As Chimaira begin their UK tour guitarist Matt DeVries kindly takes some time to talk to Room Thirteen. With the release of their new album 'Chimaira', guest spots on the Roadrunners' Allstars album as well as various other projects, these are busy times.
R13: What do you have in your pockets?
MD: I have my cell phone, cigarettes and my wallet. Nothing exciting. I had a pick in my pocket.
R13: So you've got holes?
MD: What ho's in my pockets? Oh holes, sorry.
R13: This is the first date of the UK tour, but where have you come from?
MD: We flew in yesterday, flew into Gatwick from the States. We were at home on a break for about two or three weeks. That's a long break for us.
R13: What should Chimaira fans expect from the show?
MD: This show we're playing a lot of songs we haven't played for a while and we're playing a couple of new ones we haven't played yet. They should expect some new stuff.
R13: Are you playing a lot of songs from the new 'Chimaira' album?
MD: Yeah, from all three, well four records actually.
R13: You've toured constantly, including over 330 shows for the support of 'Impossibility Of Reason', what motivates you to keep playing?
MD: It's pretty much all we know and it's all we like to do. It's hard at times not being home a lot but at the same time we love playing. Playing every night gets tiring but we're so used to it now, at first it's a big handful.
R13: Was the Sounds Of The Underground tour really as much mayhem as was portrayed by the media?
MD: It was nuts. It was a lot of debauchery and drinking. Lots of alcohol.
R13: What was the 'chonging' craze?
MD: Chonging, pretty much beer bongs.
R13: Did you beat everybody?
MD: I didn't go in for records, I just did two at a time but Unearth built this beer bong and called it 'The Chonger', every night they brought it out oh my god, here we go again. Almost every single night we played everyone was drunk.
R13: Who was the record holder?
MD: The bass player of Every Time I Die, Chris [Byrnes] he had five and almost kept it down but I don't think it's physically possible to keep that much alcohol in your stomach or that much liquid in general. He kept it down for five minutes then puked it all up. So I think the record was four.
R13: Did you see any new bands that impressed you?
MD: I had heard of bands, like Clutch and then I really got into them after seeing them live. It was cool because they were more eclectic. Over in the States, like Ozzfest, festival tours are usually all heavy bands. This one you had bands like Clutch, High On Fire - more like a European festival. That was cool that they did that as opposed to it all being heavy. They had grindcore, death metal and stoner rock. Trying to think of other bands...I don't remember much!
R13: Did you make any new friends?
MD: We shared a bus again with Every Time I Die. We've done that over here so we were already friends with those guys and that's who we mainly hung out with. But Unearth, Lamb Of God, most bands we already knew.
R13: Did you meet A Life Once Lost?
MD: Actually it was the first time we met them and they are an awesome band.
R13: The new album 'Chimaira' is a lot heavier than its predecessor, why did you go in this direction?
MD: We kind of took the 'fuck you' attitude on this record because on the last one even though it was heavy there were a couple of songs where the label said maybe you should do this and we agreed.
R13: Did they make a lot of changes?
MD: They didn't do any changes but they recommended...the last song 'Down Again', they wanted something not exactly radio friendly but something a little softer for us and so we gave in and did that song. With this album we were just fuck it - we're going to have long songs and heavy songs, we're just going to do whatever comes out and not listen to anyone. We finally made the record that we think Chimaira is, that's why we called it 'Chimaira'.
R13: Do you think it's less accessible because it's heavier?
MD: We weren't looking to sell more records, I mean it is already selling better than the last record, which is great. We tour so much because we're heavy and that's the way to get fans and record sales. Obviously if we were to write a softer record that make it on the radio maybe that would make more record sales but we made a heavy record and it is selling.
R13: The single 'Nothing Remains' has already been released. Are there plans for a follow up single release?
MD: We're hoping so. We're thinking about doing a video for 'Save Ourselves' but I'm not sure yet.
R13: What was the idea behind the cover of the album, I heard Mark [Hunter] had a hand in its creation?
MD: It was kind of funny how the cover turned out. Mark came up with the concept of having the chimeara beast destroying everything, which is the inlay - that was originally to be the cover. A teaser cover was designed that was going to be used on websites and so people didn't see the proper cover. We were shown this cover and we were like 'Oh shit, we like that better.' It was simple and it sticks out.
R13: Mark's guested on the album for your former guitarist Jason Hager's band Years of Fire, you're still friends then?
MD: He just did that while we were back. We keep in touch, we've kept good friends. I talk to Jason all the time, mainly on-line because we're on tour all the time.
R13: Are you jealous you weren't asked?
MD: No not at all. I like vacations, I don't want to work.
R13: So Mark did it in his holiday time?
MD: Yeah, but it was just for a day. We're playing our annual Christmas show in Cleveland with Years of Fire.
R13: Both you and Mark appear on the Roadrunner Allstars album, was it a fun project?
MD: It was a dream come true. It was great. Mark got asked to do Dino's track. Then touring with Slipknot we became good friends, especially with Joey and Craig. Joey called and asked me to help him out. I was pretty much the only friend, he knew everyone else through bands but I was the only one he knew as a musician and friend. So I flew in to Iowa for six days, only recorded for a day and just hung out for the rest of the time. It was cool, everyone else was flying in and out. It turned out great. Just being asked to be on an Allstars record was cool.
R13: What was your happiest memory from the recording process?
MD: Just jamming with Joey in general.
R13: Chimaira have been around now for seven years, what's been your proudest moment in that time?
MD: Honestly, every single day I play. Everytime I'm on stage, doesn't matter if it's a big or small show. Obviously the big festivals in Europe are always a huge accomplishment, playing for so many people.
R13: What would you like Santa to bring you?
MD: Shit. I don't even know, what the hell do I want?! Just more DVDs.
R13: A new guitar?
MD: I would love a new guitar. I've actually been waiting for a custom guitar for six months that hasn't come. If I got that for Christmas I'd be stoked.
R13: How many guitars do you own?
MD: I only have one custom, that's my seven string custom. About fifteen, it's crazy I have so many guitars but then if you look at bands like...I was asking I think it was Mick from Slipknot, he's got one hundred and fifty or some shit like that. He's got a crazy amount. He's got a huge collection at home.
R13: How many do you have on this tour?
MD: Four for myself.
R13: The anniversary of Dimebag's death is a week away, what's your happiest memory of him?
MD:I got the pleasure to meet him a couple of times. Dimebag was one of those...I mean everyone says the same thing but it's true..he's one of those people that you meet and instantly he treats you like he's your best friend. He actually opens up and it doesn't matter if you're a fan, a musician or if you're anybody. He treats everyone the same. He treated everyone the same. and that's what I'll remember, besides the fact that he's probably the best guitarist in metal ever, I think. He was just a cool, down to earth guy.