Chicago's own, Disturbed, has been kicking ass and taking names in the music industry since their debut with 2000's The Sickness. The follow ups, 2002's Believe and 2005's Ten Thousand Fists proved that the band could not only sustain, but thrive in a fickle industry flooded with bands that self combust after making it big.
In addition to their new album, Indestructible, which will be released on June 3rd, 2008, the band played for our U.S. troops in Kuwait for Operation MySpace on March 10. I had the great privilege to sample the new album, which features more shredding by guitarist and founder Dan Donegan, and talked to him about this and their Kuwait show shortly before their departure.
Popular Underground Magazine: Hi Dan, so where are you at now?
Donegan: We're at home in Chicago at the moment.
PUM: Great, so how are you doing today?
Donegan: Good, just getting ready to go, we're actually leaving for Kuwait tomorrow. I don't know if you knew we're doing Operation MySpace for the troops.
PUM: Yes, that's very exciting! How did that come about?
Donegan: Our first conversation about it, we were out in LA doing some business meetings and our booking agent mentioned that it might be a possibility if we were interested. We said for sure, we've been wanting to do something for the troops for a long time and the opportunity came up and MySpace wanted to know if we would be a part of it and we were all over it. We're just excited to get over there and pay our respects.
PUM: In conversations with other bands, I've heard the same interest, so I was excited to learn that it was happening as bands of your genre don't get the opportunity to play for our troops.
Donegan: Yeah, we were hoping. I didn't know if there were any other opportunities to hit any other bases over there to try and do a few shows but this was the one opportunity that was offered to us and it seemed like the Department of Defense could get us in and out and do our thing. So we were limited on the amount of people we could travel with and all that stuff, of course. We're definitely looking forward to it. We've had some military fans who have been out to our shows, they've approached us at meet and greets and after the shows. We've been talking about this, as a band, and hoping to do something and this is definitely what we had in mind and a great opportunity.
PUM: That's wonderful because I understand you have an enormous fan base that is military.
Donegan: Well, a couple of years ago we had a Sergeant out to one of the shows and he actually presented us with his bronze star, which was very overwhelming. We didn't have any intention of accepting it. I mean, this was his, what he earned. What we do is easy and he's out there risking his life. He was there with his wife after the show to meet us and was insisting that we accept it. He felt that it led his troops into battle and missions many times. He felt like we were that additional member, that driving force to inspire them and get them going. He said through all his missions he never lost one guy and he was teary eyed and his wife asked us to accept it. It was that important to him and that really hit us hard.
PUM: Wow, what an honor!
Donegan: Yeah, it was huge and we said we'd find an opportunity and it couldn't be more perfect than this one.
PUM: That is so amazing. So, it's been 12 years since you formed Disturbed. Do you feel you've accomplished what you set out to do?
Donegan: I guess there's always gonna be more. I mean we're definitely very fortunate to stay around and be successful at it for this long. It's a tough business; it's usually a short lived life in this business. To gain fans and keep their attention and keep them interested is a challenge, but I feel we've always been the hardest working band I know. Nothing has ever been handed to us and we've definitely had to work hard to get noticed in the days when we were a local band and not being accepted to play in the local hip clubs. We were always kind of the outcasts.
PUM: At that time, Chicago wasn't exactly a home for hard rock or metal, right?
Donegan: Not really, not for us at that time. They were a little more alternative. The success coming out of Chicago at the time was Smashing Pumpkins, Veruca Salt and Local H and more of that alternative rock world. That was more of the scene at that time and we were coming more from the suburbs of Chicago and it was more of a hard rock, heavier thing we were doing. So a lot of the clubs at the time weren't opening their arms to us. There was a bigger clique going on downtown and they really didn't want anything to do with us. But, I'm thankful for that because it's part of the reason to why we've worked so hard. We've always had to knock down walls and break through doors to achieve things and I wouldn't want it any other way, to be honest with you. I think this is what keeps us driving. The fact that we're at about nine or ten million records later and we still feel like an underdog in a way. I think there's a reason for it and I'm fine with that. I love it! I don't want to be part of the in crowd, a part of the trends that are the popular thing. I think we have gained a hardcore fan base over the years.
PUM: And respect.
Donegan: Yeah and we've gotten that respect from them and they've always been there for us and always wanting more. And we're very fortunate and I think that has to do with just the hard work of being on the road and touring and pouring out our blood, sweat and tears every time we pass through town. We're very fortunate to keep on maintaining that and keeping them around. Hopefully it lasts a lot longer because we have no intentions of slowing down.
PUM: I agree that the industry gets flooded with these “cookie cutter” acts of whatever trend is popular at the time. They come out, blow up big and then disappear. You were talking about your work ethic and persistence and that's a quality I feel you share with another successful band, AC/DC. They had some similar struggles and they worked hard and kept on with their vision. There was no pretense, nothing seemed contrived and that's something that I've always respected about Disturbed.
Donegan: For sure! That's the thing you have to remind yourself, being true to yourself. When we came out with our first album, The Sickness, we were a garage band and we wrote those in a little storage shed, rehearsing as a garage band and trying to play locally. We never... that frame of mind and what we try to maintain is those songs were written for ourselves. What made us feel good and what moved us about the songs. There was never any thought about album sales or radio play. We had no clue that radio would play it, no clue of any kind of success. We hoped that we would be successful, so we could have a career and be able to do it full time, but we didn't know! You can't predict what the industry or what the consumer wants. You gotta just stay true to yourself, make music that connects to other people and we've been fortunate that it has. And each time that we go around we can't try and guess what the record label wants, what radio wants. It just doesn't work that way. It's gotta happen naturally and that's why we've always kind of put ourselves in the right environment...going into the studio in the right frame of mind let's just continue what we've always done. That's inspiring each other and giving each other the music and creativity that moves us and like I said, that's come across and connected to other people.
PUM: It has to make that success so much sweeter knowing you're doing it your way.
Donegan: For sure, the fact we can be successful doing what we do is great for us because we don't have maybe those added pressures as much as some of the trends might have. If you have a trendy band and you have a hit song off a record, you might have the label breathing down your neck a little more the next time around. They know that fad may fade away the second time around for some of those bands and with us, that hasn't been the case. We've been given the freedom and the trust from our label and they've stayed off our back. I love the fact that we've made all our records in Chicago. I like staying 2300 miles from them and not giving them the option of walking in and giving us input on what we're doing. If they have an opinion, make them have to get on a plane and fly out here to say something. Luckily, we haven't had any of that interference. They have a lot of trust in what we do and to be honest with you, I just don't know if...not to rip on my record label because I think they do a great job, but I don't think they'd really know a whole to give opinions on because they don't have much to compare us to. We don't fit into the trends to use as a pinpoint in how to work this type of band. I'd like to think and hope that we're following down the path of some those classic bands. Rock and roll bands, like you said, AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. All these classic metal bands who might not have been accepted early on in their careers but they continue staying true to their fans and true to themselves and they're respected later in life for their accomplishments.
PUM: And they had to compete with disco!
Donegan: Yeah, and that's great! Look at Metallica, this always blows me away to think that their biggest album, the Black album, came out when Pearl Jam and Nirvana and grunge were taking over the world! They put out a number one album and it's their best selling album of all time and that's quite a huge accomplishment.
PUM: Especially considering how many bands were hurt by the grunge revolution.
Donegan: Right, it wiped out a lot of those 80's bands, all the hair metal bands were wiped out. For Metallica to be the front runners of metal and to have this new genre of grunge take over the world and Metallica still accomplishes what they did is huge! I'm not putting us at Metallica's level but I'd like to hope that we can follow down that same path of always keeping your head above water through all the trends. I think as long as you're true to yourself that will happen.
PUM: Well I don't think you have to worry too much about that now. Warner Bros. sent me an advanced copy of Indestructible, I've been listening to nothing but for the past three days and all I can say is Congratulations! I love it, it's amazing!
Donegan: Thank you.
PUM: For my own personal taste, I especially love that there's more guitar solos. I've been driving around playing air guitar.
Donegan: Yeah, well to me, as a guitar player I've always loved going to concerts as a kid and hearing some of those big guitar solos. I'd play air guitar in the audience and pretend like I'm ripping those out, too. The guys in the band have always inspired me and encouraged me to come out of my shell a little more and pushe me along to doing more solos. We did some on Ten Thousand Fists and even more on Indestructible. This material and the direction it seems to be going, it seemed to lend itself to doing more of it.
PUM: Well it's incredible, especially on tracks like “Inside the Fire” and “Torn.” I was pleasantly surprised.
Donegan: I kind of surprised myself!
PUM: And the album is still Disturbed, but you've taken it to a whole new level.
Donegan: That's the thing, musically...David too, each time around we try to evolve. We're not claiming to be reinventing the wheel, but we do want to offer something fresh each time. Certain people are going to be fans of certain albums and certain songs and that's fine. However, the thing that I always loved, and I guess one of the compliments, is hearing people say, "This is my favorite song." or "That is my favorite." It's never the same answer and I think we're delivering great material, whether “Down With the Sickness” is your favorite or “Darkness,” the acousticky ballad off the Believe record. There's always somebody that has a different favorite and it's a sense of accomplishment giving the best that we can give. It's not, “Here's our album with one or two singles for the record label and the rest is filler.” I would never want to put out an album if I didn't feel that we didn't pour our heart and soul onto every track.
PUM: Or, problematic with some bands, it's the same material recycled with different lyrics.
Donegan: Exactly! I know it's hard to get out of that but you have those signature sounds, whether it's the riffs or David's vocals, but we're always going to experiment and try to do new things and I think our fans respect that. We're trying to give them something fresh to listen to. Whether they like it or not, they've got to respect the fact that we're going to try and deliver something that's unpredictable. I don't want to keep delivering the same song over and over, where it becomes repetitious. You get bored with that. I wouldn't cheat them and I wouldn't cheat ourselves out of that. I think the point of being an artist is to create. I think it gives us room to expand in the future. We dabble a little with electronics, we dabble...you know David can sing big melodic stuff, he can sing very rhythmic animalistic stuff. You know musically, whether we're doing something that's heavy double bass drumming or something that's a little midtempo stuff or the electronics stuff it gives us different areas to go down different paths if we want to. We've worked just touching in all different areas, kind of experimenting and coming up with stuff that, when we're together in a room and it's moving us, we go in that direction. We like to keep those doors open, to be able to expand off those. Looking back and having albums before this, to kind of pick out the elements we like, that we feel are strong points and give us chills. We just try to build off some of those and expand. So that's why we brought a little more electronics onto this record, David's got more of his rhythmic style of vocals and there's still those melodic moments. There will always be, but we wanted to tip the scale a little bit and lean more towards the attitude and the rhythmic vocals he delivered earlier on. That kind of delivery was always more in your face.
PUM: The album’s amazing, but I'm most impressed about the fact that you self produced.
Donegan: Well you know, in our case we've always been hands on throughout. We've always had a pretty clear vision of what we wanted to achieve and it didn't seem a whole lot different to us this time around. We've had three great albums with Johnny K, with him producing and us co-producing them, and he's great.
PUM: He's also from Chicago, right?
Donegan: Yes.
PUM: I think it's great you have the whole Chicago vibe going on.
Donegan: Well for us it's always been a comfortable environment. We've always felt more comfortable just doing it at home. It didn't feel any different to us making it as when we were a local band. We were working in the same studio we were making demos out of. So hopefully it eliminated some of that pressure of it now being an investment and a business to the record label. We can go in there and record some songs with a buddy of ours that I've known throughout the years, is the local producer doing demos and Johnny K has definitely blossomed throughout the years in showing what he offers as well. He's got a big career himself and I'm very happy that we've helped give him that opportunity to show his skills. So this time around for us to be the ones solely steering the ship... like I said, going in with Johnny we've always had a clear vision. We've always entered the studio with the material pretty much complete, knowing that we're ready to record great songs. Not just hoping that somebody could go in there and add some magic to make it a hit. So this time around it was just nice to control the tempo and pace of how things were going and we got the momentum going. It was kind of at our control and our pace that made the process seem quicker to us without sacrificing anything. We just went in there and banged out these tracks and dialed in the tone that we were looking for. I think there was some improvements in that. Our experience over the years, in and out of the studio, I think has given a little more knowledge in there as well.
PUM: Well if you're not involved in the earlier processes, how can you know what to do when you try it on your own?
Donegan: Right. We could never rely on other people; we're just not that type of band. Some bands go in there and have a little bit of talent in the band but a lot of it is probably relied on Pro Tools or a producer to help them create a hit song and to us it's never been that way. I would never rely on someone else to do that for us.
PUM: Well I think you have to, first and foremost, have a good raw product. If it isn't of a quality that you can perform in your garage and sound good then there is no amount of frills that can sustain the listener.
Donegan: Exactly.
PUM: So it only seems logical for you to be so involved, so that it is indeed, truly your sound.
Donegan: Well, it's our career and we should be stubborn about it. It should be us making those creative decisions. I could deal with the fact of making a wrong decision better than someone making the wrong decision for me. I'm not going to do that, we're not going to do that. Like I said, it's nice that we've always had the trust and freedom to do our own thing without anyone interfering. Like I said, nobody can predict, I don't buy that. If it were that easy, if people had the answers, then everyone would be huge and successful doing this. I think the fact is we have something that connects live, that connects on the CD, as well. Whether it's lyrically or musically, it moves people. We don't try to claim we know the formula, we just do what we do and we're lucky that it works.
PUM: Well perhaps that is the formula.
Donegan: Yeah, don't try to guess at it.
PUM: I love how heavy and frenetic the new album is. Very adrenaline pumping but there's a depth to it and the lyrics are still profound. I love the combination!
Donegan: Well thank you, I appreciate it and I anticipate and hope we get the same reaction from all the fans. I mean personally, not to toot our own horn, but I know we are all very psyched. I think the fans are going to be pleasantly surprised by this material because we definitely are.
PUM: Well you know as a fan, you get nervous when one of your favorite bands puts out a new album because there are a lot of bands that fail to deliver after a certain point. You guys have avoided that, because every album has been a hit, but there's always that fear of disappointment so I was relieved and more than satisfied.
Donegan: We're definitely excited. When I'm away from the guys for a few days, or a week or two, I'll be listening to this stuff again and I'll call them randomly excited. To know that I can listen to the finished product and it's really good material. I'm looking forward to getting out and playing live, it gets me excited, gets me pumped up. We've had many phone calls of just calling each other up and saying, "Holy fuck! This albums great!" So there's a lot of excitement and just feeling really good about what we've accomplished here.
PUM: I think the fans are going to go crazy for it.
Donegan: Well I hope so. You know the downside, the thing that bums me out, the downside of downloading is that a lot of the fans are not going to appreciate the great album if they're only downloading a single. I just hope that it doesn't become the new thing to do. It seems the case in some genres, you buy a song you hear at the club and that's it. The thing I liked growing up was you could pick up Back in Black, love every song off of it. You could pick up Black Sabbath or Iron Maiden and not just be a fan of the single that was released. You could appreciate the vibe of the album, not just the vibe of the song and that's why it's important to make sure every song has a purpose on the record. We feel that we're offering a vibe for each song. I think we've been fortunate, I think that our fans have proven that they do buy the whole album and they do want to hear more than just “Stupify” or “Down With the Sickness” and so on. I think more bands should do their best to deliver a great album and not just worry about delivering the single.
PUM: Exactly, I feel that too many fans are tired of buying a CD for just one or two decent songs. I bought a Bush album years ago and was excited that there were five or six good tracks. I thought that was an accomplishment that almost half the album was good! All because of the disappointing precedents set by other artists.
Donegan: Yeah.
PUM: I think the reason that Disturbed has maintained such a loyal fan base is because every song is great and you can listen to it from start to finish and loop it. I can honestly say there is not one song on the album I don't like. I may have favorites but there's something about each song I appreciate.
Donegan: Good answer!
PUM: I'm happy to say it's honestly the truth.
Donegan: That's it for us, every song is important. We give the same amount of time and effort to even our B sides. The problem is with determining what stays off the record. We're passionate about the B sides, that's an ongoing battle because we'll change our mind every day. We need extra tracks for our other things down the road and it's hard to decide what stays off because we are so passionate about every song we write. Otherwise, if it's not up to par for us then we're not going to record it, we're not going to release it anywhere. So we put the time and effort and heart and soul into every track. I don't want to be on somebody's shuffle list at a party. I remember going to parties and like I said, and I'm not just referring back to AC/DC because they're one of your favorites, but you put on Back in Black and you don't shuffle through the songs, you go from start to finish. You put on Appetite for Destruction. I would love to be one of those bands that can still keep that alive, that people are fans of the whole albums and I've heard that a lot. With most of the material, especially with The Sickness being our first album, of being something that people like to listen to start to finish, too. Because that's the album that put us on the map and launched a career.
PUM: What impressed me was your sophomore release, Believe, because you blew up with the first album and I think a lot of critics were expecting you not to deliver. Not only did you evolve with the style and sound but you knocked it out of the park and you've continued to do that with each subsequent album.
Donegan: Well we didn't worry about... of course that added pressure, we hear the sophomore release. Then after that we say, "Well, the third one is more important and then the fourth one is more important." We've always got to outdo ourselves. We didn't play it safe with Believe, let's try to deliver another Sickness because it was such a success. Let's give them the exact same album, rehashed riffs and the same style. Whether it's taking a chance or not, we stay true to ourselves and our frame of mind, writing songs like “Prayer” and “Liberate” and all those tracks. I don't think it is playing it safe trying to duplicate what we did. I think by us doing what we do naturally, without over thinking it is what we have to do. Success to me isn't in the number of units we sell, it's us continuing to be honest with ourselves and I think the fans know that.
PUM: Well you're definitely making it harder for competing bands. You keep raising that bar higher and higher.
Donegan: Well good, there needs to be some kind of inspiration, some driving force that's going to make bands do that and make them step up their game. There's a lot of bands that I like, a lot that I'm fans of. It would be nice to see them, rather than pumping out album after album and touring and touring, to actually put the time and effort to deliver quality with the entire album, not just the occasional song here or there.
PUM: I noticed there's substantial time between the albums.
Donegan: Well you know; you gotta give them a little break, too. We don't want to be away for too long but you gotta give them a break and they miss you. If you're always just there in their face, giving the same thing over and over you get sick of it. Not suggesting you should break up in a relationship (laughs) but sometimes you get a little time away from each other then you appreciate each other more when you get back together. So I think just taking the time and putting in the effort to deliver is important to us. I wouldn't want to just bang out album after album and it starts getting redundant and boring.
PUM: I feel those bands who do repetitive releases have an insecure quality about them. It's as though they're afraid of being forgotten or the gravy train is running out. For a band to take a couple of years, or longer in some cases, before their next release exudes a great confidence in themselves and their material. These bands that never take a break make me feel they're doing it solely for the money and I can't get excited about something an artist isn't passionate about.
Donegan: Well I think you hit the nail on the head with the assembly line, here's the next one and the next one. It seems like they're not passionate enough, not real enough and that's just it. For us we come home a few moments to get a breather and get back to our normal lives and sleeping in our own beds. It's a short time after that we're thinking about material for the next album but we take our time to achieve that. From the Believe album to the Fists record there was a lot of time in between, finishing the touring of Believe and we had a lot of time in between those two. I guess a lot of people would be panicky and it could be a risky thing to be away for too long. I think a great album is a great album, no matter when you deliver it. I think if the fans have to wait a little longer to get a good album, they appreciate it when they hear the results. I think they know we're going to do our best to give them the best we have to offer. That's it, no matter when it comes. So it's just nice to know, especially to come from Believe debuting at #1 on the Billboard Charts and take that much time off writing, getting a new bass player and my daughter was born. We had a lot of down time in between, but then Ten Thousand Fists comes out and debuts at #1, a couple years after the release of Believe. So it was nice to know that even though they had to wait for it, they were ready for it.
PUM: And that again is a testament to the fans that you've earned. Describe a Disturbed fan to me.
Donegan: I think it's very diverse, there's no one real category. They range from kids to older parents to different colors. We played in South Texas in El Paso and we have a huge Mexican fan base and Mexican American fan base. We have black fans, Chinese fans, (laughs) you name it. There's no one thing. It seems we've connected with all different races and religions and I think it's a lot of blue collar, hardworking fans. For the most part it seems adrenaline junkies. Someone who just finds something in the music that gets their blood flowing and motivated. I never expected to get e-mails or comments on MySpace on how many people think we've saved their lives. Whether they've had some depression in their lives, a divorce or fired from a job. No matter what they're depressed about, the music's been therapeutic to them in some way and got them through a difficult time. I don't know if I could just single out just one specific thing about a Disturbed fan, except that they are genuinely, probably people who aren't part of any trend. They're people who aren't caught up into being part of the in-crowd I guess.
PUM: It's incredible you have such a diverse following, that's no small feat for a band.
Donegan: It's quite shocking. One of the times it dawned on me was in Europe, I believe it was the start of the Believe tour. There was an older couple who had to be in their mid 50's, hanging out a couple hours before the show. They had pictures they were hoping to get autographed and it shocked me to think, here I am in Europe with a husband and wife in their 50's hoping to meet the band! It's strange that we've connected with older people, as well. We get a lot of people, before the shows, who might bring their kids. They might be a year or two old and getting their kids growing up to that. Which is great, to think maybe they could turn them on. Their kids, maybe in the future, will be fans when they get older. I see it now when I see young high school kids into Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin. I think, "Wow, this is way before your time and you're a fan!" I hope that we can have that effect in the future with the younger generation.
PUM: Traveling the world with Disturbed, how does that compare to the U.S.?
Donegan: I do love being in America and I love being in Chicago. However, I love the fact, touring in other countries, how universal music is. To be in another country where we might not be able to communicate with the fans, whether in Germany or Japan, we can't speak the language, but there's a connection musically and it's a powerful feeling. It's amazing to see how they react and that's their connection to us. Even though we can't have a conversation off the stage! (laughs) We've found our fans to be pretty universal, open and generous to us taking the trip over there to perform for them. I think they really respect that. They love their music and it shows.
PUM: With there already being a huge hard rock/metal scene overseas, it must feel great that you can not only compete but succeed.
Donegan: We've been working hard at trying to go over there, do a lot more, play some big shows and try to build something over there. Each time we go back, the crowds continue to grow and the fans are really appreciative and excited. A lot like the American fans, but they probably get used to having bands come through their city... or at least major cities, quite frequently. I mean here in Chicago there's someone always passing through town every other day. I think maybe you get a little spoiled in the fact there's always something. There's probably a little more excitement when we go halfway around the world to play for them because they don't know when they're going to get us next.
PUM: That is so awesome, Dan. So do you have anything else you'd like to say to your fans in the military?
Donegan: We're excited to finally get the chance to go over to Kuwait and perform for the troops and pay our respects in person, to give them a chance to escape for a few hours and get away from their jobs. Just like anybody else who comes to the concert, you get to escape from reality for a small amount of time, to forget about you job and anything else that might be bad in your life. We're excited to be there to give them that chance and show them how much we support and appreciate them.
PUM: Well I thank you for your time and wish you a safe and fun trip.
Donegan: Thank you.
Karma Jensen – Contributing Writer
