Interview : Devin Townsend @ Montréal

Thorium avait la chance de rencontrer Devin Townsend pour une entrevue d’une dizaine de minutes avant son concert au National de Montréal le 14 février dernier en compagnie de Gojira.

Thorium : Hi Devin, how is it going?

Devin : Good, I’m good.

T : Fantastic. How’s the tour so far?

D : Hum… good. Long. It’s just that we’re on the tail end of three other incredibly long tours, so I assumed that this one was shorter than it was but it’s not, it’s a normal tour, so this last week dragged on a bit but the actual experience and shows have been phenomenal. Gojira is such a great band and it’s been a pleasure to tour with them.

T : Speaking of which, it seems that you’re always on tour nowadays.

Devin : I have that impression too!

T : Last time we saw you here in Montreal was 5 months ago, what do you do when you’re not playing shows?

D : Gosh, I wouldn’t know anymore! I mean, the past few years have been a lot of touring and I think it’s been helpful for us in a lot of ways because we’ve been doing this for so long that it’s important to capitalize on whatever sort of success or visibility we have, so we’re kinda making up for lost time in a lot of ways. And it’s been good. I look forward to not touring for a while. I have a ton of creative things that I would love to do. Touring is actually a lot like groundhog’s day, and, for those of us who don’t party there is not a lot to do after the shows, right?

T : So, since you’re not partying, what do you do in the downtime between shows?

D : I read, I try to get my thoughts together, I play guitar…

T : What are you reading right now?

D : Hah, it’s just a bunch of hippie crap. Just stuff that if I talk about I’ll be really embarrassed, you know?

T : Absolutely. We need to cultivate that whole metal image thingy.

D : Oh, yeah. I’m reading Mein Kampf then. That’s metal enough right?

T : Totally metal.

D : No, I’m actually reading books on meditation and figuring out how to do that.

T : Sounds great to me. Speaking about that whole metal image, you’re touring with a tremendously heavy band, whereas your own show is much goofier and lighthearthed. Do you feel people get along with that?

D : Oh yeah, we feel it’s a good warmup for a band like Gojira. When it’s our own show, when we’re left to our own devices, I feel that the goofier elements of our show are part of the plan if you want to look at it like that. But yeah, out of context it might seem a little silly. I think the tour is going over well, and we’re introducing ourselves to people that, maybe, would never have heard of us or listened to us. But whether or not we are going to be accepted by a heavier audience is not really a concern. I just kind of decided about a week in this tour that I’m just going to do what I do, if people like it they like it, and if they don’t, they don’t, right?

T : Obviously, a lot of your fanbase comes from a metal background, yet, when you release softer material such as Ghost or Epicloud, you still get great feedback from the community. What’s the secret?

D : Well, I’m not lying I guess. Whatever I do, I feel like doing it. I think if I was to make heavy music when I didn’t feel like making heavy music, then people wouldn’t be able to see through it regardless of it being heavy. So, I guess I choose not to put on any false airs. If I feel like writing something like Epicloud I do, if I feel like writing something like Ghost I do. As I get older, my musical needs change yearly, monthly. I’ll be the first to admit that as I get older, and a lot of people as they get older, their need to hear that really heavy, brutal stuff sometime changes. I mean, I don’t have any real desire to hear it at this point. Being out with Gojira is really good for me because I was able to watch this band that still has the need for it. They’re a bit younger and what have you, and they really are about as heavy as you can get. It’s liberating for me to say, as much as I love and respect what they do, I’m really glad that it’s not what I’m doing right now.

T : When you write, then, is it more a matter of you deciding on a whim the direction of your next album, even if your tastes change rapidly?

D : It’s not necessarily on a whim. It kind of just decides for itself. I write and then songs appear. Those songs that I can’t shake out of my head end up being the ones that I focus on. It usually becomes a selection of those, and if, the year has been consistent then there are usually ten or so that are in line with a certain frame of mind, then I just find a title and aesthetics that suit this frame of mind and then there’s that record. It’s less of a whim and more of it just evolving it whatever it is. What it becomes usually surprises me as much as it surprises everybody, right?

T : A lot of artists tend, after a time, to rehash their earlier success or simply lose that little something that made their previous work appealing. Yet, even with a career as long as yours, you avoid those pitfalls.

D : I never had any real success, maybe that helps! If I had one record that was really successful, I’d probably have done that a bunch of times! I don’t know, I’m just guessing, but it’s probably a good motivator : if you’re always struggling for money, if somebody says : “Well here’s a whole bunch of money!”, you’re probably going to answer : “Well here’s a bunch more of that!”. But you see, maybe it’s like the universe, in all its mysteries, decided somewhere along the line and said : “No, you’re not gonna get that! “. So, it keeps it fresh because there is no real need. Like, Epicloud sold, just as every other record sold, Deconstruction sold the same as Ghost. It’s like, I do what I do, right? And so, when I get to the next record, I don’t necessarily have to follow a pattern because none of the patterns necessarily are more important than the others. So, why not just experiment, right?

T : Even if we talk about experimenting, at some point, you are going to do a follow-up to Ziltoid. How’s that going along?

D : It’s good. That project is going to be… ah… a LOT of fun. The reason why I wanted to do a follow-up to Ziltoid is, I didn’t think the mind was empty. It’s like I think we had just gotten in a little bit, and the potential of work, to me, was fascinating. Between multimedia stuff, internet stuff or movie stuff, symphonic things or outer space, Rocky Horror Picture Show stuff or whatever, it’s an untapped resource for me, so it seems like one that could be fun.

T : So, it’s going to be more than just an album?

D : Haha, yeah. Oh yeah.

T : We’ve seen that you’re keen on working with different artists, recently you did a song with Gojira titled “Of Blood and Salt”. Do you plan on adding collaborations to your next album?

D : I have no idea. I mean, that’s the kind of stuff that is more “whim” than anything. I wrote a song that sounded like a Gojira riff and I figured “Well, shit, the only way that I’m going to get away with this is if I include them!”. Now, if people say : “Hey! That sounds like a Gojira riff!” I’ll be able to say “You’re right, and it’s even got their singer on it!”. So, yeah, it was probably the best way to pull this song off.

T : You’ve mentioned this, when we get older, we tend to get wiser …

D : Hopefully, anyway!

T : Let’s hope! If you had the opportunity to talk to a 20 year-old Devin Townsend, what’s the kind of advice you would give him?

D : I don’t know if there is any tips I would have given myself. Maybe, just : “Don’t panic!”. I know there is a tendency, for a lot of us and at least for me, to assume the worst in every situation. Perhaps, if I had given myself the opportunity to know that bad things are going to happen, but if you keep pointing in the direction you know is healthy, if and when those bad things happen you can always get up and keep on moving.

T : So, overall, you feel you’ve mostly made the good choices up to now?

D : No. But I’ve made a few. I mean, at some point they’re all the right ones, but some of them are much pleasant than others right?

T : You wouldn’t be here in Montreal on Valentine’s Day had you made different choices.

Devin : That’s true. Or maybe. Who knows? I’ve noticed we’re in the gay part of town. I was walking down the streets and there’s this whole bunch of pictures with guys in their underwear.

T : We name these parts the “Gay Village”.

D : “Gay village”? Hey, perfect. I mean, I think wherever you find love is okay. I don’t think today being Valentine’s Day will affect the setlist too much though. We’re all about love anyway, so just grab someone you like and have a good Valentine’s.

T : That’s the plan. Well, thanks for having us Devin!

D : Hey, thanks for having me man.

Vous pouvez retrouver le compte-rendu de la soirée qui a suivi au National ICI