DEVILDRIVER Frontman: 'Every Five Minutes I Can Write A Song, Just Walking Down The Street'

Tim Yearsley of The Mic Magazine conducted an interview with DEVILDRIVER frontman Dez Fafara just before the band's show at the Rescue Rooms in Nottingham, England last night (October 10). A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Q: What's the ethos/philosophy behind DEVILDRIVER's music?

Dez: A different sound, definitely a distinctive different sound, we work on that. It's gotta have groove, and it's gotta have tons of hooks. And then from there, that's it.

Q: Is that what you're doing now, or what you had in mind originally? How do you think the band's sound has developed?

Dez: I'd say the first record was in the direction, but kinda introducing us. The second record was very creative, almost too much so from my perspective. The third record was more honing it in, bringing it back into where it should be, making sure we capture our live sound with a really up-tempo feel — a lot more riffing, a lot more soloing, so I think our first and our third record really capture what we are. The second one was a growth that needed to happen. There's two kinds of bands, the kind of band that comes out with their first record and it's always the best, and they never live up to it, and then there;s band like ourselves where we keep developing into (hopefully) something better, keeping our sound distinctive yet diverse from the rest of the pack.

Q: Was this evolution in the music something you've had in mind from day one or has it come about more naturally than that?

Dez: This thing has come about totally organically, even the formation of the band happened at a BBQ at my house — it's all been totally natural.

Q: Where do you take lyrical inspiration from? Are there any songs on the new record that have a particular message you're trying to get across to people?

Dez: Everyday life, really. Every five minutes I can write a song, just walking down the street. I touch on a lot of religious issues, conscious issues, how you should be treated, how you should treat people, regret, failure, but the main goal being perseverance and determination against the odds, which is what I've been through in my life. Even the title "The Last Kind Words" is a play on being human; and coming here with no manual, and not really knowing how to live your life — it's why you see people that don't have it together walking around crazy in the streets, they just can't get it together, so determination and perseverance will always be the key.

Q: The song "Tirades of Truth" where that line comes from, is there a message behind that?

Dez: Well the message is a little play on words, "the last kind words you will hear" when you die and when you're born, are "you will live below angels and above beasts" — you're human. Again, coming here with no manual, no way to know what's good or what's wrong. It's only what you learn on the way up or what you're taught through life that makes a man or a woman who they are.

Q: Are you finding the newer songs more enjoyable to play live?

Dez: No, it's never really like that. The musicians behind me, they may feel that way, they get bored of certain songs – but then there are certain staples in the diet like "I Could Care Less" that you have to do. But we play about five songs of each record so we're giving it a good go with the diversity. I'm not one that likes to move around the set list, just to make sure that it runs tight and smooth.

Q: You've only just put out "The Last Kind Words", and it's early days, but do you have any ideas or thoughts about the direction you want to take the band for the next record, or in five years' time?

Dez: Yeah we've been talking about it — I told the label that the fourth, fifth, sixth records are definitely going be better. We've talked about the direction and how we're going to diversify. We definitely have some things up our sleeves right now.

Q: Do you write while you're touring then?

Dez: We try, I mean I scribble stuff down and will come home to about 40 tiny pieces of paper that I wrote sitting in a restaurant or whatever, and the other guys have riffs they write here and there, but no one actually sits down to create a song, it's too hard to do.

Q: Is most of the creative process in the studio?

Dez: Well, when we're home. When we hit the studio, we're already so prepared that not many changes happen by that time.

Q: How about the organ put in to close the album on "The Axe Shall Fall"? Was that in the studio or planned out beforehand?

Dez: That was not planned out, it was a last minute thing where the owner had a pre-WWII Hammond B2 just in the corner. He took the cover off it and I just looked at it and said, "Oh man." He started playing and I thought, we've gotta find a place for this on the record. I'm a huge DEEP PURPLE fan, I love the Hammond, I'd love to see it used more on the next record (but it has to be done tastefully). It's a nice close to the album though — after like 42 minutes of pure bludgeony, it takes you down for a minute.