DISTURBED Guitarist: 'We're Very Proud Of What We've Become Musically'

Brendan Crabb of Utopia.com.au recently conducted an interview with guitarist Dan Donegan of Chicago heavy rockers DISTURBED. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Utopia.com.au: A lot has been said about the new album ["Asylum"] — some members have claimed it's in a similar vein to 2002's "Believe", while others have claimed it's darker and heavier than your previous releases. Where do you think this album sits within the DISTURBED back catalogue?

Donegan: I don't know, I think we just try to take the strong points from each album and grow off of that and kind of blend those things that we liked about each one. There's melodic moments on this album, there's definitely a little bit more attitude and just the delivery of it, I think, is a little bit… It has those moments of just that in-your-face delivery. Just the overall body of work; we're very proud of what we've become musically, the band has really evolved over the years and we're just trying to continue to grow the sound of the band by still having those signature things that are us. I mean, there's an identity; when people hear David's [Draiman] voice or they hear a riff, they can identify that it's DISTURBED. So there's going to be those things that are always trademark us, but we just try to grow off of that and evolve the sound.

Utopia.com.au: Now, your previous album, "Indestructible", debuted at No. 1 in a number of countries, including Australia. More than a decade into your career, is the pressure of following up a hit album just not even a factor for DISTURBED?

Donegan: The pressure for us [is] to really… We put pressure on ourselves to really deliver, to really push our music and evolve as a band, to try to deliver something that's going to be fresh for us. We don't really second-guess what we do; there's no secret formula to why it works or why it's successful other than we just stay true to ourselves. We write music that moves us, that feels right to us and we're just fortunate that since these subject matters are real and [about] emotions, real things that have affected us [and] other people have connected with that. We're just fortunate that they've found some kind of connection with what we do.

Utopia.com.au: You are one of the most popular heavy bands in the world and some would say have little left to prove from a commercial success standpoint. What is it that drives you to keep creating music and not just rest on your laurels?

Donegan: Performing, being on stage. When we're off tour it's nice to go home and not live out of a suitcase, but then when we're home we don't know what to do with ourselves, you know? We know that the writing process and recording is great, but we know that at the end of the day, it just gets us closer to being back on the stage again and performing. That drives us, when we have that connection on stage with the fans. When we see the way that our music is connecting with so many people emotionally; when I can make eye contact with somebody in the crowd and see that they're living in that moment, that's motivational. That's just such a powerful feeling, to be up there seeing thousands of kids out there and the looks on the faces when they're connecting with something that we created. It's a drug to us.

Utopia.com.au: Does the band have any aims for this album — sales, chart positions, tours — or is it just take it as it goes?

Donegan: We just try to deliver the best body of work that we can come up with and whatever happens it with it happens. I don't know what the expectations are; I hope that the fans continue to connect with the new material and I think they will. We're proud of it, we wouldn't put it out if we didn't think we had something to offer. The fans have always stepped up and they've always been there for us. For many years it was mostly the U.S., but other countries are really peaking out, too, Australia being one of them. We had a high debut last time in Australia and we know that the fans are waiting for this release. I hope and I feel that they'll be pleased when they hear the whole body of work.

Read the entire interview from Utopia.com.au.