DEVILDRIVER To Release DVD Next Year

DEVILDRIVER guitarist Mike Spreitzer recently spoke to Lucem Fero's Welsh interviewer Anthony Morgan. Topics of discussion included the Californian band's third album "The Last Kind Words", playing live, and DEVILDRIVER's upcoming DVD plans. Several excerpts from the interview follow:

On whether DEVILDRIVER get a bigger and bigger reception every time they return to the UK:

"Definitely. Every time that we come back some place, it always seems that our crowds are gradually getting bigger and bigger. I guess we're doing something right then, and it feels good. We've been working our asses off for the last four years. I've been in the band almost four years now, but they've been around for almost five or six I think. It's been great though, and all the hard work is paying off."

On the group's attempt to get into the Guinness Book of World Records for the "largest circle pit":

"Yeah. We did that, but they wrote back to us saying that they had no scientific way to accurately measure the moshpit, so... The funny thing was the email they sent back to us. It almost seemed like they... the tone of it was... well, I can't exactly remember what they said. I read the email, and they were almost offended that we asked them to do something like that."

On whether he would be receptive to an online poll choosing DEVILDRIVER's setlist in the future:

"We're actually talking about that, I think. We just started a fan club called The Wretched, and you can get a link to it from our MySpace page. When we get home, I think we're going to organize something for the people that signed up for our fan club. That'll be where everyone possibly picks their five favourite songs. We'll then tally up the votes, and incorporate those winning songs into our set list. We'll see how many people give us their votes, and how things go. Maybe we'll just let the fans choose the set lists from now on."

On "The Last Kind Words":

"It's different than our last two. 90% of the music on the first record was written by a guy that I replaced [Evan Pitts], and the second album came out really well generally speaking. I think that by the third album we had learnt how to write with each other though, and work together better. We've found more of a common ground. If I write a riff, and go, 'I know the rest of the guys are going to hate this,' then I'm not going to even bother showing it to them. I have a much different style than a lot of the other guys do. Our drummer [John Boecklin] writes a lot of the guitar riffs, and he's more into the thrashy, groovy material. I'm into more melodic material, so we find a common ground in the middle somewhat. Jeff and [Jon] Miller write a lot as well, and they're in between somewhat."

On the album's reception:

"It's been great, and our first-week sales were better than the last two records. Since the album came out, I think I've heard one fan say that they liked 'The Fury Of Our Maker's Hand' a little bit more. That's it, really. Everyone is pretty much telling us that this is the best DEVILDRIVER record ever, and that makes me really happy. I've heard a lot of people say that. Chris Adler from LAMB OF GOD, who I've been friends since 2004, came up to me at Ozzfest. He said, 'You know what? I liked you guys, but I listen to the new album all the time,' and I just replied, 'Wow! Thanks man.' There are people out there that weren't really into us, but with this record they're saying, 'Alright man, maybe I'll give these guys another chance.'"

On how Jason Suecof (TRIVIUM, CHIMAIRA, GOD FORBID, BURY YOUR DEAD) approached capturing the vibe of the band:

"He did an amazing job. He really pushed Dez [Fafara, vocals] a lot, and got him really pissed off too. [Laughs] Jason's known for really pushing singers in the studio to the point where they get frustrated, but he really ends up getting a good performance out of them. If you listen to Dez on this record, he sounds fucking pissed. We like that. For me personally, he really helped me out by pushing me. Also, he helped me write decent solos. I would get stuck, so then I would just listen to him play guitar for ten minutes. I'd eventually say, 'Stop. OK, give me the guitar again; I got an idea.' He would then leave. If I was stumped though, he'd come in and play guitar. Mark Lewis, the engineer, was a great help too. He had some good ideas too which made things better."

On Dez Fafara's public verbal exchange with VENOM's Cronos:

"To tell you the truth, I don't even know the whole story. What happened though was the following: we were supposed to tour with them, and it got postponed. We were still going to do the tour with them, but then it got postponed again. When they yet again wanted us to tour with them, we were going to go to Australia with FEAR FACTORY. Obviously, we couldn't do it as we were already committed to do Australia. I heard that they were on a radio station, and said something bad about us. That really bummed Dez out since he's a huge VENOM fan; he used to wear the shirts onstage all the time, and he's really into their new album 'Metal Black' [2006]. He's listened to that record so much. That's basically the story, though I actually haven't even heard exactly what they said. Who knows? It might not even be true."

On DEVILDRIVER's plans for an upcoming DVD:

"We're going to be releasing a DVD next year — we got a lot of material already. We've had a video guy with us for roughly two years, and he's going to start working on the DVD very soon. It'll have a live show in it."

On whether the DVD's release date has been agreed upon:

"No, not yet. It'll be sometime next year."

Read the entire interview at www.lucemfero.com.