Disturbed have posted a story of their early path. Read the message below.
Here’s a quick fun fact in Disturbed History! Back in late 98′ and early 99′ we were still an unsigned local band from Chicago already playing the bar/club scene for a couple years by then.We went into Groovemaster Recording Studios to record our first real demo together.
The first was a 3 song demo recorded and mixed in about 3 days.It was shortly followed by another 3 songs & they both caught some attention by not only the local scene but a few Label reps that had received a copy. In early 99′ we quickly went back into the studio again to record our cover of Tears for Fears “Shout”.
We left the studio for the evening and headed out for a late dinner at a place in Chicago’s Wrigleyville area just a couple doors down from the Metro which is a well known venue with a lot of history to it.
As we were seated, it was brought to our attention that Curt Smith from Tears for Fears happened to be dining there as well.We were introduced to him and we proceeded to tell him how ironic it was that we are meeting cuz’ we happened to be in the studio recording one of his songs.
We asked if he’d like to come take a listen to our version of “Shout”!To our surprise he said he would love too.
We were in a mad scramble to try and track down our Producer Johnny K to see if we could get back into the studio late night to play it for Curt. This was at a time when not everyone had cellphones yet so it was a bit of a challenge to get ahold of him at first.
We finally reached Johnny and we all met at Groovemaster Studio in Chicago in the middle of the night.We had Curt sit in the Captians chair behind the console as we sat in the back of the control room watching for any kind of reaction from him.
This was a bit nerve-racking to see if his response would be what the hell did you do to my song or if he liked it at all!
To our delight he turned to us with this look of shock as he was pleasantly surprised on how much he enjoyed it! He had commented on how our version had really brought out the angst in the lyrics and how they had intended convey that message. Mind you this was still just our demo-version of the song and we were still just a local band.
About 2 months later after showcasing for multiple labels during Chicago’s MobFest (which is a music conference where Record Label A & R reps come see bands for the weekend), We performed to a sold-out crowd at a bar that was known for folk music. It wasn’t the most ideal setting but we didn’t care where we were playing cuz’ our fans showed up in droves. We tore the place up!!!! The moment we walked off stage we were instantly met by a publishing company and multiple label reps.
Our heads were spinning. We scheduled a couple more showcases as requested by a few more labels who asked for a chance to see us. Just under 2 months from that performance, we ended up signing a deal with Giant/Reprise records who was part of the Warner Bros. family.This was Aug. of 99′ almost exactly 3 years to the date of us becoming a band.(Sidenote: not to mention the many years of projects before Disturbed even formed).
Although the signing had nothing to do with our meeting Curt,the timing of us meeting him at that moment when we were recording seemed like fate for us.
Everything just started to take off for us. A few months later we entered the studio once again in Oct. of 99′ this time to start tracking our debut album “The Sickness”. And from that point on a career was made.
Thank You Disturbed Ones & hope you enjoyed a little story telling of the birth of the Sickness. Much Love to you Disturbed Ones around the World! Can’t wait to see you all again
-David,Dan,Mike & John
Disturbed – Shout 2000
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