Anyone who hasn’t seenDevilDriver live yet is definitely missing out. I caught the guys atSoundwavethis year and it was the craziest show I’ve been to in a long time! FrontmanDez Fafararecently caught up withMetal Mouth and talked about how their latest albumWinter Kills has progressed since it’s release last year, the bands writing process, the state of the music industry and lastly, Dez gives some advice on being a good person.
Check out the interview below!
So lets go back to Winter Kills, its coming up on nine months old now, but does it still hold the same meanings for you as when it was written? I know things gain new meanings over time
Absolutely. Theres still new facets of the record that were finding. I mean were starting to do more songs from the record [live], we do 5 songs but were adding Gutted which I think were gonna start adding tomorrow night and were gonna keep adding more and more tunes. Im finding in the reception that everybody has a different song off the record that they love and thats a really cool thing. When its not just narrowed down to 2 or 3 tracks and its like oh these are the favourites. Everybody is always asking for a different track so eventually Id like to play Winter Killsin its entirety.
Recording it, did you alter anything from the DevilDriver recording style of your previous releases?
Well what was really interesting was that when I got the music we were on tour, so I sat in the back lounge and I would writeA LOT! and I would call the guys back at the end of the night and read to them what I had written. I had never really done that and it was cool to get that instant feedback from the guys. I recorded at my house too, I built a studio in my house and that added a certain something for sure to the recording.
Not like a comfortable feeling cause youre never really comfortable when youre laying a record down but more of a cohesive feel that I could just leave my dogs at the door and go, and go and record and instead of worrying about oh I got two more weeks recording then I get to go home. Were already on the road so much man, we do more shows than any band alive! I felt itnecessary when recording it do so at home.Those were the things that were different about it.
When writing, first and foremost you have to write for yourselves. You have to be pleased with your final result. Do you ever take fan reactions to your more popular tracks or riffs and use them in the writing process?
Certain people do use a formula, we dont. I dont believe in it.
If you say lookClouds over Californiais a very popular song, lets do another clouds youre gonna fail miserably. Any time you point your art towards a direction you know is going to be what people want to hear youre missing the boat when it comes to art. We just do what we do and if people like it then great! But thats why you get six records and every one of them is so different. We have a signature sound but every record is so different.
I meanPray for Villainsis so much more different than BeastandWinter Kills is as far away fromBeastas possible so that being said, I dont ever wanna make the same record twice, you know?
DevilDriver is a touring machine, you are literally always on the road. Is this still as important to you as your early days with Coal Chamber? Is it still as important to see the fans go crazy for your music?
Yeah! And these shows particularly where its been just mental weve only had one or two nights that havent sold out. I feed off the crowd, there was a guy interviewing me a couple of days ago and he said you command the crowd and you tell em what to do and actually no, its the other way around. If the crowd are going off, theyre gonna command my reaction so its not my actions but my reaction to what is going on. Its a cool thing man when you can play music and move people, when you dont just wanna stand their with a beer in your hand, you wanna drop that and your girlfriends hand and get in the pit, thats kinda something special and I feel weve got that right now.
And finally youre a well travelled and thoughtful man, if you could give the world some advice as a whole. What would you say?
Be strong, believe in yourself! Keep a tight core group of friends. Dont take shit from anyone but be a very caring individual. I mean if you fell down outta this bus Id be the first one to pick you back up and if youre not that kinda person then youre not living the correct life.
Listen to your intuition. That is another thing I do a lot. Im the guy that if there is a left or a right to make and my mind tells me not to go left even if that is the way to get there. Ill take a right. I listen to myself a lot and I think people need to do that. You need to kick back and have some quiet time. Your own notions in your head will come through and tell you how to live life and as far as caring goes Im an average guy. I have a family. I care for my friends my dogs and my cats.
Check out the rest of the interview (it’s worth your time) at Metal Mouth
