DEVILDRIVER's DEZ FAFARA Confronts His Mortality After Health Scare: 'I'm Blessed To Be Here'

By David E. Gehlke

The arrival of DEVILDRIVER's eleventh studio album, "Strike And Kill", has been accompanied by news of frontman Dez Fafara's recent health scares. As he outlined in a recent appearance on the "Garza Podcast", Fafara (who turned 60 in May) has a non-cancerous tumor located near his salivary gland in his head. While the tumor was discovered two years ago and was preceded by a bout with vertigo that led to a canceled COAL CHAMBER tour, it has been decreasing in size on its own, much to the joy of Fafara and the surprise of his physicians. For now, Fafara will continue regular doctor visits and a strict health regimen that coincides with DEVILDRIVER's resumption of normal band activity.

"Strike And Kill" marks the return of original bassist Jon Miller and the introduction of new lead guitarist Gabe Mangold. According to Fafara, Miller and Mangold, along with rhythm guitarist Alex Lee and drummer Davier Pérez, have breathed new life into DEVILDRIVER and turned "Strike And Kill" into a tightly wound, aggressive batch of 13 songs. With "Strike And Kill" having seen its July release and Fafara now able to speak freely about his diagnosis, BLABBERMOUTH.NET got him the horn to learn more.

Blabbermouth: What has the return of Jon meant to the band?

Dez: "It's been wonderful. He's a wonderful guy. When we first spoke, it was probably for three and a half hours; there was laughter, tears. I was always closest to Jon Miller and John Boecklin, my drummer. Jon and I did a lot of road miles together, all the first records together, and everything else. Everyone knows the story, and he'll tell you. He had to come off tour to get his proverbial shit together, and his life is going wonderfully. He's married; just a fantastic guy. He obviously understands when I say, 'Write for the logo.' He gets it. He gets what DEVILDRIVER is. We've always been something different. He gets it, so having him involved in the writing process was awesome as well. He's a great team player with the new guy. It's great having him back. I love that guy."

Blabbermouth: How much do Alex and Gabe continue to open things up on the guitar front?

Dez: "They're incredible players, but incredible personally. Gabe kept me laughing so much in the studio that I was like, 'Dude, I got to get down to business.' Both of them are very talented and really nice guys. They enjoy being here, and I enjoy being around them."

Blabbermouth: It sounds like you have a good group of people in the band at the moment.

Dez: "I've been fortunate to be surrounded by good people my life. If they come and go, things change, obviously. I've been very fortunate. I really dug in on writing. When I started getting the music, I really needed it, given everything I was going through. That being said, I don't want to say it was a 'good time' to be in DEVILDRIVER, but it's a fantastic time to be writing a record for something like DEVILDRIVER. I'd like to think, vocally or lyrically, I came up to the standards of what the musicians gave me. Each guy in my band is beyond talented. I feel blessed for sure."

Blabbermouth: What does the "Strike And Kill" album title entail? Is it about overcoming obstacles?

Dez: "There are nuances of that, absolutely. Somebody asked me the other day, 'Was it just time for DEVILDRIVER to strike and kill?' I was like, 'Huh…that's kind of apropos for a minute. Yeah, it was!' Certainly, I stand by, and I've said this in numerous places, I stand by all the records we've made. Things with different writers over the course of some years, I felt kind of got off course a little bit. I feel this thing is back on track. Gabe was learning how to play guitar and listening to DEVILDRIVER. Davier, my drummer, knows DEVILDRIVER inside and out. Jon, obviously, is very familiar with it. Alex totally understands what we are. So, having that, you got players that understand what the band is. Let's do what we do and do it best. When I started getting the songs, I was so eager to start writing. Normally, I wait, and I've said this before too: I wait for the bulk of the material, like, 11, 12 songs. Now I can get into it, and I went to work."

Blabbermouth: The record moves along pretty quickly — it doesn't feel "long" for an album with 13 songs.

Dez: "I've heard that so many times and I appreciate that and the label even said, 'Nine or ten will work. You can keep these for whatever you want.' I go, 'No. This has to be what it is.' First of all, if someone is going to spend money on a physical copy, let's give them their money's worth. If they're going to take the time to sit down and stream, let's give them their time's worth. I couldn't think of a track, like somebody said this the other day, 'There's not a B-side on here.' Everybody, every record likes to say, 'All killer, no filler.' This thing, I couldn't imagine one of the tracks not being on there. Yeah, 13 was just it. Thirteen being a lucky number for me as well."

Blabbermouth: Are you talking about anyone specific in the song "You're Just A Ghost"? Or is it metaphoric?

Dez: "One hundred percent, absolutely, pointing at someone. Oftentimes we have people come in our lives and are in and out of our lives that are non-consequential or consequential, may do you harm or not, but either way, you're not in touch with them anymore. Or, they're not in touch with you. They're not in touch with your life, and you're not in touch with their life, so you're just a ghost. I've been very fortunate in my lifetime to meet wonderful people on the road, great other musicians and go to a bunch of places with cool people. I don't really feel like I have enemies, which is a great thing. I always tell people around me: 'If you hear anything like that, tell me so I can duck.' I wear my heart on my sleeve, so I am what I am. You're going to get it like it is. That song in particular is definitely one of the tracks I was thinking about a human being when I was writing it."

Blabbermouth: Was it clear that "Dig Your Own Grave" was going to start the record?

Dez: "You know, I am really removed from those things. People probably think this is the Dez show, right? COAL CHAMBER or DEVILDRIVER is the Dez show. It's not. It's actually beyond democratic. I asked those guys, 'What tracks that we demoed do you want to record?' Let's do it. 'What's the first track and last track?' Davier, Gabe and the whole band did those tracks and put them in order. They do the setlist. They do it all, man. I like to be a singer and like to have this democratic way of working, where it's like, 'What do you want to play live? What do you think should be on the record?' It's the same way with the singles. They are very adamant about 'Dig Your Own Grave' and 'Dead In The Water'. They follow each other. If you fuck up, if you fuck up someone else's life or you fuck up your life and make a wrong turn you can't come back from, you're digging your own grave. And if you start digging your own grave and can't get out, and the whole thing is too deep, and you can't climb out, and it's muddy and raining, you're screwed, and now you're dead in the water."

Blabbermouth: You're probably correct about the perception that you call the shots. It sounds like those guys are empowered to make decisions.

Dez: "It's not my band; I happen to be one of the guys who started it. Whoever is in it with me is in it with me. I'm very fortunate that those guys aren't saying, 'Oh, we don't want to make those decisions.' [Laughs] 'We don't want to be responsible for the first track because if it fails, we're screwed.' 'Dig Your Own Grave' and 'Dead In The Water' have a very old-school feel to them. I've done a lot of press. You're the last bit of press I'm doing for a while. I relish that. The fact is, they knew what tracks to put on there. They didn't go back to the beginning and listen to those records or any of that. I said this several times: 'Write for the logo. Look at the logo. If you're looking at the logo and want a new DEVILDRIVER record, what do you want to hear?' It's got to be a little of everything, and that's what they gave me."

Blabbermouth: "Writing for the logo" may be a new slogan. I'm not sure many have thrown that around since we're in such a logo-driven style of music.

Dez: "We're a different kind of metal band. We don't fit in. We're like the square peg in a round hole. We're this groovy thing, and I was raised on punk, goth and psychobilly. We don't fit in. That was the way to put it. Instead of them asking, 'What direction?' the conversation was, 'What direction are we going?' I said, 'Look at the logo, guys. Write a killer record for the logo. You know what DEVILDRIVER sounds like. Let's get down to it. Gabe, especially, with Miller, Alex and Davier, there was this camaraderie, this 'work as a team' vibe, running riffs by me: 'Oh, I love that! If that riff could carry all the way through the verse, I would love that.' Next thing I know, I have a song. 'This thing is perfect. I'm going to sleep in my studio tonight and write.' There was a lot of that. 'Put this on hold. No, I'm not going here. No, I'm not doing it here. I'm not making dinner tonight. Bring it into my room. I'm in the studio writing.' I was in it. That's a fantastic place to be as a writer. I wrote like it was my first record, which is the most important thing in your career, even though when you're doing that, with COAL CHAMBER, we didn't know that. I wrote as if it was my last record ever. When you take those two things and put them together, and you've got great music and musicians, as a lyricist and vocalist, then you'll hopefully come up with something special. If you don't, then it's over, especially on your 11th record."

Blabbermouth: Your health has been a topic of late in the news. You have tour dates coming up. Are you doing anything different to prepare?

Dez: "I'm getting on the treadmill and eating right. Warming up twice a day; sometimes I do the set twice. I have a studio here with a booth, which is very fortunate. I would say to every single vocalist: Make sure you can sing at home. I go downstairs and boom, I'm in my own studio, and I barricade myself. That's basically it. I try to skateboard and surf. I just try to move. That's my whole thing. I mean, I've said this before, too, if my wife wants me to watch a movie, she has to give me two weeks' notice. I can't sit. I suffer from ADD and ADHD really badly. If I'm not writing, I'm skateboarding, surfing or riding Harley-Davidsons; I'm constantly busy. Today, I was in the studio for one and a half hours writing. When the moment strikes, you have to write. No pun intended. [Laughs]"

Blabbermouth: They say sitting is the new smoking. It's one of the worst things for your body, apparently.

Dez: "For me, I'm blessed to be here still. I'm blessed to be alive after everything. Even the things I'm going through right now. I'm blessed to be in a band that people still want to hear. There's a lot of people who were around when I started that aren't around. I feel like I should keep going with writing and everything. I'm writing and doing all sorts of stuff. I have some cool stuff coming down the line that I can't discuss."

Blabbermouth: Is this new DEVILDRIVER or is COAL CHAMBER music around some ideas?

Dez: "Lots going on, man. [Laughs]"

Blabbermouth: After your appearance on the "Garza Podcast", what kind of outpouring of support did you receive?

Dez: "I never do podcasts longer than a half hour. I've never done a three-hour sit-down. A lot of the times with that kind of thing, I'm stream of consciousness. You're going to get what you're going to get. Some people say, 'You should think before you talk.' I say, 'Sometimes you'll have conversations with people.' My phone was going crazy. Every artist right now who we can mention has called me, texted me or written to me. The fanbase for sure was like, 'Huh? We're here for you. You got this.' I'm stumbling right now as I try to articulate this, but I carried this weight for two years with my bandmates, my wife and my kids. The metal community and I do say that, and the punk rock community has been there with me for 30 years. How long do you keep that from people? People should know: 'Hey, this is what I'm dealing with. Don't worry, I'm still touring. It's not going to stop me. There may come a time when it does, or something does. It might be time to see a show.' That's really it. You want to share this stuff with people so they know you're human. I've always been a guy, 'Pick yourself up and dust yourself off.' I've always been known for that; I don't want to use the cliché words, but I'm a positive person. I've always been that guy. You can get to the other side of anything if you believe in it and try. I think that was part of it as well. The long conversations with my wife: 'Am I going to let this cat out of the bag? Everyone in life is going through something, and let them know you're going through something and how the fuck you've faced it.' I've faced it head-on. Occasionally, you're seeing hate or things said, and I'm like, 'Wow, that's humanity. Cool.' [Laughs] I don't get a lot of it. I would say 99.9 percent of people were going, 'Hey, man. I wish you the best."

Blabbermouth: I have some family members with vertigo. It's no joke.

Dez: "Yeah, I had vertigo, put me in an ambulance, put me in an emergency room, MRI, taking down a year of touring, constant MRI machines, and then they pulled up a tumor that's in my saliva gland up above my jaw near my ear. It's fairly common, I guess, for people. And then we had two months to wait until Christmas Eve, and then Christmas Eve is when I went in to get the diagnosis to find out if it was cancer or not, and it wasn't. So you can only imagine Christmas Eve at my house that night was fucking off the hook."

Blabbermouth: I bet.

Dez: "It was probably the first time in eight or nine years that I wanted to have a drink. I didn't, but I wanted to."

Blabbermouth: Correct me if I'm wrong, but the location of the tumor will not impact your vocals, correct?

Dez: "No, and what they said is that if it starts to get sore or bigger, that's actually when they can operate, but it's gotten smaller. So we went in a year ago; I do a lot of holistic stuff, and I could go into it here, but we went in about a year, almost seven months ago actually, and it seems to be either the same or a little bit smaller. So it has to get bigger for them to operate, or it's very dangerous. I could lose my blinking, my smiling, my singing, all that. What they said about the vertigo is that the vertigo is what your body does to let you know you have something going on. It's like I better sit in a fucking MRI machine for a while, you know? But it's all good. We're all mortal. We're all gonna cross over. I mean, hopefully your writing will leave a scar. My writing will leave a scar. Like, that's just what you can hope to do: That I leave good sons behind and good men. That's the only hope you have: That you can leave that stuff behind, and that all goes through your head. While you're sitting in an MRI machine and it's clicking away, because I don't know if you've ever been in one of those, but it just goes click, click, click, click, click, click, like the whole time you're in there, it's weird. You just deal with shit the way that you should deal with it, which is like a fucking man—just deal with it."