In the five years since Devil Driver has been in existence, the band has worked their way to the forefront of the metal scene. Led by former Coal Chamber vocalist Dez Fafara, the metal outfit has released three studio albums to date; the self-titled Devil Driver album in 2003, The Fury Of Our Maker’s Hand in 2005 and The Last Kind Words, the band’s most recent effort in 2007. Recently the band journeyed to Australia as part of the Gigantour with Megadeth, Static-X and Lacuna Coil.
In their stop over in Melbourne, one half of Devil Driver’s axe wielding team in the form of Jeff Kendrick, took some time out to speak to Joe Matera about touring life, the band’s plans for another studio album, their new found love for Seymour Duncan pickups and the band’s infamous world record attempt at the Download Festival earlier this year.
Ultimate-Guitar: The band is currently in the middle of the Australian leg of the Gigantour. How has it all been going?
Jeff Kendrick: It has been going fantastic man. We’re playing right before Megadeth so that is pretty unbelievably awesome. And Dave [Mustaine] is just such a nice person. He’s one of my idols and one of the only people that I’m still star struck by these days. I’ve met him a number of times so far and he’s always been such a nice guy. You really couldn’t meet a nicer person.
Touring with Devil Driver, does it ever get chaotic out on the road or are things pretty much kept in check?
Well occasionally it does get wild and though we do have lots of good times, we also always keep it together because at the end of the day we’re here to do a job. We definitely party and have a good time but no one is ridiculously getting in to trouble or anything like that. The job always comes first.
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| "We are definitely dedicated in putting the effort in." |
Devil Driver most recent studio album is The Last Kind Words, can you tell us what the songwriting process was like for the album?
We basically got all the songs together and demoed a ton of stuff and got everything like really in the ball park. Then we went in the studio and though we use a different producer for each record, their methods are usually always all the same. We just do a lot of work beforehand and we are really well prepared so that when we go in there, we just get all the sounds and then we pop out the songs. That is our method and that is what works for us each time.
I read an interview with you somewhere once that said another of the band’s songwriting methods involves each band member of Devil Driver plugging in a guitar and writing their ideas or songs from that.
Yes, basically all the good songs are put together in that way. Everyone comes up with riffs and ideas from bashing away at their guitars. And then we put them collectively together. Once that is done, we’ll then put them on to the computer and write the songs like that. You just have to put in a lot of time basically because everyone has so many ideas and what part works best with some other idea can usually take a while sometimes. But we are definitely dedicated in putting the effort in.
So once you have the songs all musically done, will Dez [Fafara] come in and write the lyrics on top of it all?
Yeah we basically give him the songs and say, ‘here you go man’. Sometimes things may change with that and sometimes they may not. But once you have the full picture you can see where you’re at.
The Last Kind Words was produced by Jason Suecof of Trivium fame. What did Jason bring to the recording process for the album?
A lot of really, cool ideas. Especially with the guitar playing because he is such a good guitarist. And he did a lot for the vocals and for that kind of stuff too. His engineer was really great too and really helped us a lot with guitar playing and all that stuff. Jason is so accomplished as a player much more than any of us are. We would be working on solos and stuff like that and he would say, ‘why don’t you try this or that’. It was like having a mentor to some extent to really help us out. So it was really awesome.
What sort of gear did you use for the album?
I used a Gibson Les Paul with EMG pickups. As for amps on certain tracks I used a Mesa-Boogie Dual Rectifier while on other tracks I used a Peavey 5150 with Mesa cabinets. A basically that was it, a real simple set up.
Does your live set-up differ from your recording one?
Yes, live I use a Mesa-Boogie Triple Rectifier, a GCX mini-switcher and just a bunch of effect pedals and ESP guitars. The ESP guitar I play now, I’m really happy with it all. And we’ve just changed over to Seymour Duncan pickups from the EMGs. So instead of using EMGs we are using those now. The ESP guitar I have now, I think will be a really great guitar to record the next album with as I think it sounds even better than the Les Paul.
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| "We party and have a good time but no one is ridiculously getting in to trouble or anything like that." |
What made you decide to switch from EMGs over to Seymour Duncans?
I just wanted to try something different. I wanted to go with Seymour Duncan just because I had never used anything else before aside from EMGs. So Mike [Spreitzer] suggested we try them out and I tired them out and they sounded a lot better and I am very happy with them.
Speaking of the next album, have you started putting together any ideas as yet?
A little bit. But when we go out on the upcoming Lamb of God tour in the States, we’re going to bring recording stuff out there with us so we can start recording our demo ideas for the next album.
I hear you’ve also got plans to release a DVD in the coming New Year?
Yeah we have but we’re not sure when it will be released or what will be on it. But we are definitely planning it and when it does come out, it is going to be a good one.
Your performance at Download this year also included an attempt at setting a new world record for the largest mosh pit. Yet your attempt came in for scrutiny by Guinness who later rejected your attempt?
Yeah I think it is completely ridiculous. They [Guinness] pretty much have some of the most obscure things that most people never even think about in their book of world records. And the fact that they could have had the biggest mosh pit ever, I think is just sad because they so much insane stuff in that book. And the fact they couldn’t even figure out how to determine exactly where any mosh pit starts and ends just doesn’t make sense to me.
Are you planning to do more shows with your instrumental side project Beltfed?
No, we did that one-off show earlier in the year. And it is not really any sort of side project or anything. We don’t plan to do anything with it too as we don’t even have the time to do it to be honest. Devil Driver is our main priority. It was just that one show with a friend of ours and that was pretty much it. And it was really something that we did even before we were in Devil Driver.
Seeing you play with Mike in Devil Driver, what is noticeable is that you both have very different and unique styles.
Yeah he’s a really trained player while I am more of a self-taught player even though I do know some things. So I can help him with some things that I just picked up along the way and he can help me with the theory side of things.
Does this help and inspire you when it comes to the writing process, like coming up with riffs and what not?
Yes but because the other guys in the band also write a lot of the stuff and record as well, we don’t like being the only guys who write that stuff. As I said earlier, it’s really all four of us working together.
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| "The ESP guitar I have now will be a really great guitar to record the next album." |
When you’re out on the road do you ever go shopping for guitars to add to your collection?
No because pretty much with all the gear I get, I am pretty happy with it all. Money wise if we were very wealthy and more successful, I would probably start buying more guitars along the way. But I’m pretty happy with what I have and though I do enjoy checking stuff out in stores why should I buy it? I am always getting everything for free.
Where do you see yourself musically in five years time?
Just to be a better, all round musician, and a better guitar player is pretty much how I see myself.
What has been your highlight so far in your career with Devil Driver?
It would probably be playing some of those shows with Metallica. Also we were main support for Slayer and now we are main support for Megadeth and really, the only band we ever wanted to be earn a support for, was Metallica. Yet to be playing with all of my heroes like Megadeth, whom I grew up with and admired my whole life, is just an incredible experience.
There is a perception that when it comes to Devil Driver it is the Dez Fafara show due to his standing within the metal community?
No it is a collaborative effort but I suppose when you do have a history in the industry like we do have with Dez, it can be perceived as it being his band. And in some ways it is but in some ways the band is also is all of ours.
Interview by Joe Matera
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