DevilDriver is a melodic death metal-influenced groove metal band from Santa Barbara, California.

At the age of 15, bassist Jon Miller had formed a band with drummer John Boecklin and guitarist Jeff Kendrick in high school. The band was called Area-51 and played cover versions of Metallica, Slayer, Sepultura and Pantera. Miller, Boecklin and Kendrick met Coal Chamber vocalist Dez Fafara while he was in the process of recording the album Dark Days with Coal Chamber in 2002. The three were playing in a local band and talked to Fafara who said he was thinking about leaving Coal Chamber. Fafara said "Hey you guys write some heavy shit, and I want to get out of Coal Chamber". Fafara hosted several barbecues after moving from Orange County to Santa Barbara and would jam with musicians he met, which lead to the formation of the band. Guitarist Evan Pitts met Fafara in a restaurant and gave him his phone number for a jam session, while John Boecklin who originally played guitar then played drums, met Fafara at a bar.

The band was originally known as Deathride, but due to their overwhelmingly bad reception, they changed their name in a hope to increase popularity. which was changed as Fafara felt there were too many bands with that name; a band in Norfolk, Virginia, and a bicycle racing team. Another problem was that the band's label, Roadrunner Records were unable to secure copyright. The members compiled a list of roughly two hundred names to go for a more original approach. Fafara's wife had a book by Italian witchcraft author Raven Grimassi on Stregheria, and came across the term 'devil driver'. The term 'devil driver' refers to bells Italian witches used to drive evil forces away. Fafara thought it was appropriate because it sounded "evil", and thought the term "suits his life". The band's logo is the Cross of Confusion, which has existed for thousands of years and refers to "question religion, question authority, question everything around you". Fafara was brought up to "question everything" and was exposed to Italian witchcraft through his grandparents in an insane asylum.

Current members
Dez Fafara - vocals
Mike Spreitzer - guitar
Jeff Kendrick - guitar
Jon Miller - bass
John Boecklin - drums, additional guitar

Former members
Evan Pitts - Guitar

DevilDriver Wikipedia
DevilDriver.com
DevilDriver MySpace
DevilDriver Last.fm