Hard Talk

DEVILDRIVER Q&A with Dez Fafara

DEVILDRIVER FACES THE FURY

As each piece of the new DevilDriver album becomes assembled front man, Dez Fafara gets more and more psyched. Piece by ingenious piece of his latest album is stacked together like bricks on a towering skyscraper - from writing the songs and tracking the music to the initial artwork and photographs for the cover- each piece reaches higher than the last.

THE FURY OF OUR MAKERS HAND, on Roadrunner Records, marks Fafara's second album with DevilDriver after leaving his former band, Coal Chamber, in 2002 and the vocalist couldn't be happier.

Fafara along with his DevilDriver mates- guitarists Mike Spreitzer and Jeff Kendrick, bassist Jon Miller and drummer John Boecklin - were super-anxious to get back into the studio to do their thing and begin work on their sophomore album. They were so excited, in fact, that by the time they entered Sonic Ranch Studio they already had 40 songs written and prepared. Don Sill spoke with Fafara and got the skinny on The Fury.

BALLBUSTER: Man, I can't believe that you guys are already dropping your second Devil Driver album.

FAFARA: Oh, it's good times. We had a great time doing it and I just can't wait to share the music with everybody. It's leaps and bounds.we're doing our own thing and that's just cool.

BALLBUSTER: You entitled the album THE FURY OF OUR MAKERS HAND and that seems to go perfectly with all of the natural disasters we've seen this past year. Hurricanes, mud slides, tsunamis.

FAFARA: Na, you know it's definitely not related to that. It's more like this- The Fury Of Our Makers Hand, we all live with it every day - everybody's in their own fury, you know. So, it's just by chance that those horrible tragedy's are going on in the world and that's just horrible for all of those people. But, this album is not related to that in any way.

BALLBUSTER: What can fans expect from this album?

FAFARA: You can expect something that's gonna make you want to get up and go. The minute you hear it you're just gonna want to keep going. What I want is for kids, when they get to the end of the album, I want them to go and push play again. What I try and do is just make it infectious. I mean this thing is so full of hooks it's like a bait shop.

BALLBUSTER: What makes this Devil Driver album different from the last?

FAFARA: The musicianship has just stepped up and there's a lot more of everything - more guitar solos, more melodic stuff happening, more heavier stuff, faster stuff, grindier stuff. Also, working with Colin Richardson [Machine Head, Fear Factory], that was just an amazing adventure in it self. Not only was he one of the nicest cats I've ever met but he really brought something to the table. As far as getting the sounds, man, he got this guitar sound that is just insane, it's from hell. Rather than him chasing the usual sounds or other guitar sounds that he's done in the past we all came up with something on our own and he came up with something brand new even for himself. As far as myself, when I worked with him he didn't just focus on one word, he went for the phrase. You know what I'm saying? So, the album comes off so live. It's a good time.

BALLBUSTER: When is this album coming out?

FAFARA: They just pushed it back to June 21st which is a great thing because it means that the label has something special planned and they want to put something behind it. That's great and it's incredible for me to have that, especially with Roadrunner records, I've been with them for ten years and they always have my back.

BALLBUSTER: So you guys went to LA last week to shoot the cover for THE FURY. What's gonna be the concept on the cover?

FAFARA: It's pretty minimalistic, man. It'll feature the Devil Driver insignia and they're may be a picture of us inside but it'll be extremely minimalistic. It'll draw you in. Working with Paul Brown is always a great time. He brings something to the table that is always unusual. He can tap into things that I'm saying and really come up with something ingenious. As we speak I'm waiting for Fed Ex to come with a bunch of stuff. This is an exciting time right now. This is a birth of something right now, it's killer.

BALLBUSTER: Everything is on the cusp right now.

FAFARA: I'm definitely gonna have a good time this year, I'll tell you that. I know I said it before but I just can't wait to share this stuff with people.

BALLBUSTER: Take me through the songwriting process. As a lyricist, what sparks the mind?

FAFARA: I always answer this question the same, man. Isn't there enough inspiration in life that's all around you? I mean, you, yourself, couldn't you write like 14 songs today just by what happened to you between the time you got up and the time you ate lunch? Life, to me, is my inspiration and it's everywhere. I tend not to dwell on the negative, there's always a few of those songs just to empower people but I'm writing about a lot of different subjects. My inspiration is basically things that happen in life, man. It's everything- the way you treat people, the way you're treated, the way it should be done, the way it isn't done- all of the above.

BALLBUSTER: Right on, and inspiration always seems to hit when you least expect it.

FAFARA: Yeah, it strikes at weird times. We had one song that I had totally written already and the guys were laying down the tracks and I was in another studio doing my own stuff, getting ready to record my parts, getting myself straight. I was almost demoing myself before we went in to record it. Everyone was digging it but when I went in I just rewrote the whole thing and it ended up being a song called "Pale Horse". It's incredible and it's a completely different style. Yeah, sometimes inspiration will hit you like that and other times inspiration gets me in little strokes.

BALLBUSTER: Inspiration is a magical thing.

FAFARA: It's everywhere for me, man. I'm a solitary creature but I am forced to deal with a lot of people and a lot of different personalitites, so there's a lot of nice stories you can take from that.

BALLBUSTER: You guys were pretty pumped going into this. You had 40 songs all ready to go.

FAFARA: We had about 40 that we were throwing back and forth, but by the time we got into the studio we had 20-something and we ended up playing about 15 for Colin Richardson. It was really great because when we went in we thought we'd have four or five days to just kind of get together with Colin before we started tracking because the songs were really together. But we went in there one night, we drank a bunch of bottles of wine, we played him the songs and then Colin looked at us and said, "okay, lets start tracking. These things are really ready."

BALLBUSTER: You guys were messing around.

FAFARA: The preparation on everyone's part was amazing, even myself. I like to sometimes mess with head and leave a couple of the songs undone so when I get there I'm forced to come up with these inspirational moments. But a lot of times that can also be a scary hassle. [Laughs]. But this time everything was completely done and everyone was very prepared.

BALLBUSTER: That shows how stoked and psyched you guys were to get into the studio and make some monster music.

FAFARA: I'm very fortunate to work with a bunch of great guys. There professional people as well as barbeque partners. They're all great to hang with on the road and when they come with music they come with it. I'm extremely fortunate right now in my life. Everyone is happy and healthy, I have a good band, I have a record company that's behind me and I'm waiting for Fed Ex to get here. [Laughs] I can't wait to see what these pictures are gonna look like for the album.

BALLBUSTER: So now you guys are getting ready to hit the road and tour - what can we expect from you guys this time around?

FAFARA: We're gonna be non-fucking-stop on stage. Pure energy, man. It's a piece of TNT and the minute the stick is lit it just goes off. That's what we are live. We come out and we do it non-stop. There's no talking or nothing. I'm gonna shoot you as many songs as I can and in between I'm gonna tell you to get your ass up and pit. We're just gonna do this. All of the crowds are feeling it. As for me, myself, I'm having a great time.