Ex-DEVILDRIVER Guitarist MIKE SPREITZER Admits He Hasn't Spoken To DEZ FAFARA About His Decision To Leave The Band

DEVILDRIVER guitarist Mike Spreitzer says that he hasn't spoken to frontman Dez Fafara about his decision to leave the band.

Mike was the second-longest-lasting member of DEVILDRIVER following the departures of all original members except Fafara. Spreitzer co-wrote and performed on DEVILDRIVER's albums "The Fury Of Our Maker's Hand" (2005),"The Last Kind Words" (2007),"Pray For Villains" (2009),"Beast" (2011),"Winter Kills" (2013),"Trust No One" (2016),"Outlaws 'Til The End: Vol. 1" (2018),"Dealing With Demons Volume I" (2020) and "Dealing With Demons Volume II" (2023).

In December 2023, Spreitzer announced the launch of his VERONA ON VENUS project and released the debut single "Rodent", followed by a second single, "Monarch Acid Test". The band's debut album "Popular Delusions" was released in January. VERONA ON VENUS's most recent single, "War Baby", arrived in August.

In a new interview with Scott Penfold of Loaded Radio, Mike stated about his decision to exit DEVILDRIVER (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It is bittersweet for sure. I will never regret my time in DEVILDRIVER. The good always outweighed the bad. I still have a lot of love for all the guys in the band and I wish them well. And I'm even kind of excited to see who ends up replacing me. And I will always offer — whoever that person may be, I'm here to help with whatever they need. And I wanna see the band succeed. There's no negative feelings on my side."

He continued: "I wanna get back to being a full-time musician, like I said. I went to music school in college — I was a music major — and music, ever since I was six years old, has always been the plan. I would say that was my first moment of real clarity in my life when I was watching MTV and I saw the video for 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' by DEF LEPPARD, and for some reason, that just made something go click in my brain, and nothing's changed since that moment."

Asked how the rest of the guys in DEVILDRIVER reacted to his announcement that he was leaving, Mike said: "Honestly, I haven't spoken to Dez about it. No, I haven't. I've seen how things have went when other members have left the band, and I honestly felt like this was the best way to do it.

"I don't really wanna get into it much more than that because of obvious reasons, but all the other guys understood where I was coming from," Spreitzer continued. "And I wanna work more, and as of now, unless someone comes knocking on my door that wants me to join a band, which, depending on the band, I would definitely take into consideration, but right now I just wanna go full throttle with my new project VERONA ON VENUS.

"I'm excited to do things my own way and mix things up. Obviously, VERONA sounds a lot different than DEVILDRIVER — it's a completely different style of music — and it's time for something new for me. It's been 20 years, and it's been a lot of fun, but sometimes people just feel like moving on, and that's how I feel right now."

Asked if his previous comment that his decision to launch VERONA ON VENUS was "met with a heavy amount of negativity from a specific individual," apparently referencing Dez, was part of the reason he left DEVILDRIVER, Mike said: "Unfortunately, yes. I really hoped it wouldn't be a problem, and I have a lot of friends that get a lot of support from the bands that they're in, who they would consider their boss. Like Nita [Strauss] and Alice Cooper; Ozzy [Osbourne] has always been cool with Zakk Wylde doing BLACK LABEL SOCIETY and ZAKK SABBATH. Cesar [Soto] from MINISTRY — I remember when he first released MAN THE MUTE record that he did, I bumped into [MINISTRY leader] Al Jourgensen at an art show once and he just couldn't stop talking about how proud he was of Cesar. Monte Pittman, he's in MINISTRY, and Madonna seems to be just fine with him doing that. And even Zakk Wylde with his drummer Jeff Fabb; [Jeff] just released a record on his own. And so I really didn't see it being a problem. I never intended to make VERONA a priority over DEVILDRIVER. I had a lot of time during the pandemic, and I just wanted to keep on writing, so I did."

After Penfold noted that it's "odd" that Fafara was seemingly opposed to the existence of VERONA ON VENUS when Dez himself had spent much of the past year and a half touring with a reunited COAL CHAMBER, Mike said: "Yeah, unfortunately, it is, because I really gave him my blessing, when COAL CHAMBER started doing — even when they were at their first reunion. And at their first reunion, quite honestly, I needed the break at the time. Unfortunately, I think that was a big reason which led to John Boecklin and Jeff Kendrick leaving the band [in 2014], because DEVILDRIVER went on hiatus and it was not in their best interest at the time to stick around."

Spreitzer announced his departure from DEVILDRIVER in a social media post on September 3. He wrote at the time: "After 20 years of playing guitar for DEVILDRIVER, I have decided it is time to go my own way.

"Since around 2014, DEVILDRIVER gradually started to feel more like a part-time job. Our touring schedule is not what it used to be and I want to get back to being a full-time musician. In addition, the mere creation of my side project was met with a heavy amount of negativity from a specific individual that made things extremely uncomfortable for me.

"Ever since I was six years old I wanted to play in a metal hand and live the majority of my life on a tour bus with my friends traveling from city to city. Show up, set up, perform, leave, and repeat. I miss the camaraderie with my band and crew. I miss my bunk. I miss waking up and walking to a coffee shop with whoever would join me. I miss playing guitar all day in the dressing room before the show. I miss laughing my ass off every day with the guys. I miss the summer festival runs where I get to see all my friends from other bands that I have toured with over the last two decades. I miss the aroma of the venues. I miss the putrid smell of the bathrooms in a European dive bar. More than anything else, I miss the look of joy on everyone's face while you lovingly kick the crap out of each other in the crowd.

"I've waited patiently for DEVILDRIVER to become full-time again. I respectfully understand that since 2019 serious issues had to be dealt with that were out of anybody's control resulting in keeping the band off the road. We had a pandemic, there were family emergencies, and health issues that had to be addressed. But these dilemmas started in 2019. DEVILDRIVER became part-time long before this unfortunate chain of events. I would rather not sit at home waiting for this to become a full-time job any longer.

"In an attempt to fill the downtime. I started VERONA ON VENUS. It was never my intention to make VOV a priority over DEVILDRIVER. The only way I can see myself touring as much as I would like is by getting VERONA ON VENUS up and running or perhaps an opportunity to join another band.

"To all the DD fans out there, I love you with all my heart. You are some of the most dedicated humans I have ever met. The vitality in all of you has been the brightest light in my life. You filled my soul with happiness. l am forever grateful for every single one of you and will never forget your unwavering devotion.

"I wish Dez, Jon, Alex and Davier the very best."

In April 2004, DEVILDRIVER was about to embark on its first European tour opening for Swedish heavy metal band IN FLAMES. Two days before the tour began, then-DEVILDRIVER guitarist Evan Pitts was forced to withdraw from the tour due to personal reasons, leaving the band without a second guitar player. At the time, Jon Miller and Jeff Kendrick lived with Spreitzer when not touring with DEVILDRIVER. When Mike heard that Pitts would not be going on the European tour, he immediately offered to fill in temporarily for the duration of the tour. Shortly after DEVILDRIVER returned to its then-home base of Santa Barbara, Pitts had decided not to continue with the band and Spreitzer became a permanent member.

Since joining DEVILDRIVER in 2004, Mike has continued to tour with the band and contribute to all of the group's albums. He has also written and recorded music for small movie projects, including the documentary "Tokyo Comedy Store" that has been featured on the Documentary channel in the United States. In 2009, Mike co-wrote three songs featured on the video game "MX vs ATV Reflex" soundtrack alongside Raymond Herrera, Christian Olde Wolbers and Jeff Kendrick. In 2012, Mike worked with London-based alternative rock band ESO and featured on their debut single, "We Are Watching You".

Photo credit: Jeremy Saffer (courtesy of Napalm Records)