posted on Oct, 10 2011 @ 10:53 PM
reply to post by Mr Headshot
Devin actually took the backing vocals job with Vai for an album and tour because the record label said they'd sign him and release his own music if
he did.
That subsequent album he made ended up being Strapping Young Lad's "Heavier Than A Really Heavy Thing" debut album where he played most of the
instruments himself, wrote and recorded it all himself and the very first single from it ("S.Y.L.") was his ode to how much he hated being told what
to do and how to do it and how he'd rather do it his way than the industry's way ("Cause I worked through your f***ing b******t, and I worked
through your f***ing lies, now I'm standing on the edge with a thousand times the strength so I can damn you down to size")
That's why he started his own record label (Hevy Devy Records) to release his music directly although you could still get it in stores courtesy of
Century Media etc like I did. He's called the "Mad Scientist of Metal" because he writes and plays all styles.
* Strapping Young Lad was his extreme metal band
* The Devin Townsend Band was more alternative and mainstream rock
* IR8 was the side project he did with Jason Newsted and whoever the drummer was (I forget)
* The Devin Townsend Project was his baby where he released four albums, Ki being more new age type stuff, Addicted! being the mainstream rock,
Deconstruction being the more metal thing and Ghost is his ambient, laid back album to finish the project
And yeah, Dev has been a massive influence on my own playing and writing over the years
Dunno if you subscribe to his youtube channel poopynuggeteer, I certainly do