Devin Townsend Project"Dude, I'm such a train-wreck for the most part, as an artist. As a person I think I'm pretty good, but as an artist, I'm so all over the place that it takes a pretty casual culture to be able to stomach it,” vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist/producer Devin Townsend says while examining Australia remaining among his strongest markets. “A lot of the more stoic cultures look at what I do and say, 'Just stick to one thing, you fucking arsehole'. And I'm like, 'But that's not my trip'. I think with Australia, they're just, 'Oh, you're gonna go do that now? Alright, cool. I don't like it, but I'm glad you're doing it',” he laughs.
Stagnation certainly isn't part of his ethos. During a two-decade career trajectory begun via Steve Vai's Sex & Religion LP, the rubber-faced Canadian has rarely remained on one musical path for too long. Even after now-defunct extreme metal project Strapping Young Lad's sonic maelstrom became more successful and acclaimed, Townsend issued regular solo releases. They were zany, heavy, progressive and deeply melodic; oftentimes all of the above. He's since expanded further – Devin Townsend Project's recent quadrilogy (in addition to latest effort Epicloud) particularly exhibiting a songwriter seeking to explore the breadth of his capabilities.
Despite having unleashed the ambitious four-album series, prepared a new live album/Blu-ray and participated in a charity single also featuring Serj Tankian and Emperor's Ihsahn, unsurprisingly 'HevyDevy' continues to multi-task. There's the sequel to 2007's wacky conceptual piece Ziltoid The Omniscient, and subsequent radio show “hosted” by the titular character. Ghost 2 is “kinda done”, but not currently a priority, and the Obviouser endeavour is in the pipeline. At the time of our conversation he's concluding new record Casualties Of Cool, suggesting it's “more in line with the person that I am at this age than anything I've done… A faction of people [are] going to think it's hippie bullshit.”
Taking into account his ongoing prolific output, Townsend must be somewhat accustomed to existing in a sleep-deprived state. “Yeah, it's not for lack of trying. I think as I get a little older – I'm not old yet, but as I get a little older – 40, it's pretty much par for the course. I fall asleep at ten o'clock at night, wake up at two in the morning and I'm fucked. I used to be able to combat it years ago by just drinking a bottle of wine before bed, but because that's not really happening anymore, you just end up twiddling your thumbs and thinking about your world falling apart until 5am. Then you get up, have a cup of coffee and things are okay.”
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Having so many ideas rattling about upstairs ought to be a burden, though. “I've got a pretty streamlined creative process. It's well within mine and certainly most artists' grasps to be able to turn that tap off if they need to. And I do. If I've got an idea that I think is really good, I've been doing this long enough to know whether or not it's an idea that can wait, or an idea that I have to actualise right away. If it's something I have to actualise, damn straight, I get up and do it. But if it's something that can wait, I just make a note, then forget about it. I can't allow anything in my life to control me. I can't, and I don't.”
Regaining said control also led to further key self-discoveries. “I realised a lot of the artistic process seems to be rooted in loving the drama, loving the turmoil and the ups and downs of feeling you're tortured and all this shit. But I think you're tortured if you want to be. For me, there's a time and a place to say, 'Okay, right now you can torture yourself. Right now you can turn yourself in knots with this idea and freak the fuck out'. But as soon as your alarm rings, stop it,” he laughs. “It's time to go for a bike ride.
“I've managed to find ways in my own mind and own world to compartmentalise these artistic things that at one point, really controlled me. A great deal of me being able to control them now is just that I'm not on any substances. I take melatonin every now and then to try and get some sleep, but other than that, it's pretty clean living. So it's a whole learning curve, and if there's anything I've learned, and specifically now that I've gone through this, and I see other artists that can't control that shit, I just think to myself, 'Oh, grow the fuck up'. I'm not trying to put myself on a pedestal, but I do know there's a bunch of people that still slap the back of their hand against their forehead at the drama, the woe and the cursed nature of artistic sensibilities. I'm going, 'Yeah, that's good, take off your fedora before you slap your head next time, because it looks expensive',” he chuckles. “For me, it's really important to find a place to put what constitutes artistic motivation, versus what constitutes being a functional human being.”
A by-product of this healthier work-life balance is acknowledging the unhinged brutality which once helped define him isn't a wholly accurate representation anymore. Folding SYL after believing it had descended into self-parody was a major indicator. “Not on my radar anymore,” he emphasises when asked whether extreme metal factors into his listening habits. “When I play with bands, for example, I see Meshuggah, and I'm like, 'Oh, they're the best'. We toured with Gojira and I'm like, 'They're fucking amazing'. But I don't listen to it, I've got no interest. Maybe I'll listen to it once or twice just to be reminded… The new Jon Hopkins record is just brilliant. I like trip hop. But in terms of actively seeking out the newest and the heaviest, it just gives me a headache, man.”
