DevilDriver
American heavy metal band
DevilDriver is an American heavy metal band from Santa Barbara, California, formed in 2002, consisting of vocalist Dez Fafara, bassist Jon Miller, lead guitarist Alex Lee, drummer Davier Pérez Ortega and rhythm guitarist Gabe Mangold. The band was originally named Deathride, but due to copyright issues and the name being used by several bands, they changed it to DevilDriver.
History
Deathride era, self-titled debut (2002–2004)
Fafara hosted several barbecues after moving from Orange County to Santa Barbara, and would jam with musicians he met, which led to the formation of the band.
"I met Evan. We struck up a friendship and started jamming," said Fafara. Guitarist Evan Pitts met Fafara in a restaurant and gave him his phone number for a jam session, while John Boecklin, who originally played second guitar and then drums, met Fafara at a bar.
The band was known as Deathride, but changed their name to DevilDriver because Fafara felt there were too many bands with that name, including a band in Norfolk, Virginia, and a bicycle racing team. Moreover, the band's label, Roadrunner Records, were unable to secure copyright. The members compiled a list of 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".
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “DevilDriver” as american heavy metal band. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as american heavy metal band. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1133406. VIAF identifies the subject as 320144783190216168986. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2002 and 2004.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “DevilDriver”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow DevilDriver primary sources, DevilDriver archive and DevilDriver research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “DevilDriver” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.