Just watched the "up close and personal" interview from a month ago, and I notice the same circuitous problems coming up as usual. The record companies almost getting into his head, the worry about being pulled instead of pushing, unintentional empathy causing confusion, et cetera. It's interesting how he seems to be the only person I can think of besides myself and varied loaded media outlets that gives a flying (French Connection UK) about Ukraine, which is plus points in my book.
"That's nice, Naz, but after such a long absence, can't you at least post on-topic here?"
Actually, superego, I am! The theme of "war" being prevalent linking up with "Ziltoid vs DTP" seems very pertinent considering his mental state. I know "Epicloud" wasn't technically part of either, but I feel as though this is kind of a cincher to the whole equation that's been simmering since "Ocean Machine", and here's where my amazing grammar nazi skills are going to fall on their face trying to explain something so abstract, but here goes...
"Can I afford to play what I want? Will [insert label here] be alright with that? Will my fans be able to keep me afloat if I *do* go it alone?" and, furthermore "Am I being a selfish person if it all works out?" And perhaps the "versus" scheme is a way to find a middle ground here. "Ziltoid" seems to be the most name-dropped album for people that want The Dev to be "SYL4lyfe", and DTP seems to be the quoted project for people that want him to become "Johnson style", or (dare I say it?) "Dad Rock"
But what if these are two sides of a coin that need to meld into a complete entity? Surely DTP was growth out of the chains laid by fans and labels, with Ziltoid raising his head to remind him you can't escape that baseline. Without meaning to pimp myself, it's the same issue I'm having trying to make my necrotech (Black Metal + Breakcore) album for the last five years: How can I blend these styles that, now I have been able to accept they are both as valid to my expression as each other, in such a way that it works for me *and* makes sense as a product.
I hate to use the word "product", but if you like it and a few others like it, there's a product there. If ONLY you like it, then something went full retard there. So, to cut a long story short too late, if Z2 works as a whole, maybe there will be a synthesis coming soon, and we'll finally have what I've been waiting for:
A Devin album.
Not SYL
Not DTB
Not DTP
A Devin album.
Ocean Machine was the larval stage, and the last decade has been quite the chrysalis, and as hyped as I am for new Ziltoid AND DTP because I do love both projects, I'd love to see what happens when their funk warts meld to a butterfly.
tl;dr? Yeah, I'm still six months behind Dev existentially, and still splerging up whatever thread seems to be most relevant to the thoughts. Nice that we're at least comfortable with ourselves, now we've got to work out how to fit in the jigsaw....or I'm just projecting.
