DISTURBED Singer Has Become 'More Defensive Of A Very, Very Menacing World' Since Having His Son

Arte conducted an interview with DISTURBED singer David Draiman at this year's edition of the Rock Am Ring festival, which was held earlier this month in Germany. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked how having a very young son has affected his touring life now that the band is on the road in support of its latest album, last year's "Immortalized", Draiman said: "I do think about and do occasionally take my wife and son out with me on tour. It's difficult. My son's two and a half years old, so trying to find things to occupy a toddler with when you're couped up on a bus for hours and hours and hours at a time can be challenging."

Draiman also talked in more detail about his approach to raising his son in today's world, where so many parents exaggerate the dangers facing children.

"It certainly is very difficult for an individual to maintain their individuality in today's environment, for sure," David said. "And I certainly have become even more defensive of a very, very menacing world now that my son has come into it.

"All I can ever hope to be to my son is someone who's supportive, someone who listens and understands and points out possible other ways of thinking, ways of feeling, ways of approaching things, suggests rather than demands," he continued. "To be someone who can guide, if the hand is given — not force the hand. Letting him have the choices that he should have as an individual throughout his upbringing.

"Individuality is a personal thing. It's based on your own personal feelings and expression of self. So, really, it's nobody's business to judge you but yourself. And if you feel that you're expressing yourself as an individual and you feel confident in it, then that really should be all that matters."

Last summer's release of "Immortalized" ended DISTURBED's nearly four-year hiatus, during which Draiman spent time with his wife, model/wrestler Lena Yada, and their son, Samuel, who was born in September 2013.

Although Draiman's son was born healthy, David's then-project DEVICE canceled all its tour dates so that the singer could be close to home after his wife began having complications with the pregnancy.

Back in 2013, Draiman told The Pulse Of Radio how he hoped to raise his son. "Oh, I'm going to raise him on BLACK SABBATH and METALLICA and football and MMA and all things that should matter for a young boy, and discipline and strength and honor and courage and everything that I would hope to instill within my son," he said. "I'm very much looking forward to utilizing the wealth of experiences that I've gone through in my life to help guide him through the darkness."