Michael Wengren (born September 3, 1971) is an American drummer, best known for his work with heavy metal band

Disturbed Disturbed may refer to: Books * ''Disturbed'', a 2011 novel by Kevin O'Brien (author) Film and TV * ''Disturbed'' (film), a 1990 film starring Malcolm McDowell * "Disturbed" (''Numb3rs''), a 2009 episode of ''Numb3rs'' * "The Disturbed", a 2 ...

. He is one of the founding members of the band, which was formed in 1994. Wengren is known for his

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. Th ...

techniques that have become a staple of Disturbed's music.

Biography

Born and raised in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Wengren has been playing drums since around the age of 10. He attended Curie High School on the Southwest side of Chicago. He has been quoted as saying that

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

, Testament,

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albums ...

Pantera Pantera () is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas formed in 1981, and currently comprised of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and touring musicians Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante. The group's best-kn ...

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

, and Racer X were his strongest influences. On August 31, 2005, before the set closed, frontman

David Draiman David Michael Draiman ( he, דוד מיכאל דריימן; born March 13, 1973) is an American singer and songwriter. Noted for his distorted, operatic, baritone voice and percussive singing style, he is best known as the lead vocalist of the h ...

handed the microphone to Wengren, who invited his girlfriend onstage and proposed marriage to her. In 2013, Wengren pursued a side project band, Fight or Flight, in collaboration with Disturbed member

Dan Donegan Daniel Joseph Donegan (born August 1, 1968) is an American musician who serves as the guitarist and keyboardist for heavy metal band Disturbed. Donegan began playing guitar as a teenager and eventually formed a band called Vandal, which was a ...

. In 2020, Wengren became a partial owner of Steel Tank Brewing Company in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.

Endorsements

In recent years, Wengren has appeared in advertisements for

Pearl Drums , simply known as Pearl, is a multinational corporation based in Japan with a wide range of products, predominantly percussion instruments. History Pearl was founded by Katsumi Yanagisawa -who began manufacturing music stands in Sumida, Tokyo- o ...

, since the Masters Series was his first professional kit purchased from Midwest Percussion the early 1990s. Wengren uses Evans Hydraulic Glass drumheads on all toms and EQ3 heads on both bass drums. He has been added to the Vater Signature line of drumsticks, which now has a Mike Wengren model. Additionally, he uses

Sabian Sabian may refer to: *Sabians, name of a religious group mentioned in the Quran, historically adopted by: **Mandaeans, Gnostic sect from the marshlands of southern Iraq claiming John the Baptist as their most important prophet **Sabians of Harran, ...

cymbals. His previous tour kit was a 'cranberry fade' Pearl MRX Masters Series drumset with black hardware. Wengren's tour kit in support of the album ''

Ten Thousand Fists ''Ten Thousand Fists'' is the third studio album by American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Disturbed (band), Disturbed. It was released on September 20, 2005 and became Disturbed's second consecutive number 1 debut on the Billboard 200, ''B ...

'' was a 'vintage sunburst' variation of the same drumset, also with black hardware.

Discography

Brawl

*''Demo Tape'' (1994)

Disturbed

*''

The Sickness ''The Sickness'' is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Disturbed. It was released on March 7, 2000, by Giant and Reprise Records. The album peaked at number 29 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, and spent a total of 106 weeks on the ...

'' (2000) *''

Believe Believe may refer to: *Belief, a psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true, with or without proof for such proposition *Faith, a belief in something which has not been proven Arts, entertainment, and me ...

'' (2002) *''

'' (2005) *'' Indestructible'' (2008) *''

Asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea ...

'' (2010) *'' The Lost Children'' (2011) *'' Immortalized'' (2015) *''

Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

'' (2018) *'' Divisive'' (2022)

Fight or Flight

* ''

A Life by Design? '' A Life by Design? '' is the only studio album by American hard rock band Fight or Flight, released on July 23, 2013. The debut single, "First of the Last", was released on May 7, 2013, with its radio airplay beginning on May 21, 2013. Track ...

'' (2013)

Other appearances

*" Let the Truth Be Known (2008) *"

A Song for Chi "A Song for Chi" is an instrumental alternative metal song recorded by several high-profile rock and metal musicians to raise money for poet and Deftones bassist Chi Cheng, who was severely injured in a car crash in Santa Clara, California ...

" (2009)

Awards and nominations

Loudwire Music Awards , - , 2015 , , Mike Wengren , , Best Drummer , ,

References

External links

Disturbed's official websiteFight or Flight's official websiteVater Drumsticks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wengren, Mike 1971 births Living people Musicians from Chicago Nu metal drummers Disturbed (band) members American heavy metal drummers 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 21st-century American drummers