Devin Townsend in Sweden Rock Mag #63: An Appetizer

In the upcoming issue of Sweden Rock Magazine, #63 that is, due out in a few days, there will be a three-page-article about no other than Mr. Devin Townsend, and I’m the one to blame. It deals mainly with his former drug abuse, and how this affected him musically (read: Strapping Young Lad) as well as personally, and his new four-album-project that has worked for him as a purgation from his “old” life.

During the interview we had to end our conversation earlier than (at least what I had) planned, due to Devin’s hectic schedule. Therefore, I e-mailed him a handfull of questions. Unfortunately, I received his answers past deadline, why I decided to put them here. See it as an appetizer!

Old Dev

Was cutting off your hair a part of the “cleaning” of yourself?

Devin: “I guess in a certain, obvious way... But more than anything, it was stinky, painful, and hard to get a bank loan with... (Hi, I'm Bozo the clown, can I borrow 40k?) I was postponing the inevitable for so long... It was just time, more than anything else.”

What’s your opinion on drugs today? Are you anti, pro, neutral...?

“I guess I'm somewhere between neutral and anti, my experiences with halluncinogens were interesting to me, but anything after the first experience was gluttony to me. All I needed to know about drugs I learned in the first minute. I'm anti in the sense that it is so connected to crime and innocent people are caught in that, but I think drug laws are pretty much to blame for a lot of the crime. I don't know too much about the specifics of that, though.”

Do you still feel any need to take them?

“No, never.”

I’ve heard you started to meditate. Was that a part of the cleaning process?

“I think it's just been happening slowly over time. I'm still very poor at it though, but I'm trying to commit myself to it. It's not really part of any process, it just seems to make sense now.”

Is your new record “Ki” meant to meditate to?

“No, it's nice... But it's still got issues... It's conscious of them though, so I think you can chill to it... But a meditative record is still to come.”

And last, how do you do today?

“Fine, thank you!“

New Dev