Why DISTURBED Decided To Go Independent With New Single ‘I Will Not Break’

In a new interview with Rock 100.5 The KATT FM’s Cameron Buchholtz, DISTURBED guitarist Dan Donegan spoke about the band’s new single “I Will Not Break”, which marks DISTURBED’s first release on its own label, Mother Culture Records. Asked why he and his DISTURBED bandmates decided to go independent after spending the entirety of their career so far on Warner, Dan said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  ”I’m not totally fazed by it. Yeah, we’ve been with [Warner] our whole career. But on the other hand, we’ve been fortunate that they’ve never interfered; they’ve always stayed out of our way. And a lot of that has to do with maybe because ‘The Sickness’ was such a big success for them that they’re, like, ‘Okay, well…’, and the business end of things, they’re, like, ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.’ So they stayed away. So that gave us the freedom. And we had that when we were making ‘The Sickness’ too — we recorded that here in Chicago and we had the freedom to make the album we wanted without having to butt heads with anybody. And we delivered, and it sold, so they stayed out the way So, nothing feels different at the moment of us no longer being with them, other than the fact that we’ll have to fund it. Which is fine, but that doesn’t matter.”There were some great people at the label throughout the years that we worked with, but as you may know, too, in this music industry, especially with record labels, it’s usually a revolving door of people that work on these staffs and they jump around different sides of the business or different labels. So they’ve come and gone a lot, and I think there’s only two people that I can think of that are still from the original days with Warner Brothers that are still there. Other than that, they are a bunch of strangers to me; I don’t even know them. So I’m not really missing anything. I appreciate all the work they’ve done with us throughout the years, but I couldn’t even pick them out of a police lineup, to be honest with you. But the ones that have worked with us throughout their career have been great and done an awesome job with us. But at this point in our career, we just felt like we can move on without it. We’re fine. We have we have the back catalog, but we still have this new music that we’re excited about, and we’re gonna keep moving forward.””I Will Not Break” came out on February 21. The track marks DISTURBED’s first new music since the band’s acclaimed 2022 album “Divisive”.”I Will Not Break” was helmed by producer Drew Fulk, also known as WZRD BLD (MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, LIL PEEP, HIGHLY SUSPECT),who previously worked with DISTURBED on “Divisive”.According to DISTURBED, “I Will Not Break” is “a necessary song, about becoming stronger than the forces that constantly try to tear you down.” The track includes the stirring lyrics “I’ve had enough of feeling terrified, now I’m deciding that I won’t be hiding from anyone,” which encourages listeners to push back in the face of adversity.According to Billboard, “Divisive” sold 26,000 equivalent album units in its first week of release, with 22,000 units via album sales.On the all-format Billboard 200 chart, “Divisive” debuted at No. 13.DISTURBED has had five No. 1s on the all-genre chart, beginning with “Believe” in 2002.DISTURBED kicked off “The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour” in Nampa, Idaho on February 25. Produced by Live Nation, each night features two sets of music, opening with DISTURBED playing the five-times-platinum “The Sickness” album in full, followed by a full set of greatest hits.Since “The Sickness” was released in 2000, the album was certified five times platinum by the RIAA, spent a total of 106 weeks on the US Billboard 200 chart, and Revolver named it one of “Top 25 Debut Hard Rock Albums.”DISTURBED recently announced the 25th-anniversary edition release of “The Sickness”. To commemorate the anniversary, the band will reissue the five-times-platinum-certified LP on March 7, exactly 25 years to the date of their original release.”The Sickness” 25th-anniversary edition is available to pre-order on all formats. The deluxe box set will be available via the band’s web site and digitally on March 7, and via all retailers in North American on March 21.[embedded content][embedded content]