Disturbed frontman David Draiman explains his take on music’s role in politics

David Draiman of Disturbed shared his thoughts on whether or not music should be political with Billy Corgan, as per Loudwire. Draiman was the most recent guest on Corgan’s The Magnificent Others podcast, which was released on April 15. The two talked about artists’ political outwardness for an hour and a half, and Corgan questioned Draiman if the topics should be related.

I think musicians should speak to their heart no matter what it may be. The tradition of protest music has been a long one. There’s no reason why art can’t be fused, or shouldn’t be fused — in fact, it absolutely, positively should be fused with intensely powerful messages. – David Draiman

Corgan highlighted the political nature of music in the 1960s and then contrasted that decade with the present, speculating that many musicians could be too scared to make their music political in order to avoid polarizing their audience and having to “pay the price” for taking a stand.

It’s not courage, it’s cowardice. You’re just talking into an echo chamber… What purpose does it serve other than everybody patting themselves on the back? – David Draiman

The Disturbed singer revealed that his position is somewhere in the middle when he addressed one of the most pressing problems facing the United States at the moment: the social instability brought on by the growing presence of ICE officials in cities. He stated that while he is in favor of the police and government agencies, he also thinks that the application procedure for U.S. citizenship should be expedited. Draiman agreed with Corgan that there isn’t a movement to provide “pathways to citizenship” that would assist reduce the current tension.

I wish that people were thinking more of that than trying to take every single issue that they can find and use it as some sort of partisan political tool to attack the other side and that’s what I see happening on a regular basis. I think people sow division because they can profit from it and they continue to do so. They continue to empower themselves and enrich themselves. – David Draiman