DevilDriver – Dez Fafara

Since the demise of Coal Chamber nearly 10 years ago, vocalist Dez Fafara’s groove/death metal beast Devildriver has steadily been establishing itself as one of the most renowned in the genre. Vicious, innovative and pissed-off, the effect Devildriver’s music has on a crowd is impossible to describe. Soundwave brought them over in 2009 and they have invited them to return for the 2011 edition of the festival, set to take place just after the new album “Beast” drops on Feb 18th. Just ahead of their Australian dates, we chat with Des Fafara to talk Soundwave, Beast and fine Australian wine.

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Metal Obsession: Des, this is Jake from Metalobsession. How are you?

Dez Fafara: Hey Jake, I’m really good thanks.

MO: Glad to be back at work now?

DF: Absolutely. The break was only short but it was nice to spend time with the family. We’ve been back on the road for four or five days now and it’s good to be back in the saddle.

MO: We’re about a month out from the release of your next studio album “Beast”, what do you think fans can come to expect?

DF: I think that they’re going to get something in-your-face, visceral and volatile. That’s what the scene is lacking and that’s what we’re here to provide. What you get when you put Beast on will be a kick in the face and the immediate removal of your teeth.

MO: What songs do you anticipate are going to have the biggest impact?

DF: Well it’s really the record in general that we spent the most time on. Where some artists put all their time and effort into one or two songs, we lay our career on the whole body of work we’ve done in time and that whole body of work encompasses Beast.

MO: Can you tell us how the recording sessions went?

DF: Fairly smoothly for the band, but I had to leave the process twice because I was going through some personal shit. It was kind of a dark time in my life making this record and looking back in hindsight I think that that definitely added to the volatility of the album lyrically.

MO: You worked with Mark Lewis this time around, what was he like to work with?

DF: He’s a good guy. He’s a player himself and he wouldn’t let the technical ability of any one of us fall short when recording. If one of my lines wasn’t delivered with enough visceral attitude he would make me redo it. He was the same way with the rest of them as well. Very knowledgeable guy and I think he’s going to do some wonderful things.

MO: Well you’re over to Australia soon for Soundwave, looking forward to coming back?

DF: Can’t wait for that man. Every time we come we have a great time. I’m from southern California which has a similar climate and the fact that you can do a sound check, go surf and then come back and play is awesome. This time around I’m bringing my wife and kids as well so it’s going to be pretty special. I’m really looking forward to playing with such great bands as well.

MO: Which bands in particular?

DF: Well I mean, Maiden’s playing. Watching Maiden and Slayer with your kids can’t be too bad right?

MO: Not at all! You guys are renowned for the biggest circle pits I the world, plan on making another attempt at Soundwave?

DF: That’s something that the fans give to us, we don’t create the pit. It’s something that our vibe on stage transfers to them. I’ll take this opportunity to thank all those guys, out appreciation goes out to those who give that to us.

MO: Where do you take the most inspiration from for your lyric writing?

DF: Different records run different times in my life. Every bit of art I do is in diction of where I am at the time. That being said I tend to do write a lot from personal experience. In Pray For Villains I experimented a lot with third person storytelling. I wanted to know how a guy like Johnny Cash could write a line like ‘I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die’ and have people attribute that to his life and think he actually did that.

On Beast it was personally a watershed year for me, I was getting rid of a lot of demons and a lot of vampires around my life. I think you’re going to hear that on the record. It’s a record that’s relieving and is going to connect with the listener, theyre going to feel like ‘I felt like that yesterday’ or ‘I felt like that the day before.’ I hope that was very Devildriver.

MO: When you moved from Coal Chamber to Devildriver, the shift in music was quite radical. What were the initial reactions like? Did you find a lot of fans jumped ship?

DF: Oh absolutely there were fans that stayed with me and jumped ship. I was actually very fortunate, you can count on one hand the people who have made it out of one successful band into another one alive. Coal Chamber was a very different kind of music, it was lead and inspired by metal, but also a lot of alternative stuff and a lot of gothic stuff that I grew up on.

Everything from Nick Cave to Sisters of Mercy. It was a different time, a different era and a different kind of music. The funny thing was all the magazines that I used to be on the cover of and was the poster child for all turned on me when I left Coal Chamber. Now those same magazines are putting us back on the cover with Devildriver. Everything has its own way of coming around; I think if you do art for yourself and it’s true, people will see it and come to it and come to it naturally. I think that’s the sort of progression Devildriver have taken.

MO: If you could party with any one musician alive or dead, who would it be?

DF: I’d love to party with Jim Morrison, couldn’t think of many people I’d have liked to have met more.

MO: You’ve been over in Australia quite a bit, have you developed a taste for any local food or drink?

DF: I’ve always been a wine guy and I love Australian wine, Australian Shiraz especially. That being said, I like red wine and if you’re a fan, come on out and bring a bottle.

MO: Anything at all you’d like to tell our readers?

DF: Thank you very much for everything you have given us. We live an awesome life, travelling and bringing our art to different continents and different cultures and it’s all so appreciated.

MO: Thanks for your time Des, I’ll see you in February.

DF: Thank to you as well. See you then bro.

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Questions: Jake Schatz
Answers: Des Fefera (Vocals)
www.devildriver.com