Written By: Jennifer Burch
Side Stage Magazine recently had the chance to catch up with Dez Fafara of DevilDriver for some insight on touring alongside hardcore giants Hatebreed in support of their newest album The Concrete Confessional. Fafara also shed light on their newest album “Trust No One” released Friday, May 13th on Napalm Records. “The Concrete Confessional” tour kicked off May 13th in Cleveland, OH where the bands were joined by Devil You Know, and Act Of Defiance. San Antonio, TX fans will get the chance to see DevilDriver perform on the same lineup as Megadeth on May, 29th for the River City Rockfest. If “The Concrete Confessional” tour steamrolls its way through your city; do yourself a favor and get your ass to the show.
Side Stage Magazine: This is pretty cool, I’m so excited to talk to you, and this is the highlight of my day!
Dez Fafara: I appreciate that, how are you doing? You doing good?
I’m doing pretty awesome. So how’s the road treating you?
Good. San Francisco today, then home for the next two days to be with family, it will be nice.
Nice! I hear you guys are destroying it out there, how’s the crowd’s energy been?
It’s been unbelievable. I don’t even know what to say, it’s pretty unexplainable. It’s just unbelievable what’s been going on.
Is it better than what you’ve seen before?
Well, I don’t know. It’s just that people are really fired up about this record, fired up about watching live, it’s just so on point. Everything is firing on all cylinders.
Well that’s awesome. I know personally I’m stoked to see you guys come to Gas Monkey in Dallas.
Yeah! Great time, great club, great people that always treat us well. You know Dallas and Texas in general man, is pretty much DevilDriver’s territory.
Well we certainly love it when you come to town. Is there any particular favorite venue you’ve played so far?
That’s impossible for me to do. Anywhere there’s a good crowd, is the place for me to be. All of these shows have been great, you know with Hatebreed. Smaller shows, or bigger shows, it doesn’t matter. They’ve all been incredible. It’s really hard to pick out venues. That’s hard to do because there’s a lot of them. You know what I mean?
Yeah, I totally know what you mean. So you’re definitely a seasoned rocker, have you been pleasantly surprised by anything different this time around?
Like, in regards to what?
Just anything regarding being on tour. Anything cool happen to where you were like “oh, I thought I’ve seen it all but this is new”?
No look, here’s what’s happening in this camp. The vibe is so good, I mean we’re up until 4 in the morning laughing in the lounge. Anytime a band has a vibe like that, you compromise the vibe, you compromise the music. The vibe around this camp has been incredible and that’s really the noteworthy thing to talk about.
How long do your sets typically last?
If we’re on our own, we’re about an hour and 10, an hour and 15 minutes. Here on Hatebreed we’re about 45 minutes, which is well enough to give everybody what they need.
I definitely have my favorite tracks and I’m looking forward to hearing them when you come out. Is there one particular song from Trust No One that when you play it live, you feel the hairs raise up on your neck?
Well we’re only playing 2 now. We’re playing “Daybreak” and “My Night Sky” and those are going over incredibly. But, there’s a lot of songs on that new record that I want to play and the record is only 38 minutes, so we could actually play the record and then add in another 30 or 40 minutes of stuff that people know and do what I want to do. I feel like playing this whole record.
It’s actually a shorter record than previous, right?
Absolutely. I wanted something short, tight and to the point. You know, I didn’t want it to linger. With that being said, you have a record that clocks in around 38/39 minutes and that comes in at perfect timing.
You know, something I’ve wanted to ask you, and I’m sure you’ve been asked so many times but when a band’s lineup changes, it makes the fans a little uncomfortable. They’re apprehensive about the new direction, the new sound, new skills, new attitudes that are being brought to the table. When you were creating Trust No One, was there ever a time where you may have related with your fans and felt slightly out of your comfort zone?
I mean, not really. Not one moment was I out of the comfort zone. You have to really look around you. I can name 100 bands that have had lineup changes. It is what it is, and the days of “oh it’s not the original members” is long gone now, I think for me and many bands. It’s more like is the project moving forward and is the music good? What’s really going on now is the vibe onstage is incredible, you can feel it, and the music is absolutely on par. I don’t think anyone is questioning member changes so far. Well, maybe in the beginning before they heard the music.
I think that’s what they mean. I mean, everyone was waiting so long for this album. Yeah, we’re happy Coal Chamber released something, but do you feel like you’ve achieved what you set out to gain from this record?
Oh, 100%. We had a good time doing it, we put our best foot forward, and the music on this thing is incredible. And anytime you can say those things…
Yes, it sounds like you guys sliced out a chunk of your hearts and laid it out there. It’s forceful, precision driven. I cannot wait to hear some of these songs live.
It’s a much more technical record as well. I think anytime you up the members, you up the players and people come in with new attitudes, new vibes and new skills, then you get something different. That’s certainly what we were going for. To make sure that we diversified, keep our sound, but diversify enough to where we’ve stepped farther away from the pack of what other bands doing heavy music. DevilDriver doesn’t sound like anyone on the planet and that’s very important to me.
No, it does not. Can you tell me about any advice you’ve been given throughout your career that was really good and helped you along the way?
Be grateful. Be humble, stay grateful. Keep your nose to the grindstone and work. I’ve always done that. I think those things add up. If you’re going to have a good experience in anything, you need to do those things.
I know you’re a close-knit family man. That’s pretty cool. Do your kids understand just how much you’ve influenced the metal scene?
Yeah, I mean they’re my kids, but they get it. They have friends that come over and trip out when they’re in the house.
I bet! How do your kids shape your music?
You know what, they don’t shape my music, they shape my life. My family is my life you know. They are the good part, there’s nothing really to write about.
They’re the lightened part huh?
Yeah.
How can fans best access your music and merchandise?
Go to Indiemerchstore.com. You can go to the DevilDriver’s facebook, DevilDriver.com. You can me up on twitter @DezFafara and Instagram. I’m on social media a lot, it’s a good place for me. I’m extremely private, but it gives me a chance to sit here on my phone and reach out.
Do you have any last thoughts you’d like to add?
Thank you for everything. Come out to Gas Monkey and get down with us.
I’m looking forward to it Dez, front and center. Thank you so much for talking with Side Stage Magazine, have a great tour!
