Rockezine.com interview with Devin Townsend on Jun 30, 2001

with Devin on Jun 30, 2001

Finally, he`s back in Europe: Devin Townsend. The man behind projects like Strapping Young Lad, Ocean Machine and Infinity came to our shores for his `Foot in Mouth tour 2001` and Rockezine took this opportunity to ask him a few things about his old and, more importantly, his new work.
		This tour, Devin and his steady live band (consisting of Gene Hoglan on drums, Byron on bass and Jed on guitars) play a lot of material from the Strapping Young Lad albums.
		In another article Devin said that this would be the last tour featuring songs from this early project. He`s no longer angry like he was back then, and he wants to move on. Does this mean that SYL is a finished chapter? "Who knows?" Devin speaks, "at this moment that`s not an issue. Right now I`m focussed on `Terria`. In future tours we`ll still put some Strapping songs on the set list, though. You see I`m still trying to create the perfect set, and I feel SYL should be in there, to balance out some of my other work. But you never know, in a couple of years we might do another `Lad album…" So there`s still hope for all you SYL-fans out there.
		During the recording of the album `Infinity`, Devin almost folded under the pressure of translating his emotions into song structures. You`d think he would have those same difficulties when he`s performing those songs on stage. No, performing songs live is something totally different. When I`m on stage, I just have one goal: To blow the audience away completely! It doesn`t matter to me what song I play, as long as I can get that energy across. Afterwards people can go back to my records, and get stoned while listening to Ocean Machine. But when I play live, it`s just to get their attention.
		Just prior to this tour, Devin finished recording his latest album `Terria`. The album will be released in August or September. This new album has a very spiritual sound to it, with some slight references to folk or new-age music.
		If there would be a colour to describe it (all his previous albums have a colour theme, for example `Ocean Machine` is blue, `Infinity` white and `City` is black), Terria would be green. "Or brown" adds Devin, "earth tones. You could say it`s very spiritual in the way of music, but it`s also very… well, `Terria` is about tragedy as well. Especially some of the lyrics, they stand out from the music on this album. Those lyrics deal with things like mortality. So you have this beautiful, spiritual music, but there are ugly parts in it. Like pepper on a vanilla pudding."
		The paradox of everyday life, Devin explains. Tripping away on a great feeling, and then be pulled back to the ground, because you`re confronted with the reality of your responsibilities. But then again, on other songs, there does exist a harmony between the different elements of the song. It makes it all a bit confusing. And that`s exactly what Devin is feeling right now. So that is how the music is coming out.
		In the end, Devin himself has the best metaphor for `Terria`: "If you`d picture `Infinity` as a man, and that man would step on a landmine, `Terria` would be the sound of all the pieces falling. And when you look at the ground afterwards, that`s where my next album is. I think that one will be a vicious album..."
Meanwhile, the guys have just about finished their European tour (They promised to be back in November, though). Next will be Australia, followed by Asia. Check their website www.hevydevy.com for more tour and other info. `Terria` will be released in Europe in August, so check back then to read our review! (Tjerk Teitsma)