DAVID DRAIMAN Says LITA FORD 'Loved' His Cover Version Of 'Close My Eyes Forever'

Live Metal recently conducted an interview with DISTURBED and DEVICE frontman David Draiman. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Live Metal: So talking about DEVICE, how does it feel for you at this point in your career, after all the success you've had, to be basically starting over with a new project?

Draiman: It is a little humbling. [laughs] But I've got to say, it's so rare in life that you get the opportunity to relive experiences that you thought you'd never get the chance to relive. To be the new band again, to have that new level of excitement, the new level of curiosity and heat behind you and buzz, and to be the one that everybody wants to check out, it's really a delicious sort of experience. I'm really relishing it. I'm looking forward to getting out there and just slaying crowds with this material. Our practice sessions here at the house have been devastating, and I can't wait. I'm really looking forward to it.

Live Metal: I think "Vilify" was a good choice as the first single. It's a good entry point. Everybody knows you from DISTURBED and it has a similar feel but also some new sounds. Was that intentional?

Draiman: Completely intentional. [laughs] I didn't want there to be too much culture shock for the DISTURBED fan base. I love and I respect them so much. I wanted to give them some sort of aspect of familiarity while still giving them something fresh and new to start off with. Sometimes when you're trying to make love to a girl, you gotta start with sticking the tip in, right, not the whole thing? (laughs) You've gotta ease your way in a little bit. [laughs] I think that "Vilify" was a good bridge to bring people in. You have the staccato, rhythmic, rapid-fire type of cadence that I'm typically known for. It's a very comfortable place that I can go to. It's a style that I've had since even prior to DISTURBED. In fact, when I auditioned for DISTURBED, the very first line that I actually started to sing was a line from the track on "The Sickness" record, "Want". It was a song that we wrote our very first day which is a very rhythmically, cadence-heavy line, and that was really coming from my love of rhythm and my background with my prior two projects prior to DISTURBED, which were more funk influenced. The one thing that I have as both a blessing and a curse is that my voice is very identifiable, and no matter what, people hear my voice and they think DISTURBED because it's been associated with DISTURBED for the past 16 years — they should. But I definitely had the opportunity to go into a bunch of different place and directions with the record on tracks like "Through It All" and "Haze", the Lita (Ford) and Ozzy (Osbourne) cover of "Close My Eyes Forever" that I did with Lzzy Hale (of HALESTORM) and even something the like the classical style of the vocal delivery in the chorus of, say, the opening track, "You Think You Know" — all these are things that would not have been appropriate on a DISTURBED record, and I'm very glad I had the opportunity to go in those directions with this one.

Live Metal: Speaking a little more about "Close My Eyes Forever", you've done other covers in your career with DISTURBED. Have you ever had a chance to play your version for the original artists or hear what they think about them?

Draiman: I played it for Lita. She loved it. She came through town here in Austin, Texas, and she loved it. I haven't had the opportunity to play it for Ozzy. I'd love to. It's certainly done out of the utmost admiration and respect. I in no way, shape or form envision myself as the modern-day Ozzy Osbourne — nobody can. He is living legend. I have such respect and I look up to what he's done and who he is so much. I'm so thankful to both him and Sharon for everything that they've done for me and DISTURBED over the years. I can only hope that he loves it and that Sharon loves it and that they see it as a fitting tribute to his greatness.

Read the entire interview from Live Metal.