DISTURBED Singer Says He Has 'Tremendous Love And Admiration' For His Bandmates

DISTURBED singer David Draiman spoke to Revolver magazine about the speculation regarding the band's future, which he started last month when he hinted that the group's current tour could be its last for a while if not for good.

"The absolute truth is we've been touring nonstop make a record, tour, make a record, tour for 12 years straight, and it hasn't afforded us the opportunity to do anything else as artists and individuals," Draiman said. "Our entire world has always been encompassed by DISTURBED."

Addressing rumors that DISTURBED's decision to take a break is fuelled in part by strained relationships within the band, Draiman said, "I want to make it very clear that it is absolutely, unequivocally not due to any animosity between bandmembers because there is none. I just had dinner with everybody for [guitarist] Danny Donegan's birthday the other night. We had a great time. Danny and Mike [Wengren, drums] are standing up at my wedding, for God's sake. There's no animosity whatsoever. These guys are my brothers and we have a tremendous love and admiration for each other and this hiatus has nothing to do with any perceived or conceived infighting between the band members."

Regarding why DISTURBED has chosen to go on an indefinite hiatus after five studio albums four of which have debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and worldwide sales of more than 13 million, Draiman explained that the instability within record companies and the music industry is largely to blame.

"The state of the music industry is very apparent to everyone," he said. "I'm not enlightening anyone by saying that it is in a state of decline. I'm not enlightening anyone by saying it is in a state of reformation and it needs to figure itself out again. It's just a very difficult time to function as a musician within the music industry when personnel are lost left and right and people you've counted on for years are suddenly cast by the wayside. People are much more concerned with how the company looks on a balance sheet to a potential buyer as opposed to concerning themselves primarily with things like artist development. That's definitely a factor in why we chose to do this indefinite hiatus now. If things were gangbusters in the industry it would be much more difficult to turn away for a little while and concentrate on other things we'd like to do. It would be cutting off our nose to spite our face. Where things go with any of us in our own individual projects during this hiatus will determine how long it lasts or if it is, in fact, indefinite."

Draiman also insisted that he was taken out of context by Billboard magazine when was quoted as saying the indefinite hiatus is partially due to "the demise of hard rock and metal right now."

"When I spoke about the demise of hard rock and heavy metal, I was talking about the disrespect for the genre, the fact that it is relatively ignored by the mass media," he said. "It's never given its due even though here we are on one of the biggest tours of the summer, yet the tour is relatively ignored and brushed under the carpet, with the exception of the metal press. We've always been champions of the genre, and I want to make it absolutely crystal clear that I've never been more proud to be a part of it. And I think bands like ourselves and GODSMACK and certainly METALLICA are making it very clear that hard rock and heavy metal are here to stay. They're not going anywhere. And we're very happy to have been champions of that cause and will continue to do that even during the hiatus."

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