The Secret to Disturbed’s Success
The secret to Disturbed’s success as explained to us in an interview with David Draiman while on the Mayhem Tour from 2008.
“First and foremost, don’t be lazy. Don’t expect stuff to get handed to you, you have to take it and do everything that’s necessary. Commit all of your resources to it.
A lot of people will take money that they make from the band which is piddly money in the beginning and pocket it, as opposed to throwing it back into the band. Not only did any money that the band generated back in the early days go back into the band, but we pulled money additionally out of our own pockets.
We sacrificed our jobs; I got fired from one of the healthcare facilities I was running at the time because we’d run our mailing list and I’d send out all of our promo packs to labels, FedEx packages, you name it, through my office to the point that it generated about $4000 in charges, so I actually got let go from one of the facilities, but you gotta be willing to do anything that it takes, you gotta be really hungry, you gotta promote.
Anytime there was a show coming through town, the money that we had pooled together was spent on promotional items, t-shirts, stickers, demos of the band, cassette tapes (at the time) and if there were four shows in town that night, (rock shows), each member of the band would split up and be at the front door of each one of those shows, handing stuff out.
Bands just expect stuff to be handed to them and it doesn’t work that way. Of course you also need to write good songs, that’s a huge, huge part of it and you have to be fortunate enough to be able to tap into that, but definitely, don’t expect a hand out.
Check out out full interview with David here!
ABOUT DISTURBED:
Simply put, DISTURBED are one of the most successful rock bands in modern history.
The multiplatinum-selling quartet accomplished the rare feat of achieving five consecutive number one debuts on the Billboard Top 200. That accolade historically elevated them to rarified air alongside Metallica, the only other hard rock group to do so in the history of the chart.
Immortalized (2015) received a platinum certification and spawned the triple-platinum crossover smash “The Sound of Silence,” which garnered a nomination at the 2017 GRAMMY® Awards in the category of “Best Rock Performance.” Since their formation in 1996, the band has sold 16 million albums globally and scored eleven No. 1 singles at Active Rock Radio.
Their quadruple-platinum 2000 debut, The Sickness, formally announced their arrival as hard rock leaders, with that status solidified by subsequent GRAMMY® Award nominations as well as gold-, platinum- and double platinum-certified records, as well as countless sold-out shows around the globe.
Named “Best Rock Artist” during the 2017 iHeartRadioMusic Awards, Disturbed continue to boldly forge ahead in 2018 with the release of their aptly titled seventh offering, Evolution, and their leadoff single “Are You Ready.”
Video:
Disturbed is:
David Draiman – Vocals
Dan Donegan – Guitar / Electronics
Mike Wengren – Drums
John Moyer – Bass
Links:
Official: http://www.disturbed1.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Disturbed/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Disturbed