Interview with Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad
By Bob Cooper
Every country has its national treasures, and Canada is no exception. Where else can you find codeine-laced aspirin available over the counter, deep fried Mars bars, and poutin (pronounced “poo-teen’, it is fries smothered in gravy and cheese curds) available most anywhere? And let’s not forget the cannabis bars. But above all of these amenities sit metal extremists Strapping Young Lad. SYL was formed in 1995 by founder Devin Townsend as he had parted ways with Steve Vai in hopes of starting a band that was more attuned to his own musical tastes. A metal band. One that would be so extreme and raucous that it would put all other metal bands to shame. As Devin recruited bassist Byron Stroud, guitarist Jed Simon, and drum guru Gene Hoglan to complete the picture, it was apparent that Strapping Young Lad was the answer, and it wasn’t long before they had themselves an almost cult-like following which stretched across the entire globe. Each new record they recorded seemed to out-do it’s predecessor, and finally in 2003 they broke ground with their self-titled album SYL. This record was in a class all its own due to the fact that writing duties were given to the entire band for the first time on an SYL record, as well as it’s unparalleled production by Townsend which is reaching new heights. The band has grown in bounds without losing sight of their original goals.
Now SYL has taken the music world by surprise once again with the recording of their newest album ALIEN, which will be available in March on Century Media Records. ALIEN is truly their most powerful and aggressive work to date, and is sure to get massive attention once it arrives in the stores. It can be best described as City for the new millennium.
I am always amazed at how Townsend can so consistently keep creating great music for his various bands and remain so original and fresh. Over the years I have found that when questions like these come to mind, the only logical thing for me to do is sit Devin down and just ASK him about whatever is on my mind, as he will always take time to put things right.
So rather than try to explain to you what kind of album ALIEN is, Devin himself will give us his commentaries on the music.
I know- March is a long time to wait for new Strapping music, and if you are like me and cannot wait for this new cd you can now purchase their new DVD of live music called For Those Aboot To Rock, taken from a concert they did their hometown of Vancouver, BC at the Commodore Ballroom.
DT: Hey Bob.
BC: Devin! Good to hear your voice again.
DT: Yeah, it’s been a while.
BC: Way too long. I did plan on being at the filming of your DVD, but the border police had other ideas. Anyway, I just got my copy of the new SYL record, and I have to congratulate you once again. You out-do yourself with each album, and this is the most rambunctious one yet.
DT: Well what can I say? They come as they come to me.
BC: I never know what to expect with any of your records. Early statements indicated that the band has grown up and have mortgages and such, so I expected a mellower product. Such is not the case with Alien.
DT: No. Not even. You know, I keep trying to figure out why it works that way, on a musical level. I pick up a guitar and the songs just come collectively, in sets of ten. I then record them and move on to the next set of ten. This year has been a strange one for everyone, and this record is just our reaction to it more than anything else. It’s like “Oh, fuck!”
BC: It really has been a strange year, and I’m glad I am not the only one who feels that way. Anyway, let’s go over the songs from ALIEN so that the pour souls who don’t have it yet will have something to feed upon.
DT: Sure, man. Well, it starts with IMPERIAL, which is like the big beginning for the album like the Imperial storm troopers is in Star Wars, and there is really no positive or negative here, just that certain vibe to it as a grand introduction. Lyrically this record doesn’t mean much. I mean each song has its source of emotional content within it, but it’s basically a big freak-out, right? Imperial is the introduction to it and it starts in a real bitter place and leads into SKEKSIS. Skeksis is one of the bad guys from The Dark Crystal.
BC: Aha! I knew that.
DT: So we have the Imperial Guard leading into Skeksis. Skeksis came when we were on tour with Meshuggah, and Gene and I were getting crazy with that and there was this little passage that I really became hung up on when I decided to make a song about it, and again there is a lot of screaming and a lot of noise to help get the point across, right?
BC: Yeah, like controlled chaos unleashed!
DT: SHITSTORM is my big “jump off of a cliff” for me in a song, based on the faith people have in me. Enough said. LOVE?. The edit you have is not the final edit. The final edit is going to be much shorter and half of it is not going to be there anymore. LOVE? Is less about the man/ woman relationship and more just about the biology where human beings are struck by these things called emotions, which leads to the replication of the species and all sorts of other things, right? LOVE? Is of course it’s the key to the relationship as well.
BC: Yeah, I wish everyone realized that fact.
DT: Yeah, it is instinct in a way, yet can feel so foreign to most of us. The next song, SHINE, I think is a conversation with myself. It is almost like feeling all of that anger, but directing it inward. It is like being mad at the other side of you. Like there are two sides to the personality, and one side is constantly at war with the other side, and SHINE is basically the war song between those two sides.
Then comes WE RIDE, and we alleviate that a little bit. Like, we ride, we love, we’ve all got problems, we’re all fighting for ourselves, and we’ve all got inner demons. But at the end of the day basically it doesn’t do anything but slow us down. So let’s fucking put it in gear. Tonight we ride!
BC: Hell yeah. It is easy to get so wrapped up in ones problems that it prevails over everything else, so the “ride” is very important.
DT: Exactly. From there we go to a song called POSSESSIONS, which is a song about biology. We are at the age where we are talking about having kids. Do you know what I mean? It is just such a weird proposition that I felt there should be a song about it. Myself, I haven’t had any kids and my only experience is with other people’s kids and how they deal with them, so this is sort of an outsider’s view of the planning process.
Then after the bluntness of Possessions, TWO WEEKS is supposed to be more of the reality. Two Weeks is about the two weeks that we are off of tour. So you are home for two weeks, between the busy tour life and the next tour or project where we are supposed to be resting and relaxing. But there is this uneasy tense calm, like things are okay but based on the last four weeks things are going to get crazy again.
BC: Two Weeks is a beautiful tune, and perhaps the first time I can recall that acoustic guitar sounds prevail in a Strapping song. The other sounds that come up in the latter part of the song create a very impending and mysterious air. The transfer seems complete as the next song, THALAMUS, begins.
DT: Yes, THALAMUS is kind of a release to Two Weeks. It’s like, having learned this I think I have gotten to the point where I can deal with it a little better. And ZEN is actually dealing with it. It’s like no matter what is coming up, no matter how you feel about it, and no matter what is going on, ZEN! Straight up the middle, the balance is the key.
BC: I love Zen and the way the song is constructed. It begins with this interesting sound loop, and suddenly Gene turns it into this massive thing, and great close to the album. Except there is one more song called INFODUMP. Is this a Devlab outtake?
DT: Kind of, but it is a little more extreme I think. Infodump is supposed to be like the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey, the movie, where all the colors are coming up to the guy’s face and all of this information is just coming at him from different angles. But at the end of Infodump that kid screaming is supposed to be the child inside me screaming when I can’t fucking take it and it is too much.
BC: It is a real stark song, and to the listener it takes on as many meanings every time you listen to it. I found the Devlab cd the same way, and the way it was made gave it a rather chilling air, almost like when I would play Revolution #9 from the Beatles White Album backwards. It is almost scary.
DT: Oh yeah. I mean it is as deep and hairy as you want, but I mean on the exterior. The whole purpose of Strapping is not to tell any story. It is based on just going “blaaaaaaaaaaaaa” and there is not much talk involved. And it gives you attitude that says, “You fucking prick son of a bitch”, so to be able to get that out, or hear someone else get that out then it is just cathartic release.
BC: I just found out that Strapping Young Lad is touring the USA again, and Portland is on the list.
DT: Absolutely. May 11th, I think.
BC: And what is next on the agenda for new Devy music?
DT: The DVD for DTB is almost done.
BC: I can’t wait to get my pudgy little hands on that!
DT: Yeah, it’ll put out the fire caused by Strapping. And then the new DTB record will be made, and it is fucking rad. We will be recording it in August, and I am showing the band the parts right now. As Alien will likely make you feel weird, the next DTB record will make you feel much better.
BC: I feel better already just knowing that there is some new DTB on the way. Well thanks so much for calling Devin. It is always a pleasure spending time with you and I will catch you when you get to Portland.
DT: Well thank you Bob, for the interest in the music, and when we get to Portland, come down and have a beer with us.
