Devin Townsend

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DEVIN TOWNSEND Interviewed On ‘The House Of Zazz’

Posted by aliblackdiamond on September 2, 2012
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On August 24, Sam Hatch of WWUH Radio‘s metal show “The House Of Zazz” spoke with Devin Townsend, Canadian multi-instrumentalist and ex-STRAPPING YOUNG LAD mastermind, about his upcoming DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT release “Epicloud”. Devin explains the concept (or anti-concept) behind the new disc, and how it is both a response to the four-album suite that preceded it and an exploration of the desire to maintain a positive outlook in the shadow of an increasingly negative world. He promises that the album will be a conscious attempt at sidestepping overlong, self-indulgent songs in favor of slabs of straight up, pretense-free rock numbers.

“My love for AC/DC or DEF LEPPARD is definitely going to win out at this point in life versus ‘Well, this is a fifteen-part saga about a lonely gnome,’” Devin said.

The boys also delve into the foibles of turning 40 and how that affects performing, the near-failure of the four-concert series seen on the “By A Thread: Live In London” 2011 DVD, how concert audiences are rewarded while the music industry withers, attitudes on album production, the art of balancing multiple guitar endorsement deals, a flashback to the days of being a hired gun for FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY, the temptation to ditch popular music for scoring movies, and the relative merits of Lucky Charms and Cap’n Crunch.

You can listen to “The House Of Zazz” Tuesday nights/Wednesday mornings from midnight until 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time on 91.3 FM WWUH (in Connecticut) and streaming live via the Internet at www.wwuh.org.

Part 1:

Part 2:

 

Source: Blabbermouth.net 

ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN On DEVIN TOWNSEND’s Forthcoming Epicloud Album – “I Told Him I Could Hear West Side Story In The Music; It’s So Fairytale-Like But So Damn Heavy”

Posted by aliblackdiamond on June 24, 2012
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In an exclusive interview with BW&BK scribe Carl Begai, vocalist ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN discussed her work with DEVIN TOWNSEND on his new Epicloud album, due to release later this year. An excerpt is available below:

“I love Devin Townsend like my brother.” Anneke say without missing a beat. “He means so much to me musically and as a person. In his music he has the perfect symbiotic relationship between heavy and melody and true emotions and feelings. It’s just so pure and so heavy. When I was singing for the Epicloud album I told him I could hear West Side Story in the music. It’s so fairytale-like but so damn heavy. I love it.”

“I almost cried when I sang in his studio,” she says of Epicloud. which is due for release later this year. “There was one song that I did and he listened back to it quickly, and I was really quiet while he did that. It almost made me angry because it was so good but he didn’t say anything (laughs). He realized that and said ‘Oh, um, you know how I am with compliments…’ and I was like, ‘Devin, this has nothing to do with compliments. This song is out of this world!’ It’s just… fucking hell, Epicloud a classic and it’s not even out yet. It made me angry because godammit it was good, and Devin was just ‘Oh, well, um, cool…’ (laughs). I know Devin’s music but I haven’t heard anything like Epicloud in my life. I’m so proud to be involved.”

This isn’t just heat of the moment lip service. During the Epicloud recording sessions back in April, Anneke took time out and posted a brief update on the proceedings via Facebook saying Devin “made me do 20 hours of the loudest and most gorgeous vocals I’ve ever done.” Not a statement to be taken lightly from a critically acclaimed singer.

“Yeah, because I never say that,” she laughs. “I’ve never said that in my life. It’s funny you noticed that because I thought about it when I was writing that post, and it’s Devin making me sing the stuff. I’m doing what he wants me to do, so if he says ‘Stand on your head naked in a corner and sing’ I’ll do it because that’s what he means to me.”

Go to this location for the complete interview, which includes more on Epicloud, discussion on Anneke’s latest solo album Everything Is Changing, and dropping the AGUA DE ANNIQUE moniker.

Anneke recently announced another series of live dates in the Netherlands for this November. The tour kicks off in Deventer at Burgerweeshuis and ends two weeks later in Groningen at Vera:

“We’ve been lucky enough to have played a lot of killer shows in the Netherlands recently and we look forward to returning to the Dutch clubs a lot! An opening act will be announced later. And… more international dates to be added soon as well!”

Confirmed shows for the Netherlands are as follows:

November
16 – Deventer – Burgerweeshuis
17 – Amersfoort – De Kelder
22 – Den Haag – Paard van Troje
23 – ‘S Hertogenbosch – W2
24 – Roermond – ECI Cultuurfabriek
30 – Groningen – Vera

Go to this location for ticket information.

Anneke signed a deal with Holland’s PIAS Records last year and released her new album, Everything Is Changing, on January 20th. The tracklist for Everything Is Changing is as follows:

‘Feel Alive’
‘You Want To Be Free’
‘Everything Is Changing’
‘Take Me Home’
‘I Wake Up’
‘Circles’
‘My Boy’
‘Stay’
‘Hope, Pray, Dance, Play’
‘Slow Me Down ‘
‘Too Late’

The official video for the song ‘Take Me Home’ is available below.

 

 

Source: Bravewords.com

 

Devin Townsend Releases New Video From “By A Thread – Live In London 2011″

Posted by tarjavirmakari on June 21, 2012
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TRENDSETTER has issued the following:

Renowned multi-instrumentalist Devin Townsend released a new clip from his live DVD box-set “By A Thread – Live In London 2011.” The video clip is a performance of “Ghost” from the former frontman of Strapping Young Lads’ solo project. The video is taken from the Ghost performance. You can watch it below.

“By A Thread – Live in London 2011″ contains a 4-DVD set with footage from the sold-out UK shows from last fall where Devin performed all four Devin Townsend Project albums (Ki, Addicted, Ghost, Deconstruction), along with a 5-CD set with the four DTP albums and one disc of encores. All of the box-sets are autographed and numbered with a collector’s certificate of authenticity.

In addition to the 4 DVDs and 5 CDs, all pre-orders of “By A Thread – Live in London 2011″ will include an exclusive 7″ with take 2 of the track “Coast” (Devin’s hand-drawn etching is on the B-side), which was taken from the  i performance.

You can also view performances for “Gato” here and “Awake” here.

Find Devin Townsend Project online:

Official website: http://www.hevydevy.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/dvntownsend
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/dvntownsend

DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT, KATATONIA, PARADISE LOST To Join Forces For North American Tour

Posted by tarjavirmakari on June 1, 2012
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This September, DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT and KATATONIA will team-up for the “Epic Kings & Idols Tour”, a co-headlining North American run featuring PARADISE LOST as direct support and STOLEN BABIES as openers (DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT and KATATONIA will alternate in headlining each show).

In regards to this upcoming trek, Devin Townsend comments: “So after a break in which we’ve managed to finish the live DVDs from the London shows (‘By A Thread’) as well as our surprisingly epic new record, ‘Epicloud’…We’re about to start getting into touring mode again, and it pleases me to announce that we’ll be with some wonderful bands this fall. I think this package pretty much covers the gamut of emotional heavy music, and really…It’ll be nice to share the stage with some passionate folks who live for their music as much as we do. Again, we can’t thank you enough for supporting what we do and allowing us to play for you. It will be nice to catch up, and we hope to see you there!”

KATATONIA‘s Anders Nyström adds: “A better bill than this will be hard to find!”

The VIP pre-sale begins Wednesday, June 6; tickets will be available to the general public starting Thursday, June 7.

“Epic Kings & Idols Tour” dates:

Sep. 04 – Seattle, WA – Studio 7
Sep. 05 – Vancouver, BC – Commdore
Sep. 07 – San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
Sep. 08 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theater
Sep. 09 – Phoenix, AZ – Marquee Theater
Sep. 11 – Houston, TX – Warehouse Live Studio
Sep. 12 – Dallas, TX – Trees
Sep. 13 – Lawrence, KS – Granada
Sep. 14 – Denver, CO – Summit
Sep. 16 – Minneapolis, MN—Station 4
Sep. 17 – Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge
Sep. 18 – Pittsburgh, PA – Mr. Smalls
Sep. 19 – Toronto, ON – Opera House
Sep. 20 – Montreal, QC – Cafe Campus
Sep. 21 – Worcester, MA – Palladium
Sep. 22 – Philadelphia, PA – TLA
Sep. 23 – New York, NY – Irving Plaza
Sep. 24 – Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live

Source: Blabbermouth.net

DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT: ‘By A Thread – Live in London 2011′ Cinema-Screening Teaser Available

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 21, 2012
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Canadian musician/producer Devin Townsend (STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, STEVE VAI, LAMB OF GOD, DARKEST HOUR, GWAR) played four shows in London in November 2011 dedicated to his tetralogy album concept — a great journey through Devin‘s different states of musical moods — which he started in 2009 with the albums “Addicted” (2009) and “Ki” (2009) and finished with last year’s “Deconstruction” and “Ghost”. The concerts were professionally recorded and filmed for a unique box-set release, which he has decided to call “By A Thread – Live in London 2011″.

Due on June 18 in Europe and June 19 in North America through HevyDevy Records/InsideOut Music, “By A Thread – Live in London 2011″ will contain all four shows on four DVDs, plus a five-CD set (the four albums and one disc with all of the encores).

An official pre-release screening event will held on June 5 at the Prince Charles Cinema in London where, over the course of three to four hours, Devin himself will talk all attendees through a summary of all that the DVDs have to offer. Only a limited number of first-come-first-served tickets will be available to a lucky crowd of 250 people. Lucky, because besides being the first to see the DVD they will also have the exclusive opportunity to be the first to purchase the DVD box set two weeks before anyone else can have it. And it’ll be signed, no less!

A two-minute cinema-screening teaser for “By A Thread – Live in London 2011″ can be seen below.

Commented Devin: “The amount of work and memory that went into that event has been captured by an even more herculean event by the folks making the DVDs, and finally I get to see what we did those nights! It’s another situation of releasing a product that we think is really cool, and have gone the extra distance to make it worth your while if you’re the type that supports by buying physical product… it’s great! So if you weren’t there, this is as close as you can get… please enjoy and maybe I’ll meet you at the screening!”

The screening will be held on Tuesday, June 5 from 6:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. and tickets are £15 each. Tickets can be purchased at the Prince Charles Cinema via this link. The screening event will be followed up with two acoustic solo shows on June 6 and June 7, both held at London’s The Borderline. And then Devin is off to headline the third stage at the Download festival on Friday, June 8.

Source: Blabbermouth.net

DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT: ‘By A Thread – Live in London 2011′ Cover, Details Revealed

Posted by tarjavirmakari on March 21, 2012
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Canadian musician/producer Devin Townsend (STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, STEVE VAI, LAMB OF GOD, DARKEST HOUR, GWAR) played four shows in London in November 2011 dedicated to his tetralogy album concept — a great journey through Devin‘s different states of musical moods — which he started in 2009 with the albums “Addicted” (2009) and “Ki” (2009) and finished with last year’s “Deconstruction” and “Ghost”. The concerts were professionally recorded and filmed for a unique box-set release, which he has decided to call “By A Thread – Live in London 2011″.

Due on June 18 in Europe and June 19 in North America through HevyDevy Records/InsideOut Music, “By A Thread – Live in London 2011″ will contain all four shows on four DVDs, plus a five-CD set (the four albums and one disc with all of the encores).

Speaking to AOL‘s Noisecreep, Townsend stated about the upcoming multi-disc package, “We’re going to do the four DVDs, four audio discs [CDS], one of bonus footage, and because the shows are too long to fit the encores on the audio discs, we have a disc of just the encores. . . There’s bonus material from ‘Ghosts’ and ‘Deconstruction’. We did a bunch of PUNKY BRÜSTER stuff [Townsend's 1996 project] and for ‘Addicted’ [concert] we did a bunch of old catalog stuff, just to flesh it out. So the people that come to the show are not just feeling ripped off that we played for 55 minutes and then buggered off.” Source: Blabbermouth.net

 

DEVIN TOWNSEND, MESHUGGAH’s FREDRIK THORDENDAL Perform With GOJIRA In Perth (Video)

Posted by tarjavirmakari on March 7, 2012
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Canadian musician/producer Devin Townsend and MESHUGGAH guitarist Fredrik Thordendal joined French progressive metallers GOJIRA on stage on March 5 at the Soundwave Festival in Perth, Australia to perform the song “Of Blood And Salt”. Fan-filmed video footage of their appearance can be seen below.

The studio version of “Of Blood And Salt” — also featuring Townsend and Thordendal — was included with the May 2011 issue of Metal Hammer magazine, and will appear on GOJIRA‘s forthcoming four-song EP, the proceeds from which will benefit Sea Shepherd, an anti-whaling organization. Release details on that EP, which is loaded with other A-list metal guests like MASTODON‘s Brent Hinds, LAMB OF GOD‘s Randy Blythe and SOULFLY‘s Max Cavalera, are yet to be confirmed. Source: Blabbermouth.net

“Of Blood And Salt” studio recording (audio):

DEVIN TOWNSEND Discusses Vegetarian Diet With Heavy Metal Food; Video Interview Part 3 Posted

Posted by aliblackdiamond on January 25, 2012
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Canadian musician/producer DEVIN TOWNSEND (STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, STEVE VAI, LAMB OF GOD, DARKEST HOUR, GWAR) spoke about his vegetarian diet during an interview with Gilles Lartigot of Heavy Metal Food, a new Radio Metal column associating metal music with cooking.

The third (and final) part of the chat, which was taped on December 14th, 2011 at Foufounes Electriques in Montreal, QC, can be seen below:

Townsend has confirmed two Soundwave Side Shows with MESHUGGAH for his upcoming run through Australia on the Soundwave tour. They will take place on February 27th and 29th in Sydney and Melbourne respectively.

Townsend’s schedule is as follows:

February
25 – Brisbane, Australia – Rna Showgrounds
26 – Sydney, Australia – Olympic Par
27 – Sydney, Australia – The Factory (with Meshuggah)
29 – Melbourne, Australia – The Forum (with Meshuggah)

March
2 – Melbourne, Australia – Showgrounds
3 – Adelaide, Australia – Bonython Park
5 – Perth, Australia – Claremont Showgrounds

Click here for ticket links to all shows.

Townsend recently offered the following update from the studio, where he has several irons in the fire at once:

“Just finished writing track one for Z2 (Ziltoid 2). It’s about a year and half away now… scary!”

Townsend spoke with Metal Army America during the summer of 2011 and commented on his now legendary alter ego, Ziltoid The Omniscient:

MAA: Will we ever see the Ziltoid character return again in some way, shape or form?

Townsend: “Ziltoid I think is rapidly becoming the mascot for what I do. It’s great for me on a number of levels I think. I love playing the character and it’s an extension of an exaggerated part of my personality that I think I felt self-conscious of doing before I quit doing certain lifestyle choices. But with Ziltoid its very creative and free. You know to be a fan of a human being is cool and everything. I know when I was younger there were certain people in bands I was really a fan of. And then as you get older you realize as you well know everybody is a human being and everybody is fallible. Everybody is an idiot trying to figure it all out. Everybody has their own hypothesis on what it is or what it isn’t, but ultimately none of us know. But everybody needs a hero too. I don’t want to be that hero, but I think that Ziltoid can be a very cool superhero because he’s from the fourth dimension and he’s a combination of backyard quantum physics and poop jokes. I think the combo of those two things for me is artistically full of potential (laughs).”

Click here for the complete interview.

 

SOILWORK Drummer To Perform With DEVIN TOWNSEND In London

Posted by tarjavirmakari on September 3, 2011
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SOILWORK drummer Dirk Verbeuren will join the Canadian musician/producer Devin Townsend in London, England this fall for several exclusive live performances. With a schedule of four shows in four days, Verbeuren will be at the helm on two of these limited engagements. Each concert will consist of one album performed in its entirety, in which “Deconstruction” and “Ki” will feature Verbeuren. The performance dates are November 10-13, 2011 and tickets are currently available on HevyDevy.com. All shows will be filmed for a future DVD release.

It has been a busy summer for Verbeuren, with multiple SOILWORK festival appearances across the globe, recording with renowned ex-NEVERMORE guitarist Jeff Loomis, and current studio work with technical thrash metallers POWERMAD. Additionally, Verbeuren has created “Library Of The Extreme Volume III” in his personal Die Crawling Studio, which is due out this fall. “Volume III” is the follow-up to Verbeuren‘s acclaimed MIDI libraries “The Metal Foundry” and “Library Of The Extreme Vol. I & II”, released through Toontrack.

For more information, visit www.dirkverbeuren.com. Source: Blabbermouth.net