DEVILDRIVER Frontman: Releasing Standalone Singles And EPs Is 'A Total Waste Of Time'

Chris Annunziata, host of the 90.3 WMSC radio show "The Metal Teddy Bear Experience", recently conducted an interview with DEVILDRIVER frontman Dez Fafara. You can now listen to the chat using the SoundCloud widget below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On whether he has any interest in doing a 15th-anniversary show or tour for DEVILDRIVER's debut album:

Dez: "No, man. I don't look at the rear-view [mirror]. That's part and parcel to keeping yourself relevant and keeping a career going. You don't look at the rear-view until it's time to look at the rear-view, and right now is not the time to look into the rear-view. We're releasing this record ['Outlaws 'Til The End: Vol. 1'). We're in the studio right now recording 25 songs for a double record that's gonna be a double-album concept record staggered release. So you're gonna get a release every 15 to 18 months from DEVILDRIVER from here on out in my career. Part of the reason is that a lot of people are really saying, 'Hey, not a lot of people are going to heavy metal shows anymore. Heavy metal's not selling. Metal and rock are taking a big hit,' which is true. So, if you leave a plant and you don't water it — you water it every four years, five years, make a record every four or five years — don't you think that plant's gonna die? So, what I'm saying to everybody in the scene right now is if you make a record every three, four, five years, you need to kick it up, get with me, get it every 15 months to two years, start building this scene back up. All of us, all of us are responsible. So that's what DEVILDRIVER is doing now, and I'm making a concerted effort to kick it up. I mean, I don't know how old you are, but when I was young, I got a record a year from my favorite bands, and sometimes two records a year from KISS."

On whether there is any value in releasing singles and EPs instead of full-length albums:

Dez: "No. I think singles and EPs are a total waste of time — they go completely unrecognized. You get one or two songs, three songs, [the fans] listen for a week or two and then they're done. But for some reason, when the get a record of seven or eight songs, they live with it for a year, year and a half. It's the craziest thing. And you can see it in sales. Bands that released EPs, you go look at sales, nobody buys them. You add five songs to that, it's a [full-length] record, everybody buys it. Why is that? It's a strange, strange thing happening in music right now. But I'm staying way, way from releasing singles, releasing EPs — I'm staying way away from that; that's not where we need to go at all. Make music, right? What's the problem? Why can't you create eight, nine, 10, 11 songs once every 15 [to] 18 months. What is the problem? Why are bands having a hard time getting 12 songs out every three to four years? What is the deal? I can't fathom it. I wrote two songs this morning before most people were awake. That's what a musician does. I mean, it's okay, man. I don't mind stepping on everybody's toes who's listening to me right now because ya'll need to kick it up. Y'all need to kick it up, we all need to help this scene, we all need to foster our scene, we all need to be part of our scene and to be part of it, you've gotta start kicking in, releasing records. And it's the same thing for the newer, younger bands — they're doing the same thing too; a record every three years. You think you're gonna get a career out of that? Nah. That's why so many bands are, like, 'Oh, they came up. Oh, where'd they go?' Well, you haven't heard from 'em. They released a record three years later [and] no one cared. Here's the thing: a kid goes into high school, freshman year, gets a great record, falls in love with the band, wears the t-shirt daily. Doesn't get another record until he graduates? Don't you think that's ridiculous? That's where we're at right now, and I'm pointing the finger. And it's time to kick it up."

DEVILDRIVER's long-awaited full-length album of outlaw country-gone-metal anthems, "Outlaws 'Til The End: Vol. 1", was released on July 6 via Napalm Records. The disc is described in a press release as "both a startling curveball and a ferocious statement of individuality from a band who have been a constant and effective force in the heavy metal world for the best part of two decades now."