Devin Townsend Project

**Devin Garret Townsend** (born May 5, 1972) is a Canadian musician, songwriter and record producer. He was the founder, songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist. In 2007, he disbanded both Strapping Young Lad and The Devin Townsend Band, taking a break from touring to spend more time with his family. After a two-year hiatus, he began recording again, and soon announced the formation of the **Devin Townsend Project**. The project began with a series of four albums, released from 2009 to 2011, each written in a different style, and Townsend continues to record and tour under the new moniker.

## Biography

### Creation of the Devin Townsend Project (2008–2018)

After removing himself from the music industry, Townsend cut his trademark hair off and gave up drinking and smoking. Townsend found it "disconcerting" that he had difficulty writing music without drugs, and that he had trouble identifying his purpose as a musician. He spent a year producing albums in absence of writing, but found it unrewarding and decided to "pick up the guitar and just write". This began a period of "self discovery" where he learned "how to create without drugs".

Over two years, Townsend wrote over 60 songs, and found that they fit into "four distinct styles". In March 2009, Townsend announced his plans for a four-album series called **Devin Townsend Project**, with the goal of clarifying his musical identity and being "accountable" for the persona he projects to the public. The project's concept includes a different "theme" and a different group of musicians on each album.

### Ki through to Ghost (2009-2011)

*Ki*, the first album of the Devin Townsend Project tetralogy was written to "set the stage" for the subsequent albums. Townsend channeled his new-found control and sobriety into *Ki*, a "tense, quiet" album, which contrasts with much of the music he had been known for. Additional female vocals were provided by Ché Aimee Dorval (Casualties of Cool). *Ki* was released in May 2009.

The second entry, a "commercial, yet heavy" album called *Addicted*, was released in November 2009 and features lead vocals from Townsend and Dutch singer Anneke van Giersbergen. Brian "Beav" Waddell was recruited from the Devin Townsend Band to play bass.

Townsend returned to the stage in January 2010, touring North America with headliner Between the Buried and Me as well as Cynic and Scale the Summit. This was followed by a headlining tour in Australia and a series of high-profile shows in Europe (for example co-headlining the Brutal Assault festival in Czech Republic). He headlined a North American tour with UK label mates TesseracT supporting, which began in October 2010, and toured in Europe with support from Aeon Zen and Anneke van Giersbergen.

The third and fourth albums in the Devin Townsend Project series, *Deconstruction* and *Ghost*, were released simultaneously on June 21, 2011. In December 2011 all four Devin Townsend Project albums with additional material were released as the *Contain Us* box set. Townsend performed all four of Devin Townsend Project albums in London and recorded them for a DVD box set called *By a Thread: Live in London 2011* that was released on June 18, 2012. The first three shows were held at the University of London Union, November 10–12, 2011. *Ki*, *Addicted*, and *Deconstruction* were each performed on one night, respectively. The show for *Ghost* was held at the Union Chapel, Islington on November 13, 2011. These four shows were each entitled "An Evening with the Devin Townsend Project".

### Epicloud (2012)

Despite the Devin Townsend Project being originally a four-album series, Townsend decided to continue working under the moniker and released the fifth album, *Epicloud* on September 18, 2012. Again featuring Anneke van Giersbergen on vocals, *Epicloud* appeared on several European charts, peaking at number 8 in Finland. On October 27, 2012, Townsend performed a one-off show covering his musical career called *The Retinal Circus* at 6 in London. The 3-hour performance was recorded in high definition and released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 30, 2013. Also in 2012, Townsend played bass on the debut Bent Sea album *Noistalgia*. He also produced the record.

Another project Townsend has mentioned several times between 2009 and 2012 is *Obviouser*, an album featuring "creepy, bass driven apocalyptic music" created with an "Ampeg rig" and an "Icelandic choir". Working with many projects simultaneously at that time, Townsend stated in 2012 the *Obviouser* project is vying for pole position until "he wakes up and says 'he wants to do it'".

### Ziltoid 2 (2014)

From 2009, Townsend worked on a long-running album project called *Z2*, a sequel to the album *Ziltoid the Omniscient* (2007). Originally in 2012, he teased he "may have just written the heaviest thing (he's) ever done" for the album, and stated there might a surprising lack of Ziltoid himself appearing on the album. However, in August 2013, a London-based radio station, TeamRock Radio, aired the first episode of *Ziltoid Radio*, a satirical radio show hosted solely by Ziltoid, this being one element of the *Z2* project. Townsend also discussed a "ZTV" or "Ziltoid TV" to precede the album. Townsend later stated he found the project hard to schedule and work with amidst touring and writing, stating "it takes a lot of effort" to keep the content and its tongue-in-cheek humour entertaining.

After writing ideas for over 70 songs, Townsend stated he would finally finish the whole project, followed by the announcement the album would be released on October 27, 2014. The recording process started in May 2014, and the final project includes the album, a Ziltoid TV program and a live show, with a "big graphic novel comic" and a documentary. The album itself is a double album, with disc one featuring Devin Townsend Project material and disc two containing the main album. According to Townsend, the album's theme is "Ziltoid against the world". The Devin Townsend Project disc is called *Sky Blue* and the Ziltoid disc is called *Dark Matters*.

After finishing the album, Townsend stated the project was "punishing" and an "absolute nightmare to complete" due to amount of material against tight schedules. He also described the hardship of the project by telling "if he was ever going to start drinking [again], the last months would have been it", but now "he's starting to get excited again". Later, "after the chaos of finishing it had subsided", Townsend stated he is really satisfied with the result.

Townsend recently discussed at least a year-long hiatus, beginning after the Z2 show taking place at the Royal Albert Hall on April 13, 2015. During the indefinitely long break Townsend intends to "recharge his batteries", "get some inspiration and experiences" and to "see what the next chapter holds" for him.

### *Transcendence* (2016)

In 2014, Townsend recorded a poppy-sounding song in Los Angeles with producer Brian Howes, but has decided against releasing. Townsend mentioned that he is against the project being contrived due to the current hard rock undertones in popular music. He described it as a "lukewarm heavy metal Devin song". On December 11, 2015, Townsend announced via Twitter that he was recording vocals for a song by Steve Vai.

In early 2016, Townsend completed the seventh DTP album, entitled *Transcendence* at Armoury Studios in Vancouver. The album was released on September 9. On March 17, 2017, Devin Townsend Project played Ocean Machine live in its entirety at Hammersmith Apollo. On October 30, 2017, Devin announced that he was working on four new albums.

## Discography

### KI (May 25, 2009)

***Ki*** is the eleventh studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, and the first album in the Devin Townsend Project series. The album was released on May 25, 2009, on Townsend's independent record label HevyDevy Records.

The album was written, produced, mixed, and co-engineered by Townsend, who also performed guitar and vocals. Townsend assembled a supporting group of Vancouver musicians including blues drummer Duris Maxwell, rock bassist Jean Savoie, keyboardist Dave Young, and guest vocalist Ché Aimee Dorval to play on the album. While some critics found the album uneven, *Ki* received generally positive reviews for its unexpected musical direction, along with its production, vocal dynamics, and mix of influences.

### Addicted (July 16, 2009)

***Addicted*** is the twelfth studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, and the second album in the Devin Townsend Project series. The album was released on November 17, 2009, on Townsend's independent record label HevyDevy Records.

*Addicted* is the second of seven albums in the Devin Townsend Project series, each featuring a different lineup and theme. *Addicted* was written and produced by Townsend. The album features vocals by Townsend along with Anneke van Giersbergen, former singer of Dutch band The Gathering. Brian Waddell and Ryan Van Poederooyen of the former Devin Townsend Band play bass and drums, respectively, while Mark Cimino plays guitar alongside Townsend. Recording for the album began May 6, 2009.The next album in the series is *Deconstruction*, which was released on June 20, 2011.

### Deconstruction (June 20, 2011)

***Deconstruction*** is the thirteenth studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, and the third album in the Devin Townsend Project series. The album was released on June 20, 2011, simultaneously with the fourth Devin Townsend Project album *Ghost*, on Townsend's independent record label HevyDevy Records. The album features two drummers, Dirk Verbeuren and Ryan Van Poederooyen, as well as a number of guest vocalists. The album's choral and orchestral parts were written and arranged by Townsend using Pro Tools software. The parts were later transcribed into conventional musical notation for the orchestra.

### Ghost (June 20, 2011)

***Ghost*** is the fourteenth studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, and the fourth album in the Devin Townsend Project series. It was released on June 20, 2011, simultaneously with the third Devin Townsend Project album *Deconstruction*. Townsend has stated that the album "is the mellowest (by far) and prettiest record I've done so far".

### Contain Us (December 8, 2011)

***Contain Us*** is an 8-disc box set released by Canadian musician Devin Townsend on December 9, 2011. It sums all the significant material Townsend has done during 2007–2011 under the Devin Townsend Project moniker. The idea of the box set was introduced by Townsend in 2009 when the first Devin Townsend Project album *Ki* was revealed.

### Epicloud (September 12, 2012)

***Epicloud*** is the fifteenth studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, and the fifth album in the Devin Townsend Project series. The album was released on September 18, 2012, in North America, and September 24, 2012, in Europe, through his independent record label HevyDevy Records and Inside Out Music.

### ***Z²*** (October 27, 2014)

***Z²*** (short for ***Ziltoid 2***; pronounced "**zed squared**" or alternatively "**zee two**") is a double album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend and his musical project Devin Townsend Project, released on October 27, 2014. It consists of two albums released together: the sixth album in the Devin Townsend Project series, the rock-oriented ***Sky Blue***, and ***Dark Matters***, a solo metal concept album acting as a sequel to Townsend's 2007 album *Ziltoid the Omniscient*. The main theme of *Dark Matters* is, according to Townsend, "Ziltoid against the world".

### Transcendence (September 9, 2016)

***Transcendence*** is the seventeenth studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend. It is the seventh and final album in the Devin Townsend Project series. It was released on September 9, 2016, via HevyDevy Records

## Equipment

After returning to public view in 2009, Townsend began endorsing Peavey, and later released a PXD Devin Townsend signature model, essentially a Flying V-style 7-string baritone guitar with an EMG 81-7 pickup and a 7-string EMG SA single coil pickup in the neck position. Peavey also made Townsend a number of custom 7-strings, including one with a single EMG 81-7 pickup that is used for playing most of the material on *Ziltoid the Omniscient*. Aside from his signature model, Townsend also utilizes two custom 6-string Predator models made by Peavey; one with a natural flame-top finish and the DTP logo on the 12th fret, and one in a black finish with a Floyd Rose vibrato unit (for Open C and Open B tuning, respectively).

In 2012, Townsend announced that he was using other guitars besides his Peavey models, including two Sadowsky Telecaster models and a number of Framus semi-hollow body guitars. In regard to this, Townsend stated on HeavyBlogIsHeavy.com:

> "The Peavey situation was intense and a real eye opener in terms of how things REALLY work in the business side of endorsements, and I can’t say I really enjoyed it, but we got the guitar out and everyone is nice to each other so all good... I really like that V. However, I decided to use other guitars for other stuff as well, a Sadowsky Tele set, a Framus hollowbody group of guitars, and the V’s. No one is entirely happy with that decision, but I find it difficult to not be straight up with folks about what I want to play and do and have typically pissed people off as a result... The bottom line though is I like what I like and it is important to the music to be accurate with tones and vibe. The guitars I actually play, I really like, regardless of brand."
>
>

Around 2005, Townsend began to utilize Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier and Stiletto amp heads, boosted with a Maxon OD808, running into the Mesa Boogie and Marshall cabinets. He would also run a 3rd signal into a 1990s Roland GP-100, which would be amplified by a Mesa Boogie tube power amp. He would still make use of the Peavey head for some solo recordings, such as *Synchestra*. He also used a TC Electronic G-Force in tandem with his Mesa Boogie rig. Townsend switched to a Fractal Audio AxeFx system in 2010, replacing his entire Mesa Boogie and Marshall rig. He has been through a number of outboard modules that were mainly used for echo/reverb effects, something that Townsend is known for as a part of his signature sound. Townsend also utilizes D'Addario strings (.010-.052 and .010-.060) and Planet Waves Custom Series cables.

As of 2014, he reintroduced the Dual Rectifier into his rig using a wet-dry-wet setup with the Dual Rectifier being the center dry sound and the AxeFx being the stereo effected sounds using the model of the Dual Rectifier as a basis. In 2015, for live shows, the Dual Rectifier was replaced with a Kemper Profiling Amplifier, and the Roland GP-100 was retired in favor of effects in the Fractal Axe-FX.

At NAMM 2016 Dev introduced a signature set of Fishman pickups called Transcendence after the upcoming DTP album and a signature Framus guitar that features an original body shapes, the Fishman pickups and the Evertune Bridge.

## Members Of Devin Townsend Project (2009-2018)

* Devin Townsend – vocals, guitars, keyboards (2009–2018)
* Dave Young – guitars, keyboards (2009–2018)
* Brian "Beav" Waddell – bass (2009–2018)
* Ryan Van Poederooyen – drums (2009–2018)
* Mike St-Jean – keyboards (2014–2018)
* Anneke van Giersbergen - additional vocals (2009-2017)