We recently gave you the opportunity to put YOUR questions to Dez Fafara from DEVILDRIVER and we got a ruck of emails in with some fab questions! We picked the best of them and emailed them over to Dez and here are his answers. Thanks to all who mailed in and to Dez for taking the time to answer them.

Cesa Sanche: Are there any plans for a DevilDriver DVD?

Cesa,
Yes,There are plans but at this moment no real date has been set. Just to let you know though, we have been filming since the preproduction of the first record and when this thing does come out it’s gonna be expansive in it’s content! Also it will feature a show or shows. For now both you and I wait to see when it comes out LOL!
Thanks
Dez

Colin Doom: DevilDriver kicks ass! Where do you get the inspiration for your music / songs from?

Colin,
Thanks brother, well here’s how it goes…
Everyone writes guitar so they write on there own then get together to demo at Mikes house cause he has a pretty good rig to demo on. Then they bring tunes to me and I demo all the songs, After that we decide which to record or which to record and put them as extras or B-sides.
Hail!
Dez

Timo Bahr: What are your tips for a good career within the music business?
Timo,

Honestly… Surround yourself with players that have a work ethic / do something different than the pack / get a label that is passionate about your work / a bad ass manager / great attorney / an agent that works hard for you / a business manager that doesn’t take your money and learn to love no sleep / no shower / no home cooked food / no clean clothes / no home and new places and faces daily !
Ahhhh I love it !
Dez

Stefan Goddard: From what I have read, when bands are in the studio, all the parts are recorded separately. Do you all hang out in the studio when one of you is working or do you all just go in one at a time? How does it work? Do you support or criticize each other in the studio? I’ve always wondered…

Stefan,
We do not record at the same time. Once the tempos are set, Boecklin lays the drums then guitar, bass and I’m always last as I need the whole track to be there, even though sometimes when I demo it’s just guitar and drums. Oh, yes, there’s a lot of critisism going on, yep! Plenty of that. In the end everyone does what’s best for the SONG.
Good question!
Dez

Jim Beard: As I recall, assuming I do so accurately, you said for Fury of our Maker’s Hand and then again with Last Kind Words, that you felt the band had grown much tighter and expanded; had pushed horizons, and defined yourselves as Devildriver. How is this album different? Of course the music is new, but was the writing process or the way it was approached much different from past releases?

Jim,
Another great question. Let me get down to honest brass here. 1st record was rushed and also written by one guitar player that is no longer with me. Some of the songs on that record are some of the most important to me but others fall very short both musically and vocally. Ok … Follow me? Nnw on The Fury, we find out everyone can play guitar, so you get all these styles on that record. What it was really was us forming as a unit on tape! Then LKW- that’s where we straight up pounded the ground and ran. Now looking back I love that record! Now with Villains… The band stepped back and consentrated on song writing- not how fast, how heavy can we get. Taking time to craft / allowing me to edit, change choruses into verses etc. and then lay down vox. So my take is we have found a sound that will carry us for many records to come while incorporating enough diversity so we don’t make the same record ever and kept it brutal, fast, sludgy at times, gave you groove and fucking a shit load of hooks!
Jam out bro!
Dez

Mike Johnson: On the making of the Last Kind Words, Miller rescued a cat from an attack- what happened to the cat??!!

Mike,
Sadly… As everything eventualy does… it died. Wizard was his name. Actually, it got stuck in the crawl space up in the ranch and died. Fucked up. Miller loved and tended to that cat.
RIP
Dez

Ty Sill: Hey Dez, I really want to know all that you know about the cross of confusion. I know that it’s an agnostic symbol that’s supposedly very old, but I’ve been having trouble determining its origins and exact meanings. Where and when did you first hear about it, and what sort of details were you given about it?

Ty,
Honestly … This is for you to look into / would take me hours to write, but question religion, question everything and yes it is the Ancient of Ancients that sign. Ours is a modified version featuring the D in DevilDriver. Look into history for the truth and beginning of things.
Hail
Dez

Sally Collins: There are a lot of bands who have a revolving door of members, but with the exception of the departure of Evan right at the start of the bands career, DevilDriver have remained really tight. What do you think it is that bonds you guys together so well?

Sally,
One word …. Communication. Mmmm … Another word … Tolerance
🙂
Dez

Philip James: Do you think that someone who downloads a track or buys a shirt or a ticket off a tout is less of a fan than someone who buys your CD or one of your shirts?

Philip,
If you worked, say all day, got paid and on the way home someone took it out your back pack you would be pretty pissed right? Download it- if ya like it and you want great artwork then buy the record, goes that way with any band really. Others do what ya can to get your hands on the music, the merch whatever- as long as you part of the Family it’s all good bro!
Later
Dez

Hail hail rock n roll!

DevilDriver’s new album PRAY FOR VILLAINS hits stores on Monday 13th July. You can hear a full stream of the album from MONDAY 6th JULY at GetCloser.com. You can pre-order the album HERE.

Next up on ASK THE ARTIST is the shred legend that is HERMAN LI of DRAGONFORCE. Email your questions for Herman to rrguest@roadrunnerrecords.co.uk, remembering to include your full name and to pop ASK THE ARTIST- HERMAN in the subject bar.