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In-person interview with Jeff Kendrick of DevilDriver
By Aniruddh "Andrew" Bansal
January 7th 2010, Glass House, Pomona CA

Andrew: First show of the tour tonight. How has the preparation been?
Jeff: We have rehearsal and we showed up. That's about it (laughs). But yeah we are ready to go. We've been on tour for months and months so we're ready.

Andrew: What can we expect from the set list this time compared to the Thrash and Burn tour?
Jeff: I think there are a couple of different songs. I think we have one or two songs we didn't play from the Pray For Villains album. I'm not sure exactly what we are doing to tell you the truth. We'll have to look at it. We'll figure it out before we go up there. We always do.

Andrew: The Thrash and Burn tour was a weird line-up with a lot of grindcore bands on it and it got mixed reactions from some of the people who went to the shows. What did you think of it?
Jeff: Honestly was a really long day for each show of that tour. I personally really didn't like the tour. I think its cool that we got paired with a bunch of bands that we're not really similar to. It is what it is. It wasn't bad but I really didn't enjoy it that much.

Andrew: What do you think of the reaction to the new album?
Jeff: I think its been fantastic. The fans have really embraced it. I think we've reached out to new fans of the band and its so far overwhelmingly positive.

Andrew: What have you done differently on this one as compared to previous albums?
Jeff: I think the vocals have evolved a lot. Our playing abilities are a lot better and I think that's how the records have changed. We've just got progressively better at playing our instruments so that's kind of what has happened.

Andrew: What are the plans after this tour?
Jeff: We don't know exactly what we're doing. But we're really excited for this tour. This is a tour that I'm really excited to be on. I've listened to Suffocation for almost 15 years or even more. Goatwhore is great, Thy Will Be Done is great too. So its going to rock. Suffocation is one of the best death metal bands of all time. Pierced From Within is my favorite death metal record, pretty much ever.

Andrew: I read somewhere that you guys tried to do the 'largest circle pit'. Tell me a little but about that.
Jeff: We tried. Its kind of like unofficially been categorized as that because no one has really made an attempt to do it. But they denied the claim. They denied coming out and measuring but its pretty much unofficially considered as the largest circle pit. We got the title because no one else has tried it! They are supposed to measure the area of the circle but they said they couldn't do that which is kind of ridiculous, but hey what are you gonna do.

Andrew: Which albums from 2009 stuck to your mind as the best?
Jeff: I like the new Killswitch. The new Muse is really good. The new Suffocation's great. Wrath is amazing and Lamb of God are the best. A lot of good music for sure.

Andrew: What are the songs you love playing most on stage?
Jeff: It's the new songs Fate Stepped In and I've Been Sober, I Iove that one. We're going to play that one tonight and I absolutely love playing that song.

Check out the band at www.devildriver.com

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