DEVILDRIVER Guitarist: 'We Went In With A Mindset Of Wanting This Record To Be So Heavy'

Metal Callout recently conducted an interview with guitarist Mike Spreitzer of Santa Barbara, California metallers DEVILDRIVER. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Metal Callout: Why did you choose the title "Beast" for your new album. Does it have any significant value behind it?

Mike: It came from a couple of different areas. We went in with a mindset of just wanting this record to be so heavy. I think the term "Beast" just describes the record very well and it's a term that Dez's [Fafara, vocals] kids use around the house to describe things that are just bad-ass. I think he just kind of… listening to his kids say it, it just clicked in his head and I think that would be a great album title and he told all of us and we're just like, "Well, it kind of describes it exactly." [The way] we structured a lot of the songs, we just want it to be really heavy and brutal and volatile. I think this is the first time we actually went in with an album title and did not change it when we were done recording, because we loved it so much. It was just right off from the get go we wanted to call the record "Beast".

Metal Callout: You guys chose [to do your recording] down at Sonic Ranch in El Paso. That studio has a lot of history behind it. How do you guys feel to be a part of that history?

Mike: Feels good. This was our third time going there. It's a very good creative environment because it's on a Pecan Ranch. About half hour, forty five minutes outside of El Paso, Texas and its right next to the Mexican border, right next to Juarez, which you know it kind of gives it the nice cool creepy vibe. There's literally nothing to do out there, other than just, you know be creative with the record. Even cell phone reception is pretty bad out there, so your phone isn't rigging off the hook all the time. It's very comforting and it's a very magical place and I can see why a lot of bands like to go out there.

Metal Callout: I head its quite a secluded place, it probably keeps you guys very focused on what needs to be do.

Mike: Well, yes, it does, because there's no distraction, you know?! Other than…whenever time it is to eat lunch, I would say that is the only distraction we have. No, it's a lot of fun. El Paso, Texas, the owner is very cool and he's really much into wine and every now and then he'll break open an insanely expensive bottle of wine for the artists there and he'll take you into town. He's kind of like an El Paso legend, so wherever you go in town, if you're with him, it's like front of the line, you get treated like royalty just being with him all the time. So it's a really cool experience.

Metal Callout: Could you briefly describe the music making process?

Mike: Well, it starts out with thee four of us being….you know, Jon Miller, John Boecklin, Jeff Kendrick and myself just coming up with ideas on our own and I have my own recording studio at my house were we do all the pre-production at. So, basically, I'll start off, you know….I'll start off writing a song for myself and so when the guys come over, I'll show it to them, we'll make changes. They'll say, "I like this part, I like this part," then we'll get it to the point where we are all happy with it, then we'll put it on CD. I would say it takes a good three of four sessions of us getting together. Even once we leave the house the first time you know, people will listen to the CDs and come back a couple of weeks later and then we'll make more changes and once we get the song to the point where we're all happy with it, we'll pass it along to Dez for him to write lyrics to. The same thing goes with the other guys; they'll come up with their own ideas, they'll come down to my house, I'll record the guitar into my computer, we'll program some drum to it, to get a good vibe out of it. Critique it tell we all like it, then pass it on to Dez.

Read the entire interview from Metal Callout.