The Jewish metalist opens the mouth to everyone
The BDS: "Anti-Semites in suits" • Judaism: "An inseparable part of me" • The voice he inherited: "My great-grandfather was a great cantor" • Roger Waters: "Psychotic" • David Draiman Mitzvot and hits • A special interview with a troubled Jewish metalist
Many in Israel did not hear about the band "Disturbed" until 2015, when the band released a cover version of the Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence", which won countless hits on the radio. But the rock and metal audience in Israel has known this band since 2000, when their first album, The Sickness, was released.
"I wanted to be in Israel for the rest of my life," he says, "but it's a very expensive thing for us," he says. Reach Israel. You have to plan a special tour in the surrounding countries to make it economically logical. Recently, apparently due to 'The Sound of Silence' the demand to bring the band to Israel skyrocketed, and we began to receive for the first time proposals from producers that have economic logic for us.
According to Draiman, he has visited Israel many times and studied at a yeshiva here. "Since I was a little boy, I have been to Israel, even before I studied in the yeshiva, which is an inseparable part of my life, I have thousands of relatives in Israel, my family has roots in the Land of Israel since before the establishment of the state. Editor-in-chief of Hamodia.
"From the side of my father's family, we come from a very religious background, and my great-grandfather was a great cantor, from whom I received my voice."
What is your connection to the Jewish religion today?
"When I was little, I would go to a Jewish school and my classmates would observe Shabbat, and we would not do it back then, when I came home and told my family that I wanted to try to keep Shabbat, we tried, and from there my family name became much more religious than I had hoped. We come from a very religious background.
"I had the honor of being at five different meetings during my life. I always had to leave for one reason or another. I did not necessarily keep all the rules ... I wanted to be a regular teenager, talk to girls, go out to see movies, read magazines and newspapers. Always accept the conservative and rigid lifestyle that life as a yeshiva boy dictated.
"I am not a religious person, but I am a spiritual person, I do believe in God, I believe in a higher power, but I take care of certain things from my perspective ... I believe that values, ethics and being a good person are more important than keeping all kinds of laws Relevant today. "
"I was wondering if the song" Believe "from the band's second album, which bears the same name, is related to Draiman's ambivalent attitude towards religion." The song itself was written from the perspective of how religions can be a kind of opium for the masses, , Explained the soloist. "If you do 'Atonement' then your sin is forgiven. To me it always sounds too easy. There are sins that are too great, and there are sins that are so insignificant. This requires more than accepting the laws of a certain theology and enforcing them too much to be absolved of sin. "
"I'm not the best Jew today," says Draiman. "I light candles on Hanukkah, and I do the Passover Seder every so often, and I also fast on Yom Kippur every so often.
What do you think of the BDS movement?
"They are like a cancer that spreads all over the world, they are anti-Semites in suits, they are looking for an excuse to demonize Israel, do not get me wrong, I think everyone has the right to express an opinion, but this opinion should be scholarly. Israelis, like most people on this planet, just want to live their lives in peace, and if there was such an opportunity, we would all jump on it, but we need a partner.
"It's very expensive for us to come to Israel." "Disturbed" / Photo: Disturbed Productions
"What do you gain by boycotting people, is this a way to create real change?" "Countless states commit crimes against humanity, and the only country in any region that is democratic and has recognition of LGBT rights is the target."
Why do you think this actually happens?
"They do not need an excuse, people hate Jews because they are Jews, not because they did anything to anyone, it's inexplicable because it makes no sense, we've been the scapegoat all along history ... I think there are some people who have a need to blame. They want to find a reason to blame the world for their misfortunes because they lack something they want or did not get to in their lives, and instead of looking at themselves to benefit themselves, they choose to blame the Jewish bogeyman '".
Your grandparents are Holocaust survivors?
"Recently you discovered that my father had some survivors who were part of the Warsaw ghetto uprising, but most of my mother's family, my grandfather was in Bergen-Belsen, my grandmother was in Auschwitz, and these events also influenced my writing as a musician. Of yours, when you realize how much of your family has been destroyed. "
Did the BDS contact you after the announcement of an appearance in Israel? You got a letter from Roger Waters?
Roger Waters is so delusional, wrapped up in his own psychosis, with the hatred of the campaign I do not know what drugs he took in his life, but they certainly burned He has a large part of the brain. "
"Wrapped up in his own psychosis, with the hatred that is set aside for the campaign." Roger Waters // Photo: AFP
You first arrive in Israel after 19 years of activity. From the debut album to the new one, what has changed?
When you start and you have so much to prove, and you're so full of energy, sometimes it's atoning for the lack of precision and professionalism in the various instruments. Writing shows a lot more maturity and development to the level that really, the last album we published, is really the most beloved piece of us. "
Artists are always committed to promoting their latest album, can you really say that the last album you released is better than your breakthrough album?
When I listen to the first album today, I catch myself telling myself, 'Did I really sing it?' Or 'Did I really sound like that?' ... Do not get me wrong, it was the right album at the right time and it had the power that people But I really think we've developed and improved a lot since then. "
We hold this interview in English, but we do not have to do it, do you know Hebrew?
(Hebrew): "I can speak Hebrew I understand Hebrew, but my Hebrew is not so good all the time, I only speak Hebrew with my father, if I had some time in Israel, after a week or two it would be better. In Israel he is already a little weak then. "
Have you ever experienced the Israeli audience? Have you ever been to Israel? What do you expect?
"I do not know what to expect, the only time I was in Israel was when I saw Jethro Tal in Hayarkon Park while I was still in the yeshiva ... I'm not sure it's exactly the same because they're a bit more relaxed. I have heard stories from many of my colleagues who have appeared in Israel, which is one of the three leading audiences in the world, and I am always told that the Israeli audience is amazing, crazy.
The interview was conducted by Lior Peleg and Niv Peleg as part of the "Dead Metal" radio program - for listening to the full interview .
