Devin Townsend

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Townsend (2010)

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Synchestra (Devin Townsend Band)   DE 85 02/10/2006 (1 week) Epicloud (Devin Townsend Project)   DE 87 05.10.2012 (1 week)   UK 61 06.10.2012 (1 week)   US 105 06.10.2012 (1 week) Devin Townsend Presents the Retinal Circus   DE 87 10/11/2013 (1 week) Casualties of cool   UK 77 05/31/2014 (1 week) Z² (Devin Townsend Project)   DE 57 07/11/2014 (1 week)   CH 92 11/02/2014 (1 week)   UK 46 11/08/2014 (1 week)   US 73 11/15/2014 (1 week) Ziltoid - Live at the Royal Albert Hall   DE 66 11/20/2015 (1 week) Transcendence (Devin Townsend Project)   DE 43 09/16/2016 (1 week)   AT 49 09/23/2016 (1 week)   CH 33 09/18/2016 (1 week)   UK 26th 09/16/2016 (1 week)   US 117 10/01/2016 (1 week) Eras - Vinyl Collection Part I (Devin Townsend Project)   DE 39 June 15, 2018 (1 week) Ocean Machine - Live at the Ancient Roman Theater Plovdiv (Devin Townsend Project)   DE 22nd 07/13/2018 (1 week)   CH 94 07/15/2018 (1 week)   UK 98 07/19/2018 (1 week) Eras   DE 62 07.09.2018 (1 week) Empath   DE 12 04/05/2019 (3 weeks)   AT 21st 04/12/2019 (1 week)   CH 9 04/07/2019 (1 week)   UK 23 04/11/2019 (1 week)   US 169 04/13/2019 (1 week) Eras - Vinyl Collection Part IV (Devin Townsend Project)   DE 55 08/30/2019 (1 week) By a Thread - 2011 in London   DE 66 March 20, 2020 (1 week)

Devin Townsend at a concert in Dinkelsbühl 2017

Devin Garrett Townsend (born May 5, 1972 in New Westminster ) is a Canadian singer , guitarist and producer .

Townsend first achieved international fame in 1993 as the singer of the guitar virtuoso Steve Vai . After some collaborations with other well-known artists (including Front Line Assembly , The Wildhearts and Jason Newsted ) he laid the foundation for his solo career in 1995 with his first album called Strapping Young Lad . Originally a one-man project, Strapping Young Lad soon turned into a band with permanent members. After the 1997 released album City , which was described by some media representatives as a "milestone", three more albums followed until it was dissolved in 2007.

While Strapping Young Lad's music represented Townsend's “negative” side and often addressed feelings such as anger, hatred and fear, he has also been releasing solo albums since 1996 that are supposed to express “positive” feelings and moods. Since these albums differ greatly from each other stylistically, Townsend changed the names several times ( Devin Townsend , The Devin Townsend Band , Devin Townsend Project ) to underline the stylistic change he intended. With the exception of a few works with electronic music, his solo releases can be classified as progressive metal . In addition to Townsend's ability to create both melodic and catchy compositions, as well as extremely complex, intense and energetic compositions, his varied vocals are particularly characteristic of the style, ranging from clear tones, some reminiscent of Paul McCartney , to guttural growls, screeches and screeches. Many of his publications have in common that Townsend combines a multitude of instruments, voices and sound effects that can be heard at the same time to create a “ wall of sound ”.

Townsend's albums say they are strongly autobiographical and deal primarily with very personal topics. Townsend describes himself as spiritual and ascribes it to his devotion to a higher cause that even the extremely harsh forms of his music do not spread any "negative vibes".

In addition to his versatile musical oeuvre, Townsend owes part of his popularity to his image as a “crazy professor of metal”, which was supported by his sometimes very distinctive hairstyles and exuberant stage shows. In interviews, however, Townsend emphasizes that this picture is incorrect. He attributes this misunderstanding to the fact that he was often unable to control himself due to his longstanding excessive cannabis use. Since he dissolved Strapping Young Lad in 2007 , quit his drug use and became a father, Townsend has been working on a new project that is musically very different from his previous ones.

In media reports and by musicians like Steve Vai, Jason Newsted (Ex- Metallica ) and Burton C. Bell ( Fear Factory ) Townsend has been described as a musical genius . His musical skills range from classic fun punk rock (album "Cooked On Phonics") to death metal, melodic progressive metal, metal symphonies ("Deconstruction"), musical-like concept albums ("Ziltoid" and "Z2") to Blues-like compositions ("Casualties of Cool") and a symphony album planned for 2017 with orchestral support.

Townsend is also a well-known producer (for Soilwork , Lamb of God and GWAR, among others ).

biography

Childhood and youth

Townsend grew up in a musical environment and learned the piano, tuba, guitar and banjo at the age of four. At the age of eight he composed his first piece of music: a complete musical "with completely stupid lyrics". This “key experience” gave him the desire to become a musician. The musicals that shaped him in his childhood were often referred to by Townsend as important influences in his later career. To the music genre of metal brought him the enthusiasm for Judas Priests Defenders of the Faith .

Townsend said he was a good student who neither smoked nor drank, but in his spare time he was occupied almost exclusively with playing the guitar.

Early musical career (1993–1995)

At the age of 19, Townsend sent a demo of his band Noisescapes, among others, to Steve Vai's label Relativity, which they actually signed. This demo, which was released more than 10 years later on the compilation Ass-Sordid Demos II , impressed Vai so much that he offered Townsend the job of singer in his newly formed band. After he had accepted the offer, Relativity quickly lost interest in Townsend's own compositions and canceled the contract with Noisescapes again.

On the one hand, this commitment was a great opportunity for the young Townsend, as he was able to perform in front of a large audience due to Vais's popularity (for example during a joint tour with Aerosmith ) and learned a lot about the music business at the "Steve Vai University". On the other hand, he was bothered by the fact that although he represented Vais' music in public (Townsend is depicted on the cover of the album Sex & Religion , which was made during this period ), he never fully identified with the music and especially the lyrics of Vais could.

Townsend began to rebel against Vai, which in 1994 led to the termination of the collaboration. A few years later, Vai and Townsend were reconciled. Vai called Ocean Machine: Biomech one of his favorite albums of the 90s, and Townsend also emphasized his respect and gratitude for Vai in later interviews.

After leaving Vai in 1994, the Wildhearts ' offer to jump in as guitarist brought him back on stage. This was followed by a few short collaborations with Front Line Assembly and the then Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, whom he met through the manager of the Wildhearts , who had previously worked for Metallica . The IR8 project with Newsted and Exodus drummer Tom Hunting was never actually intended to be released on CD, but was released 10 years later.

During the Wildhearts tour, Townsend received a contract offer from the A&R manager of Roadrunner Records , which was withdrawn a short time later by a veto by the owner of the well-known label: He described Townsend's music as "just noise" ("just noise") . The disappointment over this renewed rejection, according to Townsend, led him, who had previously not consumed any intoxicants (and even wore a gas mask on the Wildhearts tour bus to protect himself against cigarette smoke), started cannabis at the age of 23 to consume. Although his marriage almost collapsed under it, he described these drugs as "helpful" and even attributed the creation of his later albums Ocean Machine and Infinity to their consumption.

First own publications (1995–1996)

As a direct consequence of the negative experiences of the Steve Vai project, Townsend released the album Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing in 1995 under the pseudonym Strapping Young Lad , because he had received a record deal (with Century Media ). Townsend said of it: “When Sex & Religion came out , I felt [...] like a total idiot for getting involved in something that got out of hand. I was pissed off, hated everything and everyone. For me, Strapping Young Lad were the ideal valve to let off steam. ”He chose the pseudonym because he was not known by his own name or as the singer Vais and wanted to start over unencumbered.

Townsend had hardly dealt with the harder forms of metal until then (he knew neither Slayer nor representatives of black metal ), but was heavily influenced for this album by the Fear Factory releases Fear Is The Mindkiller and Soul of a New Machine . Townsend justifies the fact that parodic and self-deprecating elements are used in this and many later albums because they make it easier for him to express himself freely without making himself vulnerable. It also helps to endure “strenuous” and “unhealthy” parts of Strapping Young Lad more easily. The music published under the name Strapping Young Lad also fulfilled the function of catharsis on later albums for Townsend . In 1995 Townsend released the album Cooked on Phonics under the pseudonym Punky Brüster, which parodically tells the story of a metal band that decided to play punk rock for commercial reasons .

City, Ocean Machine (1997)

In 1997 Townsend released the album City as Strapping Young Lad and a short time later the album Biomech under the project name Ocean Machine .

The musicians Gene Hoglan (formerly with Dark Angel , Death , Testament and others), Jed Simon and Byron Stroud, who played on City , remained members of Strapping Young Lad , which changed from the solo project Townsends to a real band , until the dissolution in 2007 . Simon and Stroud were known to Townsend from previous band projects in Vancouver , Hoglan met Townsend at a Fear Factory concert, where they agreed to work together after a night of partying together. Both City and Ocean Machine: Biomech incorporated musical ideas that Townsend had had since childhood. With Biomech began a series of solo albums, which are stylistically in extreme contrast to Strapping Young Lad due to their primarily positive and peaceful design . Townsend says it represents two opposing sides of his personality.

During this time (1997) Townsend founded their own label (Hevydevy Records) together with his wife Tracy Turner in order to be independent of other record companies.

Infinity, Physicist (1997-2000)

Townsend's next solo album was called Infinity and was supposed to bring together the opposites of Strapping Young Lad and Ocean Machine . Gene Hoglan was hired again as the drummer. While working on Infinity , Townsend mentally collapsed and sought treatment in a mental hospital . She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and has been treated with medication ever since. With Infinity , which, according to Townsend, sounds like “a roller coaster ride through the madhouse”, Townsend took his perfectionism to the extreme. So he sometimes used up to 300 sound tracks in parallel. Townsend also made two mixes of the album and put them on top of each other because he was not satisfied with the result of the first. Quotations like: "If you don't understand my music, you are either too stupid or dead. And I have no time for both types of people" date from this time. Later, however, he clearly distanced himself from statements of this kind and self-critically attributed them to a “God complex”, which he was suffering from at the time.

After the completion of Infinity Townsend was at a "low point". At the same time, however, drug treatment began to show initial success. In this state the album Physicist was created , which, according to Townsend, reflects both the deep depression and the looming hope for the future.

Terria to Devlab (2001-2004)

The Terria , completed in 2001, was his "first really grown-up record," according to Townsend. Since he had recovered significantly in the meantime, the work on the recording was much easier than before.

In 2003 the album Strapping Young Lad was released . The title was chosen because it was the first time it was a joint product of the band after Townsend was previously the sole songwriter. In contrast to City , which was more about coping with one's own anger, it was - shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 - characterized by fear of war. Compared to the previous albums, it therefore contains less humorous elements.

At the same time as Strapping Young Lad , Townsend worked with a group of young musicians called the Devin Townsend Band on the album Accelerated Evolution , which was to represent Townsend's version of "pop music". According to Townsend, it speaks “exclusively of love and spirituality”. A bonus CD for Accelerated Evolution was also released with the project EKO , which was composed and recorded in just three days, Townsend's first production of purely electronic music. The end of 2004 was followed by the Ambient - electronic album DevLab : a dark sound collage, but not get into the regular trading session.

Alien to The Hummer (2005-2006)

In early 2005, Strapping Young Lad album Alien was released , for which Townsend temporarily discontinued medication for the treatment of his bipolar disorder because he wanted to get to know his personal limits. The song Shitstorm in particular deals with this topic. Musically, Gene Hoglan had a strong influence on the album.

Again in stark contrast to Alien , the album Synchestra was released in early 2006 , for which the Devin Townsend Band played again. In this Townsend expressed the need to publish purely “positive” music for the first time. After Townsend said it had taken twelve years to process the time with Steve Vai, the latter contributed a guest solo to the song Triumph .

In the summer of 2006, The New Black, the fifth Strapping Young Lad album, was released, fulfilling the 1995 contract with Century Media. With performances at major concert events such as Ozzfest , Rock am Ring and the Download Festival reached Strapping Young Lad the height of their popularity.

In October 2006, Townsend had a son. Shortly afterwards he finished the ambient album The Hummer , which was intended as "music to fall asleep" with its calm, low-bass passages that stimulated the room to "hum". With its release, Townsend announced that the album The Hummer would be "the last of an era".

Farewell to the Stage (2007)

In the spring of 2007, Townsend declared that he wanted to limit himself to his production activities and the publication of his own solo projects for the time being. The promotions that go along with “conventional” publications, such as trips, concert tours and interviews, would have “burned him out”.

With the self- deprecating Ziltoid the Omniscient album, which he recorded entirely by himself without any other musicians , Townsend proved that this withdrawal did not mean that he would “stop” .

Liberation and a new beginning (2006-2008)

After being “cloudy” for twelve years, Townsend had given up on both cannabis and alcohol after the completion of Synchestra and the end of Strapping Young Lad because these would have made him “weak and vulnerable”. As early as 2000 he regretted having to rely on aids to be “at peace with himself”, but still felt that they were necessary. However, six years later he was feeling "depressed and unhealthy" and wanted to change his life by ending a multitude of "addictions" that "controlled" him.

According to Townsend, the Ziltoid album metaphorically addresses the topic of drugs in many ways and is "neither as cheerful nor as funny as it appears". With the Ziltoid album, he began to personally come to terms with these and other addictions, addictions and "bad habits". He even stopped drinking the coffee he loved, as this was also one of the things that made him dependent and "punished" him for it if he decided not to use it.

Although it was easier for him to learn new things after getting out of these addictions, he still needed two years after Ziltoid to be able to create his own music again. During this time he was mainly active as a producer, but only felt ready to perform as a musician again in September 2008.

Devin Townsend Project (since 2008)

Townsend claims to have had to relearn how to create music, as it works in a significantly different way without drugs. The result of this multi-year process, which he describes as "very difficult", is the Devin Townsend Project . Townsend has announced a series of four contiguous albums under this name, all of which were originally due to be released in 2009.

The first of these albums is called Ki and was released in Germany on May 22, 2009. Since, according to Townsend, it addresses control, it sounds much more reserved than Townsend's previous albums. According to Townsend, an essential part of the concept is that in some places tension is built up musically, but not resolved. It is intentionally designed in such a way that it does not meet many expectations based on previous albums. The concept therefore also includes the fact that the guest musicians Jean Savoie (bass) and Duris Maxwell (drums) , who can be heard on Ki , have not yet played any music in the metal sector. In terms of content, among other things, dependencies are discussed again, for example the song Trainfire is about getting away from the consumption of pornography .

Townsend described the second album in the series, Addicted , as "danceable heavy pop." It is aimed at those listeners who prefer music without a message. According to Townsend, it should musically pick up on the patterns of commercially successful bands like Nickelback , but at the same time critically deal with such patterns in the lyrics. Ryan van Poederooyen ( Devin Townsend Band ) is again on the drums .

The third part is the album Deconstruction , which should especially appeal to fans of Strapping Young Lad . Here chaotic and extreme metal serves both as a stylistic device and as an object of reflection, similar to "Heavy Pop" in the second album. At the same time, the fourth part of the series, Ghost appeared . In contrast to Deconstruction , Ghost should be his "gentlest" album to date, according to Townsend. Townsend is supported by guest musicians on both albums, for example on Deconstruction by drummer Dirk Verbeuren ( Soilwork , Scarve , Aborted ) and on Ghost by flautist and eight-time Emmy winner Kat Epple. The two stylistically very different albums were released on the same day and were also released as a set under the name Calm And The Storm .

Townsend returned to the stage in 2010 with the Devin Townsend Project . Among other things, he performed all four albums of the Devin Townsend Project on four consecutive days in London in 2011 . The recording of these concerts was published in June 2012 under the title By A Thread .

After completing Ghost and Deconstruction , Townsend began preparing for more studio albums, which will also be released as the Devin Townsend Project . The next album, Epicloud , was released in September 2012. and comprises two CDs with 12 tracks each. Addicted guest singer Anneke van Giersbergen played again . Townsend compared Epicloud to the more melodic parts of his Ocean Machine , Accelerated Evolution and Addicted albums .

Under the name The Bizarre World of Devin Townsend presents The Retinal Circus , another lavish live event took place in London on October 27, 2012 and was released as a live album.

In May 2014, Townsend released the album Casualties of Cool (with the Ki guest singer Che Dorval), which was originally announced as the sixth and last Devin Townsend Project album, but then operated under its own project title of the same name.

As a continuation of the first Ziltoid album, Townsend has been working on the album "Z²" since 2009, which was released in October 2014, accompanied by a second CD entitled "Sky Blue" as the sixth Devin Townsend Project album.

useful information

• Townsend believed he had bipolar disorder for many years. However, after he stopped using cannabis, the symptoms receded, so his doctors assume a misdiagnosis.
• Townsend is synaesthetic and therefore perceives music, letters, numbers and feelings (like anger and happiness) as colors.
• Townsend's body has been producing too much adrenaline since childhood; at times he had to take medication against it.
• Townsend names Björk and Perry Farrell ( Jane's Addiction ) as the greatest influences on his singing .
• To grab attention, Townsend wrapped the Noisescapes demos that led to his engagement with Steve Vai in his old underwear.
• A famous photo of Townsend with his bare bottom and a phone handset stuck to it was taken after an appearance with Steve Vai on the Tonight Show in Jay Leno's Green Room .
• During his vai time, Devin "dropped his pants at a fancy Hollywood party and farted on the buffet."
• Townsend got at the beginning of his career the offer of Judas Priest to succeed singer Rob Halford , which he refused.
• By his own admission, he was jealous of Jason Newsted and would have preferred to sing himself during the IR8 sessions.
• Jason Newsted initially kept IR8 a secret from his Metallica band mates. When work began on their 1996 album Load , the IR8 recordings were being played on a radio station and happened to be heard by James Hetfield . This was "damn pissed" about it; According to Lars Ulrich , working with Newsted was "pretty ugly" for a while.
• The album Physicist was originally planned again under the name Fizzicist as a cooperation with Jason Newsted, but the other Metallica members prevented him from pursuing his own side projects. Townsend finished the album with the musicians from Strapping Young Lad under his own name.
• Townsend learned to play all important instruments (except drums) as well as the technical skills of producing in order not to be dependent on other people and have to wait for them.
• In the song The Death of Music , Townsend processed his disillusioning experiences with the music industry immediately after the recordings of the Steve Vai album.
• The music video for the song Life was cut by a porn film company for cost reasons.
• The city of the album of the same name means the city of Los Angeles , where Townsend lived for some time.
• In 1998, in Japan, Townsend released a rapidly produced instructional video called Great Average Guitar , which Townsend describes as "total junk".
• Strapping Young Lad was the only western band to play during the opening ceremony of the 2002 World Cup in South Korea ; that has been seen by 20 million Koreans on television.
• The first working title for the Ziltoid project was The Mighty Masturbator
• Townsend made a hand puppet from Ziltoid the Omniscient . His appearance should be a mixture of a Skeks (character from Townsend's favorite movie The Dark Crystal ), Grobi from Sesame Street and himself.
• The music video for Zen (from the album Alien ) appears in a prominent place in the film Shoot 'Em Up : A crying baby calms down when the main character of the film switches to this video on the television program.
• The fictional character Pickles the Drummer from the animated series Metalocalypse was very similar in appearance to Townsend in an early draft. At the initiative of the management of Strapping Young Lad , the appearance of the figure was changed so that there was no longer any risk of confusion.
• Ki drummer Duris Maxwell jammed with Jimi Hendrix in 1968 and was asked by Jimi Hendrix if he wanted to join his band. Since he was already otherwise contractually bound, he had to decline the offer and never played with Hendrix again.
• The fact that Townsend is currently based on the band Nickelback with Addicted is because they come from the same town as himself.

Quotes

• “I am always referred to as the 'wacky professor', the 'mad scientist' and the 'psycho-devin'. This is total bullshit because I'm not crazy at all. I am the most sensible person I know. "
• “The genius who succeeds is a genius. The genius that fails is insane. So if I succeed I will be considered smart and if I fail I will be considered crazy. I guess I'm neither. I work hard and I am connected to the muse that allows me to create music. The rest is just luck. "
• “In my opinion, you should make music because you feel it, not because you think it's right to make it. I used to hate country - until the day someone explained its origin and meaning to me. Suddenly I found this style cool because it is authentic and comes from the heart. "
• “There are no concessions, and if I think I don't want to go on tour, I'll just stay home. I make music just for myself. I am an egoist. If there are people out there who like my music, then I'm happy. But I don't make my music for others. I don't belong to anyone, just me. "
• “You're not a wimp just because you show feelings. You are quite simply sensitive, and that is completely okay. "
• "Devin? This is the guy who always wanted to be terribly important, but regularly made a fool of himself on the way there. "

Discography

Solo albums

• 1996: Cooked on Phonics (as Punky Breasters )
• 1997: Ocean Machine: Biomech
• 1998: Infinity
• 2000: Physicist
• 2001: Terria
• 2003: Accelerated Evolution (as The Devin Townsend Band )
• 2004: Devlab
• 2006: Synchestra (as The Devin Townsend Band )
• 2006: The Hummer
• 2007: Ziltoid the Omniscient
• 2009: Ki (as Devin Townsend Project )
• 2009: Addicted (as Devin Townsend Project )
• 2011: Deconstruction (as Devin Townsend Project )
• 2011: Ghost (as Devin Townsend Project )
• 2012: Epicloud (as Devin Townsend Project )
• 2014: Casualties of Cool (as Casualties of Cool )
• 2014: Z² (double album: Sky Blue as Devin Townsend Project and Dark Matters as Devin Townsend )
• 2016: Transcendence (as Devin Townsend Project )
• 2019: Empath

Other solo releases

• 1998: Christeen + 4 demos (EP)
• 1999: Official Bootleg (CD and VHS video)
• 2000: Ass-Sordid Demos (1990-1996)
• 2004: Ass-Sordid Demos 2 (1991-1992)
• 2011: Contain Us (6-CD / 2-DVD box set of the first four DTP albums and bonus material)
• 2012: By A Thread - Live In London 2011 (5-CD / 4-DVD box set)
• 2016: Original Album Collection: Discovering Devin Townsend

With Strapping Young Lad

→ Main article : Strapping Young Lad

As a guest singer or guitarist (excerpt)

• 1993: Steve Vai - Sex And Religion (vocals)
• 1994: Front Line Assembly - Millennium (guitar)
• 1995: Front Line Assembly - Hard Wired (guitar)
• 1996: Working Man - A Rush Tribute (vocals)
• 1996: James Murphy - Convergence (vocals)
• 1998: The Wildhearts - Anarchic Airwaves (guitar)
• 2002: Soilwork - Natural Born Chaos (vocals)
• 2004: Ayreon - The Human Equation (vocals)
• 2006: GWAR - Beyond Hell (vocals)
• 2011: Bent Sea - Noistalgia (bass)

As a producer (extract)

• 1996: Stuck Mojo - Pigwalk
• 1997: Zimmer Hole - Bound by Fire
• 2001: Stuck Mojo - Violate This
• 2002: Zimmer Hole - Legion of Flames
• 2002: Soilwork - Natural Born Chaos
• 2003: Lamb of God - As the Palaces Burn
• 2004: Misery Signals - Of Malice and the Magnum Heart
• 2006: GWAR - Beyond Hell
• 2007: Darkest Hour - Deliver Us
• 2007: Savannah - The Road to ...
• 2007: Soilwork - Sworn to a Great Divide
• 2008: Zimmer's Hole - When You Were Shouting at the Devil… We Were in League with Satan
• 2008: Misery Signals - Controller
• 2008: Bleeding Through - Declaration
• 2008: Becoming the Archetype - Dichotomy
• 2009: Sights & Sounds - Monolith
• 2011: Bent Sea - Noistalgia

Web links

Commons : Devin Townsend  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website

swell

1. ↑ Chart sources: Germany - Austria - Switzerland - UK - USA
2. ↑ [1] Metal.de. Review of the album Strapping Young Lad from March 2nd, 2003
3. ^ Rensen, Michael: Review of the album Physicist . In: Rock Hard. Issue no. 162
4. ↑ [2] neckbreaker.de started on May 23, 2009
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Mike SOS: Interviews. Strapping Young Lad. Skratchmagazine.com, archived from the original on January 7, 2009 ; accessed on August 24, 2014 . 
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Rensen, Michael: Singing gorillas jet through space. In: Rock Hard. Issue no. 163
7. ↑ ^{a b} Archive link ( Memento of the original from July 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. The Dreaded Press - Rock and metal music webzine. Interview with Devin Townsend on April 11, 2009  
8. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Rensen, Michael: Up close and personal with the new metal guru. Interview with Devin Townsend. In: Rock Hard. Issue no. 174
9. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Schiffbauer, Conny: Schwatzkasten. In: Rock Hard. Issue no. 177
10. ↑ ^{a b c d e} [3] Toazted.nl: Video interview with Devin Townsend from April 7, 2009
11. ^ [4] Biography Devin Townsend on laut.de
12. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Philippe Lageat: DEVIN TOWNSEND interviews. hevydevy.com, archived from the original on April 26, 2009 ; accessed on August 24, 2014 . 
13. ↑ ^{a b} Hervé SK GEWGAW: DEVIN TOWNSEND interviews. hevydevy.com, archived from the original on April 23, 2009 ; accessed on August 24, 2014 . 
14. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Borrink, Mike: Totally stupid. Interview with Devin Townsend. In: Rock Hard No. 226
15. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Alex S. Johnson: DEVIN TOWNSEND interviews. hevydevy.com, archived from the original on January 6, 2009 ; accessed on August 24, 2014 . 
16. ↑ ^{a b c} Michael Schübeler: DEVIN TOWNSEND interviews. hevydevy.com, archived from the original on January 6, 2009 ; accessed on August 24, 2014 . 
17. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Rensen, Michael: Envious of Jason Newsted. Interview with Devin Townsend. In: Rock Hard. Issue no. 192
18. ↑ ^{a b} Archived copy ( memento of the original from April 8, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. FourteenG.net. Interview with Devin Townsend from Karma E. Omowale, December 4, 2005 
19. ^ ^{A b c d} Albrecht, Frank: Knallharte big city symphonies. In: Rock Hard. Issue no. 118
20. ↑ Mühlmann, Wolf-Rüdiger: The calm before the storm. Interview with Devin Townsend. In: Rock Hard No. 131
21. ↑ http://www.farbyondmetal.com/index.php?page_id=1120 ( Memento from May 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Ingham, Chris: Metal Hammer Interviews Devin. In: Metal Hammer (1998)
22. ↑ ^{a b c} DEVIN TOWNSEND Biography. Archived from the original on April 18, 2009 ; accessed on August 24, 2014 . 
23. ↑ ^{a b} Tommy Udo: DEVIN TOWNSEND interviews. hevydevy.com, archived from the original on February 18, 2009 ; accessed on August 24, 2014 . 
24. ↑ ^{a b c d} Rensen, Michael: Beyond good and bad. Interview with Devin Townsend. In: Rock Hard No. 139
25. ↑ Rensen, Michael: Sound picnic in the green. Interview with Devin Townsend. In: Rock Hard. Issue no. 173
26. ↑ ^{a b} Lageat, Philippe: Ascension before 20 million Koreans. Interview with Devin Townsend. In: Rock Hard No. 191
27. ↑ Mark Curdo / bingeebonga: DEVIN TOWNSEND interviews. hevydevy.com, archived from the original on January 6, 2009 ; accessed on August 24, 2014 .  Curdo, Mark: An Interview with Devin Townsend @ 6th Annual New England Metal Hardcore Festival, Worcester, Massachusetts May 17, 2003
28. ↑ ^{a b} [5] Fury & Passion In Extremis. CoC chats to Devin Townsend by: Jackie Smit. March 10, 2005.
29. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Devin Townsend on November 29, 2006 on his Internet forum. 
30. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from January 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Devin Townsend on May 11, 2007 on his Internet forum.  
31. ↑ ^{a b} Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Devin Townsend on June 3, 2008 on his Internet forum 
32. ↑ ^{a b c} Archive link ( Memento of the original from March 23, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Blabbermouth.net. DEVIN TOWNSEND To Return This Summer With 'Ki' - March 20, 2009  
33. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Devin Townsend on March 5th, 2009 on his Internet forum 
34. ↑ ^{a b c} Archived copy ( memento of the original from January 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Devin Townsend on March 11th, 2009 on his Internet forum. 
35. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Devin Townsend on December 11th, 2008 on his Internet forum. 
36. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Devin Townsend on September 9th, 2008 on his Internet forum 
37. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Devin Townsend on April 14th, 2009 on his Internet forum 
38. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 7, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Devin Towsend on March 3rd, 2009 in his internet forum 
39. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Blabbermouth.net. DEVIN TOWNSEND Issues 'Ghost', 'Deconstruction' Video Update - September 25, 2010  
40. ↑ [6]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Blabbermouth, News of April 17, 2012  
41. ↑ [7] Metal Injection, News from June 12, 2012
42. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Gun Shy Assassin, News dated Nov. 17, 2011  
43. ^ [8] Heavy Blog Is Heavy, News from February 6, 2012
44. ↑ Dvntownsend 19 Sep 11. Archived from the original on August 1, 2012 ; Retrieved August 1, 2012 . 
45. ↑ Mühlmann, Wolf-Rüdiger: "I destroy myself". In: Rock Hard. Issue no. 216
46. ↑ Steve C: DEVIN TOWNSEND. foundrymusic.com, archived from the original on August 5, 2007 ; accessed on August 24, 2014 . 
47. ^ [9] Fricke, David: Cover Story: Pretty Hate Machine. In: Rolling Stone, June 27, 1996
48. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from December 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Devin Townsend on November 27, 2006 in his forum. 
49. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from December 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Devin Townsend on January 25, 2007 on his Internet forum 
50. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Tracy Turner-Townsend on December 14, 2005 on Devin Townsend's Internet forum 
51. ↑ [10] Douglas, Patrick: “Metalocalypse” Brendon and Tommy. The Culture Shock. September 21, 2006
52. ^ Sternberg, Craig: Off-Beat. A strapping older lad. Interview with Duris Maxwell. In SickDrummer Magazine No. 6/2009. P. 65
53. ↑ [11] Metal.de. Interview with Devin Townsend from November 1, 2006.
54. ↑ Mühlmann, Wolf-Rüdiger: You Suck! Interview with Devin Townsend. In: Rock Hard. Issue no. 231
55. ↑ Self-description on Townsend's homepage http://www.hevydevy.com/ , quoted. n. Rensen, Michael: Sound picnic in the countryside. Interview with Devin Townsend. In: Rock Hard. Issue no. 173