“How many bands are you into that, on their sixth or seventh record, you’re like ‘Oh my God they hit the mark?” asks founding member and frontman Dez Fafara. “I can only name a few on my hand. I’m very grateful for that because that could have not happened.”
While all of DevilDriver’s previous albums were released on American metal label Roadrunner Records, Winter Kills is their first release through Austrian black metal specialists Napalm Records. Fafara credits Napalm with contributing to the enhanced exposure, but when it comes to the music, the label doesn’t intervene.
“I would never even take a phone call like that from anyone, either in my past with Roadrunner or with Napalm. One of the reasons I’m with Napalm is they love what we’ve done.”
Not only has the band’s fanbase expanded with each record, none of DevilDriver’s six LPs has been a carbon copy of its predecessor. This is a primary aim for the majority of musicians, but that doesn’t mean it can be simply implemented.
“What we do is extremely organic, that’s why we’ve got six records that all sound so different,” Fafara says. “It has our signature sound and our groove, but every record sounds different. Everything along the way, from members leaving to different direction changes on record, I think it’s a very positive thing. It keeps people guessing and it keeps the musicians on their toes as well.”
Something that crucially underpins DevilDriver’s consistent evolution is the fact that there’s not one major songwriter ruling the band. Fafara holds executive power, but creative input is encouraged from all members.
“Different guys take a lead on different records,” he says. “On one album you may have specifically my bass player and my drummer writing a lot of the stuff or my two guitar players writing the majority. It’s not just the same guitar player writing all of the songs on all of the records. I think if you got that then you’re definitely going to be on your tenth record and everything is going to sound the same. There’s nothing worse than that for me. I will definitely leave an artist behind if their records all start sounding the same.”
In order to keep expanding stylistically, it’s essential to maintain broad-reaching tastes. As they say, what goes in must come out, so persisting with a rigid set of influences is likely to limit the breadth of one’s output. Fafara underlines his eclectic sources of inspiration.
“I woke up this morning listening to Billie Holiday, in the car I was listening to black metal. I worked out this morning at the gym, I listened to punk rock. Out back I’m grilling listening to Hawaiian tunes and then while we were eating we’re listening to Pantera – which is great when you’ve got two teenage songs and they’re like ‘Fuck yeah! Turn it up’.
“You’ve got to be diverse and you’ve got to be open. You cannot box yourself in or think of who you’re doing it for. Music for me is a garden and I’m not just growing lettuce. I’m growing all sorts of vegetables.”
Perhaps the biggest curve ball on Winter Kills is DevilDriver’s flirtation with the realm of contemporary pop-rock. No, they haven’t tried their hand at a crossover radio single; rather the album includes a cover of the 2011 single Sail, by American band Awolnation. So what on earth instigated the cover of this contemporary radio track?
“I’m in my car with my kids, I’m listening to it, I call the guys and the next morning they sent me a demo of DevilDriver’s version. I was like ‘Man, this is going to crush’. Sure enough, we’re playing it live now. It’s really rare for us to play a cover live. We’ve covered so much shit and we never play that stuff live. It’s interesting when we do play Sail live that people are going nuts.”
Australian audiences will have their chance to get crazy when DevilDriver heads down for a tour with fellow US metal heavyweights Whitechapel early next month. There’s been no shortage of opportunities to see the band in Australia during the last decade, but Fafara says this could be their last visit for some time.
“I think this one’s going to be a highlight. It’s going to be just about the end of the Winter Kills tour. Then we’re going to shut it down for a little more than a year and a half, maybe two years.
“Winter Kills has been received so well – better than any of our other records – that I figured, ‘OK now let’s come off for a little while, everybody take a breather and let’s make sure that the next effort is really, really stand out’.”
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
