In a report published by Blabbermouth, Devin Townsend says he will return to performing Strapping Young Lad material live, alongside his other career-spanning songs in support of Empath (InsideOut Music). Read excerpts from the Everblack podcast, where Devin is promoting his upcoming solo “An Evening with…” acoustic tour of Australia.
In a brand new interview with Australia’s “Everblack” podcast, Townsend spoke about his upcoming touring activities in support of his recently released “Empath” album. He said (hear audio below): “I’m doing a tour in November that’s gonna be a very selfish tour for me — a ton of people onstage, playing a bunch of stuff that I’ve wanted to play for years, a lot of improv, a lot of really interesting things. But starting next year, I’m gonna be touring everything, and that includes the STRAPPING stuff. I’m gonna be doing what equates to… like, what’s a ‘best of’ what I’ve done over the past few years. Let’s make this live venture for me the best it can possibly be and learn from your past and come back out.”
Elaborating on his decision to perform STRAPPING material again, Devin said: “I think there’s a lot of musicians that fall away from metal. But I kind of fell back in love with it recently. But in no way does that mean that it’s taking over. It’s a big part of what I do and it’s a big part of who I am, and I think I’ve denied that for a certain amount of time. But it’s everything, man. It’s like ‘Empath’ was for me — the metal part of it is just as big a part of my trip as the mellow part of it. It’s not one over the other; it’s just who I am.
“I don’t wanna get rid of [the metal side of my music],” he added. “I love it. It has to play ball with the other stuff, and that stuff has to play ball with the other stuff. It’s healthy for me to recognize that it’s a part of my nature as opposed to denying it.”