and we'd be remiss not to address those elements," Draiman said. "Even the cover of our latest CD, 'Ten Thousand Fists', designed by Todd McFarlane (creator of 'Spawn'),has those political elements, that vibe. That is also why we chose to cover PHIL COLLINS' 'Land of Confusion' — it is a perfect reflection of what is happening now, with these strange powers that be totally causing havoc in the world."

DISTURBED are currently making their fourth appearance on the Ozzfest bill, having worked their way up from the second stage.

"It feels great to bring this massive congregation of the faithful together again, these hard rock and heavy metal fans," Draiman told the San Bernardino County Sun. "A lot of the time, it feels like a sort of summer camp. But we always try to make it a little bit more than that. In fact, we've altered the set considerably, using big staging and dramatic backdrops, doing different versions of our songs to invite a lot of crowd participation. After all, seats can be sedatives because they are so easy to fall into, and the multitudes can be harder to invigorate."

Draiman sighed. "You just have to give out more energy to affect and move them. Like the old saying goes, the harder you work, the greater the reward, and our reward is when they come away with that energy, feeling fulfilled deep in their hearts — even if we have to be tactful about it."