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 20 ...

. 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 usually greater than its depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The head ...

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

Biography

Born and raised in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

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

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. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the p ...

Testament A testament is a document that the author has sworn to be true. In law it usually means last will and testament. Testament or The Testament can also refer to: Books * ''Testament'' (comic book), a 2005 comic book * ''Testament'', a thriller no ...

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Hollywood, California, in 1981 by bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, with guitarist Mick Mars and lead vocalist Vince Neil joining right after. The band has sol ...

Pantera Pantera () is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul), and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, an ...

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

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

David Draiman David Michael Draiman (; born March 13, 1973) is an American heavy metal singer. Noted for his distorted baritone voice and percussive singing style, he has been the lead vocalist of Disturbed since 1996. He has written some of the band's most ...

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 is the guitarist, keyboardist and one of the founding members of heavy metal band Disturbed. Donegan began playing guitar as a teenager and eventually formed a band calle ...

. 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 Time! Pearl was founded by Katsumi Yanagisawa -who began manufacturing music stands in Sumida, T ...

, 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 Vater () means "father" in German. It is also a surname. It may refer to: * Abraham Vater, a German anatomist ** Ampulla of Vater, an anatomic area named after Abraham Vater * VACTERL association, sometimes called VATER syndrome, a group of congen ...

Signature line of drumsticks, which now has a Mike Wengren model. Additionally, he uses Sabian 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 band Disturbed. It was released on September 20, 2005, by Reprise Records and became Disturbed's second consecutive number 1 debut on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the United ...

'' 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 th ...

'' (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 the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

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

Fight or Flight

* '' A Life by Design?'' (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 on ...

" (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 Drummers from Chicago Nu metal drummers Disturbed (band) members American heavy metal drummers 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 21st-century American drummers