[Tracy]

He doesn't. The pic is either altered or it's pen.

New interview, hope you all enjoy.
http://www.metalexpressradio.com/menu.p ... ews&id=504

Thanks for that.

He doesn't. The pic is either altered or it's pen.

HAHAHA! PEN!

One of my friends thinks devin looks scary

http://clarepreece.co.uk/assets/devlaw.jpg

From the new Metal Hammer. I scanned it nicely.

After Strapping Young Lad's raging avalanche 'Alien', peace reigned again in Devin Townsends head. Relatively speaking, of course, because it well never be quiet in the head of the brilliant musical professor. Even though 'Synchestra' is an introverted and melodic piece, it cannot be detached from the brutal 'Alien' on a conceptual and musical level. Aardschok had an interesting conversation about the creation of Townsend’s music and especially the hellish job to translate this to a CD. Townsend regards himself as a hard worker and despises the label of the brilliant sound-artist.

Traditionally, the new Devin Townsend album is the style-wise opposite of its predecessor, 2005s 'Alien'. You once told me that in fact, there are two different persons in your brain.
"Both sides are part of the same brain and show themselves in a natural manner. I think every human being has different sides, maybe everyone has a split personality. As an artist, I'm being honest with it and I don't try to hide or undermine it. Sometimes I hear music that is cold, fast and energetic. Sometimes I hear beautiful melodies in my head, which appear with the title 'Devin Townsend Band'. Why would I devote myself to one kind of music and ignore the other one? I can say to myself; 'I don't care, I'll just wait for a couple of months and release another album with another label'"

Do you hear modest music one day, and restless music the other?
"It happens every once in a while. Usually though, I listen to hard noise for a longer period, and after a while my head needs a rest. That's when the serene melodies appear out of no-where. After each period I hit the studio to record the music. When I've made a heavy album, I'm totally sick of extreme metal, I'm longing to do a melodic record. And it goes on and on like that, and up to now I feel comfortable with it. I'm a slave of the music I hear. At this moment, the song "The Anti Product", for Strapping Young Lad, is in my head. It will appear on the new record. Last night, SYLs new "Hope" stormed through my head. When I heard a song coming up for the first time? I was visiting my grandparents, I must have been around the age of five. I remember that song as if it was yesterday, but it's not good enough to record it."

Does it feel good to hear music, or is it uncomfortable?
"Often it's martyrdom. The music just is inside me and has to get out. I use that talent, but I don't abuse it. Artistically, it's no problem to pour the music into an album. Technically, it's very hard. It's damn hard to literally translate the music I hear, with the available devices and limited technical knowledge I have as a producer. I have to work in a very structured way, because the music is very complex and heavily layered."

Is The Devin Townsend Bands music easier to arrange and record that Strapping Young Lads?
"It makes no difference. The Devin Townsend Bands music is just a lot less intense and stressful. The time I spend in the studio with Strapping Young Lad is like a war to me. It's very exhausting but it's what I do and I don't think I could do it any other way."

What does the title "Synchestra" refer to?
"Many of my albums are musical twins, despite the completely different styles and concepts. 'Ocean Machine' and 'City' are a two-piece, like 'Synchestra' and 'Alien'. 'Alien' represents a cold and deserted environment, somewhere in the infinite universe. 'Synchestra' symbolises the return to earth. It refers to life and all of its complex aspects. The cover symbolises being rooted and having your roots on earth. Down to earth. Nature and hope. A contrast to the mad aggression of 'Alien', but at the same time an obvious reaction to it."

Do you stand in life stronger than you used to, these days?
"I try to. That's all I can do. I'm very demanding of my life as a musician, and that means my private life suffers from that. I'm away a lot of times, because I have to tour. When a record is being recorded I lock myself in the studio. You can imagine my wife has to put up with a good deal in our relationship. It's often very hard to mentally connect with her during the recording process. When I get home after a day in the studio I'm still in my own little musical world. All I hear is the music in my head and I barely hear what she says. It just won't get through. It's very hard to move away from the project when I'm in the middle of recording. It's very dear to my heart that I can't be there for my loved ones at these times. Not sufficiently, at least. It's fucking hard. At the same time, I'm blessed with the talent to hear music in my head. On top of that, the music is uncommon. I see it as my duty to entrust the world with it. That's my mission and my goal in life. That thought soothes the pain of my defects."

When you hear a song in your head, do you have to record it right away, or can you store it for later?
"Luckily I can store it. When it's a good song, I'll never forget it. Sometimes a song roams around in my head for a month without me touching a guitar. At some point I'll call the other band members and ask them when they can jam it out. During the jam the first rough sketches appear on tape. It gets done some times faster than others. There's always a lot of pressure in the rehearsal room. I hear complete and incomplete songs in my head, and then it's a big puzzle. Just as long as it takes us to nail it just the way I hear it. And they're not simple puzzles. Sometimes I wake up in the morning with the awareness that it's going to be a hell of a job to put it all on tape. But sometimes I don't realize it, and I'll find out afterwards how complex it was. Most of the music for 'Synchestra' had been in my head for years, I've been hearing 'Notes From Africa' for over ten years, but it took two weeks to present it to the band. The current state of technology allows me to record the basics of a song really quick. Modern technique and Devin Townsend are good acquaintances, and sometimes even friends. But at other times, we are each other’s worst enemies. I want my computer to obey when I turn it on. At home, I work with a PC but in studios we rent are always equipped with Macs. I haven't quite mastered working with Apples yet and you bet there's some cursing going on during the recordings. Especially when the fucking thing hangs again. I'd rather be a creative person than a computer wizkid. That's why 'Synchestra' took three months to record, also because I did everything myself. Usually I'll have an engineer to do the time-consuming recovery jobs."

The musicians of The Mars Volta claim all the music that is released has been exciting all the time, somewhere in the cosmos. Musicians are just the medium to canalize it.
"A theory that I completely connect to. I try to explain to people that I'm only the working horse, with the gift to make the music viable. The term artist is overrated. I have no illusions about being a genius. I have a talent and use it. I share my gift with others. I am nothing more than a hard worker who tries to get the most out of every day. Period."


Translation: Me and my dictionary.
Thanks to fragility for correcting my bloopers

Thank you very much, Biert!

I do wonder why all the magazines still write about him as a genius and everything, while Devin said he's not comfortable with that image and he points it out in every interview.
Synchestra is even advertised as "The Mad scientist of Metal is back!"

i love you

alot

like really

Biert: Yeah, I saw an ad like that the other day and just shook my head...

I do wonder why all the magazines still write about him as a genius and everything, while Devin said he's not comfortable with that image and he points it out in every interview.

Because everyone is rather associated with a genius than a hard worker.

Compare:

The Canadian genius releases another masterpiece

The hardest working Canadian releases another masterpiece

A: "Hey Bob, listen to this guy. He's a genius!"

B: "Hey Bob, listen to this guy. Boy did he work hard!"

Also, when we hear that very special melody or harmony that strikes us, we are - at least I am - always like "wow, that's genius" and never "wow, thank god Dev heard this in his head and worked his ass off to make it available for others." I believe that's how things work, the truth just doesn't sell too well.

haha this interview is old but good

http://www.live4metal.com/devin.htm

'I’ll try not to inundate you with questions about your production work, but I was curious if this was something you always wanted to do or something you just fell into?

Both. I think in the back of my mind… I mean it’s not a super glamorous job. Like when you’re a kid, it’s like, oh I want to be a rock star and whip my hair around and be an idiot. It’s not like, “oh, right on man, when I get older I’m gonna be a music producer! I’m gonna EQ the fuck out of those kick drums when I’m 32!”'

I saw Devin in some guitar catalog.
And it said "Devon Townsend" :/.
Shame on them.

There's another article up in the pres section of the main HDR site.