Interrogating Devin Townsend Part 2: The Return Of Ziltoid

Part one of this interrogation found Devin Townsend spilling his guts about 'Sky Blue', the 'nice' side of his new double album, 'Z²'. In the second half of our glimpse inside the progmeister's brain, we scoop information from his skull on the return of Ziltoid for 'Dark Matters'.

A sequel of sorts to 2007's 'Ziltoid The Omniscient', 'Dark Matters' sees our favourite extraterrestrial basking in the glow of celebrity. He is, in fact, not part of some barista's lucid coffee dream; he is very much real and descends to earth to be revered as a god. We're not going to give any more of the plot away, but it's safe to say that it’s not too far removed from something you might catch at the cinema.

“I stole from every sci-fi movie in the book to try and piece together that story,” Townsend laughed. “I rarely plan anything and a lot of the time that's where the problems arise. The original concept for 'Dark Matters' was just really obscure.

“It started with this weird kinda metaphysical metaphor thing, and when I tried to explain it to people they just just looked at me like I was wearing their sweater, just like: 'What the fuck are you talking about, man? It doesn't make any sense.' I started recognising that the concept of Ziltoid is really liberating for me because it allows me to have a place to put a type of music and artistic expression that, without a concept, seems really masturbatory in a way.

“Because of the nature of Ziltoid's character, you can illustrate it in any way you see fit musically. I just find it so freeing, specifically after several years of really intense work. Because it was so conceptually odd and left-field, I just started finding it had fallen flat in terms of a story-arc. So, honestly, I just looked at stuff like War Of The Worlds, Star Wars and Star Trek because I'm just shit at writing stories – that's not what I do.

“In order to try find something with a beginning, middle and end, the majority of it wasn't writing the music, it was the story. I mean, I sat there with paper in front of me and was like: 'Once upon a time...' Then just looked at it for a week, y'know? It was an intense experience. Dude, I listened to it in the car the other night and I think it's killer. It's shocking that it worked.”

It is killer and arguably the heaviest tome Townsend has produced since his Strapping Young Lad days. 'Dark Matters' takes elements of that aggression, the guitar nonsense from 'Deconstruction' and the coffee, farts and all out insanity of the previous Ziltoid record and mashes them together. The sequel has been on Townsend's mind for some time now, and after seven years, it's finally landed on earth.

“It's been a goal of mine, in some ways,” he said. “We did the crowdfunding thing recently and the reaction to it was so swift and overwhelming that it made me think about the nature of what I do. There's a big part of what I do that's incredibly selfish. I follow things in directions that I have no right to lead an audience, that was initially drawn in by heavy metal, into.

“Because there was extra money at the end of the crowdfund, I thought that maybe I could conclude this whole period of The Retinal Circus and The Devin Townsend Project with the Ziltoid story, which is just so over the top like a Hollywood movie. I wanted to make this big, shiny, Michael Bay-looking blockbuster style record. I've not really done this before: revisit something I know people like and be thrust into a scenario where I have to really think about what The Devin Townsend Project needs to be. Honestly, I didn't make a conscious decision – I just followed it where it leads, like my other projects. Once it started rearing its head, I was like 'Oh... shit!' in terms of logistics. Everything I do is about uncovering what I do next, and this is what I was supposed to do.”

We live in an age where bands can conjure an album on their computer inbetween daytime TV and coffee breaks, but recording ‘Sky Blue’ was a battle. To toil through the recording process of an album and then insert elements of that discomfort into the end result is something that Townsend doesn't wish to repeat and something he avoided on ‘Dark Matters’.

“It was a grim period,” he said. “That was reflected in 'Sky Blue'. A lot of those songs are about death, but when it came to Ziltoid, I didn't want to impose any massive narcissistic metaphor on the character. I wanted it to be fun. I want people to listen to it and have a good time, come to the show and have an awesome time.

“It'll be bigger than life, your kids can listen to it and it's so over the top musically. I was at a point in my career when I was frustrated and tired, and I didn't want to make a statement. The statement was made as a result of not wanting to make a statement. But anyway, onward!”

Before any music from the ' Z²' album was released, tickets for the album's full, live playback at the Royal Albert Hall sold out lickety split. Not bad for a bald 40-something and his hand-puppet.

“It's awesome,” he said. “I spend a great deal of energy trying to rationalise my creative decisions when they come from a place of non-thinking, so it's confusing for me when people ask why I do something and I'm just like: 'I fucking have no idea!' The Royal Albert thing...my conscious mind is just, like: ‘Holy cow!’ It's so intense and I'm honoured blah blah blah, but as soon as I go down that avenue I find myself second-guessing things, and that's when it goes awry for me.

“Unless I work off an impulsive part of my mind, I just over-think things and it turns into anxiety, right? If I stop and think about the Royal Albert thing it's so intense, but if I just view it as something that's awesome, a larger than life, heavy metal sci-fi rock show, then it's great. So I try not to over-think things, and that includes achievements like the Royal Albert Hall for me.”

It could be the definitive Devin Townsend show. That title is currently held by 'The Retinal Circus', a sprawling, near three hour event of epic proportions that covered the majority of his career, including Strapping Young Lad. There was also a giant inflatable willy.

“I think the only way to top Retinal is to try and not repeat it,” he said. “If you keep trying to better something you've already done, you'll end up repeating yourself. It's a liability at this point to try and get more and more and more, rather than just thinking: 'What's the nature of this Ziltoid thing? Does it need to be a musical, or can it be something much more effective?' Instead of doing another High School Musical, which is essentially what we did for 'Retinal'. It was great, but I think the nature of Ziltoid is different. It needs tonnes of really interesting visual, sonic and humorous elements that are less dependent on a story and more on the show.

“Also, I think it's a good opportunity because we do two shows that night. We play 'Dark Matters', then there's an intermission then maybe a by request show that has elements of the back catalogue that have never been touched, and we could present all that in a different way. I'm such a mono-tasker that I take one step of my work at a time. It's the same way that I eat food, like I'll eat the potatoes before I start the beans. We've had one meeting about the Royal Albert Hall so far, and we have a massive list of potential ideas. From here, it's just a matter of pricing it up and seeing if it's even possible. If 'The Retinal Circus' is anything to go by, then the team I'm with can pull of things that people assume to be impossible.”

Here’s a bet we’re happy to slap on the table: Devin Townsend is going to blow your mind at the Royal Albert Hall. Following this titanic effort, though, is a future clouded in doubt. Having previously stated in interviews that he'll be taking a year off following the Ziltoid show, Townsend was keen to explain exactly what he meant by 'a year off'.

“Here's the dubious quality of spending my entire life doing interviews,” he said. “Because I react to where I'm at, saying I'd take a year off was fatigue-based more than anything. It was in the final throes of this incredibly taxing Ziltoid project, and the reality is the genre I've chosen and the position I'm in career-wise...I can't take a year off.

“I've got people on salary and we don't make the type of money that would allow any of us to take a year off, so to refine that statement: I'm going to take a year off talking about records, for one. Maybe it'll be a significant amount of time before I'm ready to make music again, but I'll tour. The well is dry, and I need to recharge. Doesn't mean I can't tour and generate income for the people who rely on it – myself included. But the idea of making music right now...man, I'm out. I've made too much!

“But you know what, I'm proud of all of it, and 'Z²' makes me prouder than the others because I finished it. There was a point where I wasn't sure if it'd work, like the 'Sky Blue' thing wasn't gonna work. I don't want to put myself in that position again where I'm struggling.”

‘Z²' is complete. Its creator has survived – by the skin of his teeth, mind you – and is set to play the biggest headline date of his career. Devin Townsend is a force to be reckoned with; an intergalactic, fourth-dimensional overlord.

“This is what I also find, dude. The self-esteem element of this thing is so crazy, because you're trying to combat yourself and people are so supportive of it,” he said. “If anything allows me to continue with this stuff, it's the fact that I'm supported by people who are so kind. The only thing I'll throw into the universe here is that wherever I end up is wherever would be nice to end up, as opposed to a shitshow for the rest of my life. Wish me luck.”

Devin Townsend Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:

Sun March 29 2015 - BRISTOL O2 Academy Bristol
Mon March 30 2015 - GLASGOW O2 ABC
Tue March 31 2015 - MANCHESTER Academy
Mon April 13 2015 - LONDON Royal Albert Hall

Click here to compare & buy Devin Townsend Tickets at Stereoboard.com.

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