DISTURBED Singer Says DEVICE Album 'Came Together Organically'

ARTISTdirect.com editor-in-chief Rick Florino recently conducted an interview with DISTURBED/DEVICE frontman David Draiman. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

ARTISTdirect.com: What ties the DEVICE album together for you?

Draiman: It all came together organically. There wasn't really a plan. The only thing that we had as a template was "Hunted". It's the song we did for the "Underworld: Awakening" soundtrack, and that's just from a stylistic standpoint. There wasn't a definitive battle plan as far as that's concerned. The fact that it all does seem to work together is just serendipity. [laughs] I didn't construct it as such. It happened to work out that way! Each song takes on its own life, momentum, and direction. It's not always completely in the artist's control, believe it or not.

ARTISTdirect.com: Where did "Haze" come from?

Draiman: "Haze" is an interesting one. That was one of the last songs we wrote as part of the whole writing session. From a lyrical perspective, it's basically about what our greatest addictions as musicians is. That's playing live. It takes almost a tongue-in-cheek approach at describing it almost treating it as if the experience itself were some kind of intoxicating drug. It's the most intoxicating experience I know of. That's for certain. There's no drug that can hold a candle to it. It's the whole thing. It's the life. It's the stage experience. It's everything you take with the feeling of leaving from the stage, the feeling you get going to it, and the energy you get from the crowd.

ARTISTdirect.com: Did you and M. Shadows [AVENGED SEVENFOLD] discuss that idea?

Draiman: I told him what the song was about ahead of time. I'm not one of those guys who likes to go, "Hey, would you like to guest on my record? By the way, I need you to write something for it!" That seems pimp-y to me. [laughs] I sent Matt the completed song, and I said what I had in mind for him to do. I wanted him to take the second verse and second chorus and for us to finish the song together. He loved it. It was a matter of him finding the time to do it. I think he did it when he tracked "Carry On" for "Call of Duty: Black Ops II".

ARTISTdirect.com: It's immense to have a legend like Geezer Butler [BLACK SABBATH] on "Out of Line".

Draiman: Geezer Butler and Glenn Hughes [DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH] are both in that categorization, but Geezer especially. I'm blessed. That's all I can say. The fact that these people would even consider working with me and doing a track is an unbelievable honor. I consider myself so privileged and blessed to even know them. To have their mastery, playing, and singing abilities is unbelievable. When you listen to the record, you can feel Geezer's presence in "Out Of Line". The low end and bass line on that song is unlike any other track on the album. That's him. There's nobody who can do what he does the way he does it.

Read the entire interview from ARTISTdirect.com.

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