Ahead of DevilDriver’s excellent show in Manchester (check out our review of the night here), we caught up with guitarist Jeff for a chat. Read all about what happened below…
Could you introduce yourself and tell me a bit about the band?
I’m Jeff Kendrick from DevilDriver. We’re from Southern California and we formed in 2002.
So you’re currently touring the UK – how’s it been going so far?
Awesome. I love the UK! The shows are always great and I have a lot of friends here. We always have a good time and it’s always really fun. We love it here, it’s just awesome.
Any interesting stories to report?
Well, we had a lot of really good shows and a really big night in London, where we had a lot of fun times with friends and partied. That was probably the biggest night of the tour and everything has been pretty tame and cool!
So you’d say London has been the best one so far?
Yeah, I had a great time there.
What’s your favourite thing about touring?
I think the travel’s cool and getting to play live is always fun. I think playing live is probably the most enjoyable part of touring because it’s essentially why you’re there! We always have a good time and we travel round and meet people. It’s cool!
And what about the worst?
Probably being around so many people and being away from home. Just the grind, y’know. It’s not too bad, though, and we enjoy it overall. It’s a fun thing and it’s essential to what we do.
What would you say perhaps the strangest or weirdest show you’ve ever played has been?
We’ve had a bunch of shows that…well, at some European festivals in the past it kind of felt like “why are we here?” you know?
Not good turnouts or mismatched bills?
Yeah, the bill and the crowd…there’s definitely been a bunch of those, but more over here than anywhere else!
I tend to find that too – generally on UK tours there tends to be a token ‘bad’ or ‘out of place’ band on the bill! But this tour is great, one of the best lineups I’ve seen in a while.
Yeah, it’s great, isn’t it? And the turnouts have been awesome, which is great.
If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be?
Hmm…probably James Hetfield, just to be able to do it. Or maybe Trent Reznor – that would be pretty awesome. I think if you’re going to collaborate, it would be cool to do something non-metal – something in a completely different genre and then bring metal aspects to it.
Awesome! Similarly if you could have any band cover a DevilDriver song, who would you choose?
Fleetwood Mac.
That would be really cool!
Yeah! We’d want something totally different.
What song?
Oh, I don’t even know! (laughs) All of them!
If there was going to be a movie released about DevilDriver, what actor would you want to play yourself?
Jason Statham.
Good choice!
He’s the man, I love him!
If you could choose an animal to represent the band, what would you choose?
A shark, because it’s pretty serious and it’s big.
And you wouldn’t want to mess with it either!
No! Exactly. A shark or a bear.
And if DevilDriver could put their name to a product, what would it be?
To a product? Wow, I’ve never even thought of that. Hmm…maybe trains. DevilDriver trains! (laughs)
Cool! My train was delayed on the way here, so would you promise me they’ll always run on time?
Yes! Absolutely, especially for you.
