Words by Simon Milburn

“I’m in San Diego, the whale’s vagina! You ever see Anchorman with Will Ferrell?” begins a very chirpy sounding Mike Wengren, drummer for mega selling hard rock band Disturbed. Indeed I have see Anchorman – it’s a classic – but I digress. Wengren has plenty to be happy about as well. The band’s latest release, their fourth, titled Indestructible, landed the number one spot upon release worldwide in several major markets including the U.S.A. and our fine land down under. What’s not to be happy about for Wengren, vocalist David Draiman, guitarist Dan Donegan, bassist John Moyer?

“Yeah, we’re very, very happy, very excited,” continues Wengren as we settle in to chat about their upcoming tour of Australia with P.O.D. and Alter Bridge in tow, their love of Australia and hatred of cramped touring schedules, how the new material is fitting into their current live shows with Slipknot on the Rockstar Energy Tour of North America, self producing their latest album, digging deep for Indestructible’s dark vibe and just how their latest album has faired around the globe.

“We were fortunate enough to go to number one in Australia and New Zealand, the United States, and I wanna even say Canada. At the same time, since then, with the five weeks that the record has been out, we’ve already gone gold in the U.S., Canada, and we’ve gone gold in Australia and platinum in New Zealand, so we’re very, very excited. At the same time, I think it’s a testament to our fans. Y’know, our fans around the world, they stick by us, they support us, and we really wouldn’t be able to achieve the success that we’ve had without them.”

It was a result that may have surprised the band in that they weren’t entirely sure how it would sell in today’s musical climate of reduced sales and increased downloads.

“Well, y’know, we definitely had some doubt because of the state of the industry, y’know, with downloading so prevalent and sales down worldwide roughly twenty percent each year, it’s definitely a concern of ours. But at the same time, we felt that we stepped up and delivered the record that the industry was desperately needing.”

Illegal music downloading is still a hot topic and for some a taboo one to discuss. Wengren though is very forthcoming with his view on illegal downloads and in doing so, offers up an interesting perspective on where he thinks the blame lies.

“Y’know, I think everyone is trying to point the finger – record labels are to blame and everyone else is to blame, but I personally feel that it’s the artists that are to blame. If the artists put out great music and they put out great records instead of records that had maybe one or two good singles on it and the rest of the record is totally filler, then I think that would be a huge part of it. I think people would be willing to buy a good quality record and I think that our fans prove that. We pride ourselves on taking the time on every single note, every single beat, and making sure that there are no fillers on our records, and our fans know it. They appreciate it, and they come out and they actually buy the records. The sales have definitely reflected that. Y’know, I don’t want to sound conceited in any way. But we know that our fans work hard for their money and we don’t want to cheat them. We wanna give them every penny worth.”

Of course whilst fans dictate sales, there’s also the press and their reactions to the album as well. But this is something that Wengren has little interest in at the end of the day.

“Y’know, to be completely honest with you, I think that some of the reviews that I have heard of are pleasant ones, but to be completely honest with you, we don’t really pay attention to the reviews. We kinda write the music for ourselves and for our fans. Again, by the record sales, the fans have turned out and they are buying the record and that means to us that they love it and we love it, and honestly, that’s all that matters to us. I don’t really care what some person in a suit and tie or whatever that sits behind a desk and a computer really has to say about our record, y’know?” laughs the drummer.

When you ask a lot of artists today if any kind of conscious decision was made with respect to writing an album, the typical response is one along the lines of “No, it was just whatever came out naturally,” or something similar. But Disturbed knew exactly what they were after right from the outset when they made a conscious decision regarding the direction of what would become their fourth album.

“We felt that we wanted to go back to a darker time similar to how we were in the first record. We wanted to have some darker lyrics, go back to more of a raw sound, a raw energy and just a deeper, darker vibe. And fortunately for us, unfortunately for David (Draiman, vocalist and lyricist), but fortunately for us, David had quite a big string of some bad events that happened in his life personally that left him in a dark state of mind and he was more than eager to lend his life lessons of the past year or so to the lyrical content of the record. It was a great way for him to purge his demons.”

Musically though, the other three guys followed the preset game plan to a tee.

“There wasn’t anything really that happened in the rest of our lives personally that affected the writing. We just wanted to write something that was gonna kick ass! We wanted to be aggressive and raw and just no holds barred in what developed. We wanted to deliver a nice, heavy record and we were pretty delighted in a funny way when David was on the same page as us.”

They might have wanted to return to the sound and vibe of their earliest effort this time around they still managed to do some things differently this time around, one in particular.

“Well, the one main thing about this process was that we actually produced this record ourselves. In the past, we’re relied on Johnny K (Avenged Sevenfold, Machine Head, 3 Doors Down), a close and dear friend of ours, to lend that unbiased opinion and to help us out in situations where we were stuck. This time around, we had learned a lot of things from him, and we wanted to step it up for ourselves and for our career and to prove to ourselves and everyone else that this was something that we were capable of doing. We’re so close, we’re like brothers. We really are like a family. We’ve known each other for so long, and we love each other and we respect each other, and it was that mutual love and respect that we were able to pull from in situations where we would get stuck, or aggravated. There’s no one else in the world, especially when it comes to writing music, that I would trust more than Danny (Lonegan, guitars) or David (Draiman, vocals). So when I would be stuck in a part, the first two guys I will turn to will be of course them. So, it was just a great situation for us to build upon our friendship and to pull from that, and I think it’s absolutely our best material to date.”

And it is something that the band may do again in the future.

“Y’know, we would never rule out working with another producer and a teacher but we had such a great experience with it this time around, we would definitely look forward to doing that again as well.”

From writing to performing and producing Indestructible, you can tell from the enthusiasm and passion in Wengren’s voice that there’s little doubt that the band are more than happy with the finished product.

“We definitely feel that this is our best material to date. We also feel it’s the most complete as well. We’ve pulled from all of the other records all of our favourite elements whether it be David’s rhythmic vocal delivery off of The Sickness or even his melodic vocal delivery off of Believe, and Danny’s guitar solos that started off with 10,000 Fists, and we built around my rhythmic, syncopated, tribal drum patterns. I think it’s definitely the most complete Disturbed album to date and we couldn’t be more proud. Also, because, as we said, being self producers, there’s even more of us that went into this record than any of the other records in the past.”

With Wengren’s description of it being their most complete album to date, there’s little doubt that the material from Indestructible sits along side their older material flawlessly.

“I think it’s a great blend. It’s been quite a challenge for us. We’re on the Rockstar Energy Festival right now with the Slipknot guys in the United States, and because we’re co-headlining, we only get a chance to play for an hour. So, it’s been a challenge for us to try and fit everything we want to play within 60 minutes. We have four records to pull from, but at the same time, it’s been a great combination. The fans have been lovin’ the mixture of the old songs and the new songs and it’s great! It’s exciting! The shows themselves have been amazing. The fans have been great. We’re really excited to be able to play some of the new material and it’s just been a great tour all together. That being said, the band is just really on fire right now – not just from the record sales stand point, but on stage, we’re just really rejuvenated and excited. We just can’t wait to come down there and kick everybody’s ass! We’re really, really excited!”

Finally after a few years, Australian fans are going to get another chance to see Disturbed live and it’s a journey the band love to take.

“Oh, every time we go down there, we love being able to spend some time. We get upset with management and the booking agent when they don’t allow us any time for some sight seeing or enjoy ourselves. We’ve tried to do some Marlin fishing out there, taken helicopter rides, see some vineyards, and we just love going down there and seeing the sights and experiencing the beautiful country side and interacting with all the people.”

This time they are not playing clubs or support slots but in fact headlining and bringing both P.O.D. and Alter Bridge with them.

“That’s just really exciting for us. So far, we’ve only gone down there on our own and played smaller clubs. And we also had an opportunity to do some shows opening for Korn. So it’s exciting for us to be able to go down there and headline with a bigger package and put together a great bill like that. I think that’s just another extension of us wanting to give the fans a complete package.”

As to what fans can expect from the dates down under, Wengren has only one thing to say:

“They can expect to go away feeling stronger. I think that’s what our music is all about – it’s about empowering you and making you feel strong.”

Disturbed’s latest album, Indestructible, is out now on Reprise Records through Warner Music Australia. Disturbed, supported by P.O.D. (Excluding W.A. and S.A.) and Alter Bridge play the following shows around Australia: Aug 29 Metro City, Perth; Aug 31 Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide; Sep 2 Entertainment Centre, Brisbane; Sep 3 Hordern Pavillion, Sydney; Sep 4 Entertainment Centre, Newcastle; Sep 6 Festival Hall, Melbourne. For more information on Disturbed, check out www.disturbed1.com.