Good morning Radicals! Here’s the latest news from the world of rock and roll:
Disturbed frontman David Draiman recently spoke to U.K.’s Planet Rock about his singing technique, while also naming three of his biggest influences as Judas Priest‘s Rob Halford, late Black Sabbath and Dio singer Ronnie James Dio and late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury.
Draiman explained, “(I’ve) tried to approach how I do what I do the same way that I feel that the great vocalists of all time would have approached it, whether it’s Halford or Dio . . . Not that I’m anywhere close to either one of those two — they’re human freaks of nature.”
Draiman added, “Between the two of them in particular, you’re talking about two of the greatest voices of all time. Certainly not to not include what, in my opinion, was one of the greatest vocalists to ever sing, but the greatest frontman that the world has ever seen, Freddie Mercury. His range, his charisma, his presence — everything about him — just the quintessential frontman.”
Draiman joined Disturbed more than 20 years ago and recalled that he wasn’t sure his vocal style fit with the band: “I wasn’t sure what I had done, because I wasn’t used to singing to music that was that aggressive. And my roommate was with me and we went home, and I wasn’t sure. And my roommate, I remember, he said to me, he was like, ‘Dude, I’m telling ya, if you don’t go and pursue what you had going on with that band, you’re an idiot, because I guarantee that if you go and see it through, that you’re gonna get signed. There was magic that happened in that room tonight.’”
Disturbed is currently in the midst of an international tour, including its first-ever performance in Israel on July 2nd, and will start a new round of North American dates later that month in Minnesota.
I think they are gone forever.
— Krist Novoselić (@KristNovoselic) June 12, 2019
Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic said that he believes the band’s original master recordings are “gone forever,” after it was revealed that hundreds of thousands of recordings stored on the Universal Studios backlot in Hollywood were destroyed in a fire in 2008.
A report published this week by the New York Times detailed the full extent of what was described as the biggest disaster in the history of music, with masters of possibly 500,000 songs incinerated in the fire. The full scope of the catastrophe was not made public until now.
Asked on Twitter about the state of the Nirvana masters, Novoselic replied, “I think they are gone forever.”
Novoselic told us a while back that he’s got a philosophical perspective on who ultimately “owns” Nirvana’s music: “In a hundred years I don’t know who is going to own Nirvana. I’m not going to own it. I’ll be dead and gone. You know what I mean? But I was part of it, and I’m proud of it. That’s all I can really say.”
Other artists who are now trying to get information on whether their masters survived include R.E.M., the Roots and Steely Dan. Believed to have perished in the blaze were masters from Buddy Holly, Louis Armstrong, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Billie Holiday, John Coltrane, Ray Charles, Elton John, B.B. King, Snoop Dogg, Chuck Berry, Tom Petty, Tupac Shakur, Eminem, Soundgarden, Nine Inch Nails, Guns N’ Roses and hundreds more.
Universal has stated that the Times report contains “numerous inaccuracies, misleading statements, contradictions and fundamental misunderstandings of the scope of the incident and affected assets.” The company has not yet provided evidence for its claims.
Pennsylvania hard rock act Crobot will return with its third studio album, Motherbrain, on August 23rd. The band has also offered up the album’s second single, “Low Life,” which is now streaming online.
The album marks an emotional shift for the band, with frontman Brandon Yeagley saying in a statement that it is “less about wizards and dragons and more about everyday turmoil and the struggles of life . . . I think it’s a much darker record, musically, lyrically, and thematically.”
He added, “When people hear this, I hope they say, ‘Yeah, that’s Crobot.’ We want to maintain our identity from record to record. We always want to be genuine. It’s going to evolve, but it will always be Crobot.”
Crobot first came on the scene in 2014 with its debut album, Something Supernatural, which featured the rock radio hits “Nowhere To Hide” and “Legend Of The Spaceborne Killer.”
Happy 13th Birthday, Evan!
