Back in the New York Groove. Gonna be hot ‘n steamy this week. Ah, I love the smell of NYC in the summer. It seems like……..yuck!
Disturbed frontman David Draiman says as much as 95 percent of the music he’s written for the band has been created while he was high. Speaking with Revolver, Draiman revealed the new song “Fire It Up,” which opens with the sound of a bong hit, was inspired by the singer’s routine. He explained, “There was a big fat bowl before that one. 95 percent of the songs I’ve written in my life, I’ve written them while high. That’s the god’s honest truth.”
Draiman continued “I’ll have a very skeletal musical idea in my head, and then I’ll light one up, go in the shower and let the steam kind of build up. It helps me relax, and I can see the gaps. I can see the holes in the rhythm and the melody and I’ll know where I can go, and what the possibilities are. It helps me be able to perceive everything a little bit more clearly.”
Draiman told us “Fire It Up” was inspired by a recording session where he sang Disturbed’s new cover of Simon And Garfunkel‘s “The Sound Of Silence” while high: “I was done with the day and I wanted to relax, so I went ahead and I smoked a bowl (laughs). Came back and was high out of my mind and no, no, by no means ready to track vocals by any stretch of the imagination. And they all encouraged me to go into the vocal booth, and I was pretty blown away. I hadn’t heard my voice that vulnerable in a very, very long time.“
Draiman added that “Fire It Up” is more lighthearted than usual for Disturbed, remarking, “Yeah, that’s me saying it: There’s a song on this Disturbed record that’s fun . . . And God knows there’s certainly enough people out there that appreciate the enlightening aspects of smoking marijuana.” “Fire It Up” can be found on Disturbed’s sixth studio album, Immortalized, which arrives on August 21st. The band released a lyric video for the title track last week. The album ends a four-year hiatus for the band and features the current Top 10 rock single, “The Vengeful One.” Disturbed will play its first show in four years on August 21st at the House of Blues in the band’s hometown of Chicago.
Following the release of its new single, “Thank You,” yesterday morning (July 27th), Sevendust has now unveiled details of the band’s 11th studio album. Titled Kill The Flaw, the disc will be released on October 2nd through the band’s own 7Bros. Records. The disc follows up last year’s Time Travelers And Bonfires, which was a collection of new acoustic tunes along with unplugged re-recordings of some of the band’s classic tracks. Sevendust singer Lajon Witherspoon said, “We took some time off from the heavy side of Sevendust, and when it came time to record some new music, Clint (Lowery, guitar), John(Connolly, guitar), Vinnie (Hornsby, bass), Morgan (Rose, drums) and I put everything we had in to what became Kill The Flaw.”
Sevendust has been making records since 1997 and Morgan Rose told us not long ago that he could see the band going on for a while: “We’re like those old vets, you know, that play sports. It’s like, I’m still gonna play up until I don’t think I can play to the level where I feel comfortable. I foresee us definitely doing more records. We love each other, we’re real close right now, and I don’t see us rolling out of here any time soon. I think some of the people that don’t like us are going to be stuck having to deal with us for a little while longer.“
The new disc is available for digital pre-order at iTunes. Fans who order the album will receive an instant download of the first single, “Thank You”, which is now also at rock radio and streaming online. Some of the other tunes on the set include “Death Dance,” “Forget,” “Cease And Desist,” “Not Today” and “Torched.” Sevendust will be the direct support on Godsmack‘s upcoming tour.
Slipknot kicked off their tour on Friday night in Florida and they’ve already started to fill in some more dates in October. See Road Rage. And Saint Asonia is teaming up with Seether for a fall run, which you can also find in the Road Rage section of our site.
Speaking of SAINT ASONIA, tonight there will be a live app chat on the new hardDriveRadio APP! Keep an eye on your cell phone for notifications! Don’t have the app? Download it now for free on Google Play or the app store!
Poor Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins. Sure, he can seem curmudgeonly, but he’s really a cool dude. But when he was asked a seriously off-base question by a fan during a VIP Q&A, he had to be honest and leave the dude in his tracks! Check it out here.
Surprised to read news today of DJ Ashba’s resignation from his lead guitar seat in Guns N’ Roses. He posted a lengthy good bye to fans and much love to Axl Rose, but he is leaving to spend more time with his other band, side projects and his new wife. Ashba is also a graphic designer, and when I first met him, he also had a design company he was running. Some of his designs have been used by car manufacturers and he also launched his own merch line. DJ joined GN’R in 2009.
Gotta dash. See ya tomorrow!