Metal guitarist, songwriter and producer Devin Townsend has opened up about why he’s returned to the stage just 18 months after he said he would take an “indefinite” break from touring.
Talking to the Sixty Scales And The Truth podcast, the ex-Strapping Young Lad founder was blunt about the reasons for the sudden about turn: “Financial armageddon.”
It turns out that touring The Moth, his ambitious rock opera, blew a huge hole in his finances. “Yeah, we lost a ton of money off of The Moth show, for a number of reasons, which we're still trying to remedy, but it's been over a year. But the company I did a lot of the work for went bankrupt, and so we lost what our projected revenue was for that year. So I just found myself in a situation where the options for me to do other things for money just seemed limited.”
It has been a trying time for the Canadian guitarist in more ways than one. "My dog passed away. I split up with a partner of 36 years. I mean, it's like all these things have been fucking devastating. And you're up on stage. So I think that the one thing that I've recognised through this is it's, like, well, I have to do this, just on a practical level. But on another level, it's funny how these things force you into a position where you have to contend with yourself."
So Townsend has set out on a solo tour of Europe entitled Metamorphosis this autumn. “It really seems to be because I think that just as a result of having to do this, I'm different. It's just different. And I found that by putting myself into this, the fringe benefit of it is it seems to carry over to the audience to a certain degree.”
He elaborated: “There's a certain amount of - I don't know if it's vulnerability or just the raw nature of where I find myself as an entity right now.
"But you see a tangible reaction from the audience where it seems to be, like… I don't know if it's gratitude or if it's just, like, 'Okay, well, at least he's not full of shit,' or whatever it is.
"And again, it's, like, I need a job, and if I'm gonna have a job, I want it to help rather than hinder. And it seems to do that, so I'm grateful."
