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The Lowdown: Jeff Kendrick of Devildriver

"Download 2009 was definitely the best gig we ever played. It was awesome and I hope we can do it again soon!"

by Sam Hardy, December 4th, 2010 and has been Read 3517 times.
Last Edited by: Chris MUG5 Maguire December 23rd, 2010.

There’s only one word to sum up a band who hold the record for the largest circle pit in history… Badass.

In 2002, guitarist Jeff Kendrick, bassist Jon Miller and drummer John Boecklin met with vocalist Dez Fafara with the intention of forming a band promoting a new outlook on metal. Following an eponymous début album (which earned their music a brief stint in hit TV series Scrubs) and a hugely beneficial line-up change over the next year, the manic metalheads were well on their way to achieving their goal.

Their subsequent three studio efforts garnered the band a tremendous respect within the metal community. Earlier this year, word leaked that the band will be releasing their long anticipated fifth album, substantiated by further news that the recording process had already been finished. Are such rumours true? If so, what sort of sound can we expect?

We were excited to interview founding member Jeff Kendrick to find out about the upcoming release, exciting touring events and, of course, eating commercial jets..

AltSounds: Hey man!
Jeff Kendrick: Hey there, how’re you doing?

AltSounds: I’m good thanks! And yourself?
Jeff Kendrick: Yeah man, I’ve just been getting ready for the show tonight.

AltSounds: Sweet! Has the rest of your day been good so far?
Jeff Kendrick: Oh yeah, I’ve had a great day so far – and a great tour so far too. I definitely can’t complain, everything’s fantastic.

AltSounds: Glad to hear it! Like you said, you guys are currently out on tour with 36 Crazyfists. How is that going for you?
Jeff Kendrick: It’s great! They’re just fantastic friends of ours, they’re a really great band. They’re our bros man. We’ve toured with a lot of bands, but there are a couple up there that are just our best friends – the ones you always wanna tour with. It’s just great.

AltSounds: So would you say the two bands compliment each other sound-wise on this tour?
Jeff Kendrick: Yes, absolutely. These days it’s all about putting together a diverse bill – we’re obviously both heavy bands, in fact all four bands are very heavy, and very different. They’ve had great success over here, and they bring a great flavour of fans to the shows, just like we bring a great flavour of fans to them. It works out perfectly.

AltSounds: Do you like being out on the road? Or do you prefer the comforts of your own home?
Jeff Kendrick: I like both. I think I prefer not too much of one… if that makes sense [laughs] We’ve been doing this for a few years, and we’ve always had a pretty hefty schedule in terms of touring. But I’m used to it – it’s just what my life is, and I’m more than happy about it.

AltSounds: Talking of touring, what’s the craziest thing you guys have had happen on tour or on stage?
Jeff Kendrick: On stage? Hmm… a lot more of the crazy stuff happens off stage [laughs] One time we were here in the UK and literally within the first 35 seconds of the set, this kid crowd surfed and went over the barricade. They had the barricade, but no security. Which is ridiculous. The kid went over the edge, landed on his leg and broke his femur. We stopped the show right away… yeah, that was pretty brutal. Umm, I’ve tripped and fallen over stuff, I’ve almost fallen off the stage – I’m sure almost everyone has almost fallen off the stage [laughs] Sometimes you just miss your mark. I’ve seen people crowd surfing in wheelchairs before!

AltSounds: Oh my God, that’s awesome!
Jeff Kendrick: Haha definitely man…

AltSounds: So, the crazy off-stage happenings - can you give me a couple of examples?
Jeff Kendrick: Ah, we were talking about this today. We were driving, it was 2009 in Europe, and the trailer fell off of our bus.

AltSounds: Shit! With all of your equipment in?
Jeff Kendrick: Yes! The worst part about it was that the trailer had come undone, and any time the bus driver stopped anywhere, he would always check the trailer. So it wasn’t like it just fell off, it was like it came off and no-one even knew it did.

AltSounds: Did you manage to get all of your stuff back?
Jeff Kendrick: Well what happened is, we drove back about 40 miles…I don’t know how many kilometres that is. About 60?

AltSounds: Yeah, I think it’s around there.
Jeff Kendrick: We found it on the opposite side of the freeway, it was lodged against this curb that was about two feet high. If you watch our documentary on DevilDriver.com, it catalogues it.

AltSounds: Sweet! On this subject of insanity, you guys tried to break the world record for the largest moshpit ever twice. On the first attempt, it seemed it didn’t work. Did you succeed the second time around at Download in 2009?
Jeff Kendrick: Well, we legitimately approached the Guinness Book of World Records, and there was some discretion about whether people would be there or not. There was a lot of talk about it, and obviously we were hyping it up a lot because we wanted to it. It’s one of those things that’s never really been put out, but everyone always refers to it as the biggest ever. No-one has ever attempted to do it with the Guinness Book of World Records. There was a bit of funny business too, they said that they couldn’t tell the distance between one area and another, and that they couldn’t count the people involved. Yet they have a guy that ate a plane… that’s in there.

AltSounds: He ate a plane?
Jeff Kendrick: Yeah, he was resilient to eating any kind of metal at all, he has no problem with it. It’s insane. He can digest it with no issue. But back to the moshing, it was more about the hype surrounding it all, and it became notorious because of it. They never catalogued it, but we were so involved with getting ready for the gig and all that, it was the last thing on my mind.

AltSounds: How amazing was the feeling of looking out across the crowd to see so many people going ballistic to your music?
Jeff Kendrick: It was incredible man, definitely the best gig we’ve ever played. It was awesome, I hope we can do it again soon. Hopefully it’s not too long away. Being here now, we’re coming up to London in a couple of days, and that’s going to be the biggest and best show of the tour. And all the shows on the tour have just been amazing. I think that’s going to be by far the biggest DevilDriver show we’ve done to date on any headlining or co-headlining tour.

AltSounds: So, with you guys wanting to do Download again, do you think it’s a possibility?
Jeff Kendrick: Hopefully yeah! We’re still tryna figure everything out. We’re gonna be on tour non-stop, I know that much! That’s all I can say.

AltSounds: Glad to hear it man! I also read quite a while ago that you guys will be releasing Beast, your fifth album, sometime next year. Can you validate that?
Jeff Kendrick: Yep, it’s basically done! We’ve submitted the final masters of the record already.

AltSounds: Awesome! Do you have any idea when it may be released by?
Jeff Kendrick: I think it’ll be around February next year. For the media and all that, I’m not so sure, but I’m sure there’ll be a way for the media to review it because obviously we want that too.

AltSounds: What’s going to be different from it in comparison to your other albums?
Jeff Kendrick: Well I think the songwriting is the best we’ve ever done, I think the musicianship is the best. I think it’s the best vocally, it has the best production too. I think it’s got simply the best everything. As far as the songs go, hooks and things like that, there’ll definitely be there. In terms of it being straight up heavy? It’s the heaviest and most brutal record by far. It’s fucking heavy man!

AltSounds: This is good news! [laughs] Was it a smooth and easy writing process?
Jeff Kendrick: I guess it was yeah! It was great for us because everyone in the band writes, and that’s all we can do. We released Pray For Villains in July 09, and literally went into record an album in April 10. That’s only seven or eight months… Or maybe nine? [laughs]

AltSounds: I think it’s nine… possibly [laughs]
Jeff Kendrick: Yeah, it wasn’t much time at all!

AltSounds: I’ve looked at a potential track listing for the album, and some of the titles that I saw included “Shitlist,” “Cold Blooded” and “You Make Me Sick.” Do you think that this dark and edgy feel that you guys have to your music is vital in becoming a successful metal band?
Jeff Kendrick: Honestly man, I think it just comes down to the fact that we generally care. I think it goes beyond the fact that we’re playing music, it’s just the vibe in general because it’s real shit. It’s not contrived, it’s not fake, it’s not created for any other reason than it’s what comes from our hearts. I think people identify with that. As far as being successful goes, I think a lot of our success comes from the fact that we never go home from touring [laughs] We’re still on an upward climb, and I’m just grateful for everything that’s happened to us. We’ve got a long way to go, but we’re certainly not going anywhere.

AltSounds: That’s great dude! So, as a guitarist, who do you take your inspiration from?
Jeff Kendrick: Umm… a lot of people. Growing up, it was Hetfield and Hammett, and Dimebag obviously. And my people like Robb Flynn and Logan Mader from Machine Head and Dino from Fear Factory too. They were my big influences, I was really into all of those players. I used to learn all of the songs and all that. It’s still that, but there are so many bands – all my peers today. There are so many good musicians in metal. It’s changed as I’ve become older too, I love The Edge. I love his effects. Muse, stuff like that.

In our band, we don’t just write straight heavy stuff, we incorporate clean sections too, harmonies, things like that. The more classic kinda shit. We were playing a song last night with a harmony in that our sound guy said reminded him of Boston. There’s a lot of influence – movies too. But it all comes down to my love of guitar. I’ve even started to teach kids too, which is great. It’s been amazing for me, and I’ve taken inspiration from them, to be honest. It’s been a totally new thing. Sorry man, I’ve just been blabbing away for ages! [laughs]

AltSounds: Don’t apologise, that’s what I want you to do! [laughs] So, what do you find yourself listening to on your iPod nowadays?
Jeff Kendrick: Everything that I’ve grown up with, like all the classic metal shit. I do like some pop music, but it’s not the super popular stuff, it’s more just a couple of artists. I respect Justin Timberlake and all that. I’ll listen to that occasionally but I really like listening to 50 Cent, a bit of Jay Z maybe. All kinds of stuff – All Shall Perish too, I love them. I like the new Deftones stuff, Machine Head, Fear Factory, Lamb of God. I have a very eclectic iPod. And then when you take everyone else’s tastes around me in the band and you have about as far reaching as it gets. We have a virtual library on our bus at the minute!

AltSounds: Do you think that massive mix influences the way that you write your music?
Jeff Kendrick: Fuck yeah it does man. It absolutely does. Everyone has such individual strengths and styles within the band, and brings something different to the table. We all can write heavy stuff and play it, and it’s cool. I think that’s why it works so well in terms of writing music. When you hear the new record you’re really gonna be stoked on it if you’ve been a fan of previous shit.

AltSounds: I’m really excited! Pray For Villains kicked ass!
Jeff Kendrick: Thanks man!

AltSounds: Finally, can you tell us something interesting about yourself that our readers may be surprised to find out about you?
Jeff Kendrick: Well, I like to read a lot. I guess that’s pretty interesting… is it? [laughs] Hmm. I don’t wanna get too personal! [laughs] Yeah, I like reading!

AltSounds: Good stuff man! And I think that’s everything, thank you very much for your time!
Jeff Kendrick: Hey, no problem man, it was nice chatting with you.

AltSounds: Take care, have a great tour!
Jeff Kendrick: Thanks man, I will! I’ll make sure to check this out on AltSounds when it’s up!

AltSounds: Nice one man! I’ll speak to you later then!
Jeff Kendrick: Yeah dude, see ya!