David Draiman Doesn't Need to Rely on the Crowd Singing at Shows

Do you ever go to a concert and find that the vocalist has the crowd sing half the words? That won't happen at a Disturbed show. David Draiman said that they actually adjust some of their songs live so he can sing them more comfortably, and not have to rely on the crowd singing for him.

The frontman touched on the subject during a recent interview with Philadelphia's WMMR, where he said that growing older has made some of their tracks a bit more difficult for him to sing than they used to be. Therefore, he's become very disciplined in regards to his health and staying in good physical shape.

"If you listen to just about any other rock band in existence — and don't get me wrong, there are quite a few of my colleagues, whether it's Corey [Taylor] or Jacoby [Shaddix] or any number of those guys that definitely utilize staccato, rapid-fire vocal delivery. But when it's part and parcel of almost every single one of our songs... the older I get, the more challenging they become," Draiman explained.

The singer added that vocal cords thicken as people get older, and admitted that his range has been affected by his age as compared to what his capabilities used to be.

"I won't hide behind the fact that there are a couple of the more challenging songs that we've dropped a half step so that they're a little bit easier for me to perform live, because I'd rather perform them in the manner that the fans are used to hearing at least as far as the melodies are concerned, than have to cheat parts of the song or hand the mic over to them and let them sing the part," he elaborated.

Draiman noted that there are a lot of singers that resort to those performance tactics very often, but that he doesn't personally feel satisfied if he were to do so. He wants to be the one singing and feeling the words as opposed to hearing them sang back to him.

"I know what it's like to be that guy going to the show, waiting for that incredible moment in the chorus that I fell in love with, for the singer that I am waiting to hear and not getting it," he continued, adding that he holds himself to the standard he would expect from a vocalist that he's a fan of.

Check out the rest of the interview here.

The next show of Disturbed's tour with Breaking Benjamin and Jinjer is tonight (Aug. 23) in Gilford, N.H. See the rest of the upcoming dates at this location.