Dan Marsicano: Can you go into detail about the lyrical concept behind Ki?
Devin Townsend: This whole four record progress that I’m currently involved in is called the Devin Townsend Project and Ki is the first record of this project. It’s been a few years since I presented something and I think a lot of folks are used to me being a heavy and chaotic kind of musician entity. Over the past three years, I quit doing drugs, drinking; quit everything that was slowly down that creative process. I also found that perhaps there are certain musical elements of my musical personality that I haven’t been representing and it in fact kind of doing a disservice to my artistic temperament.
With these four records, I wanted to present a lot of different sides to me. Ki being the first one, which is quiet, but it's loud; it has a kind of tense energy. The second one is a very heavy and intense record with a lot of melody. The third record is absolutely crazy, a s&%t storm of an album. The fourth record is a really beautiful acoustic, kind of new-age record.
With Ki, the whole idea was to start the story with a subtle introduction. One thing I’m trying to definitely change is the fact there is a whole gaggle of folks that are interested in only that type of chaotic music that I’ve done. What I’m trying to do with Ki is to tell them, “Ok, hold your horses. The third record will be there for you.”
The four records are about a theme. Ki is the intro to the theme, which is based on personal change that happened to me over the past few years, quitting drugs and drinking, having a kid, moving, and people in my family dying. Plus, I’m speeding towards 40, so there’s an element to that kind of change in there as well.
Going into the studio, what were you trying to get out of yourself not only musically, but vocally?
A kind of sense of restraint. I wrote a lot of this stuff when my sister had babies and my wife and I had a baby. I thought I had to write a lot of this stuff quietly, so I couldn’t wake them up. I didn’t have a studio at the time, so a lot of it is angry and bitter music that is quiet (laughs).
Where I gone from there on the second and third album is I managed to get a studio, so we got a lot louder. The intro just needs to be a dark and uncomfortable, yet comfortable, album. In the studio, I wanted a good, clean guitar tone and I wanted my voice to convey the emotions I felt when I was writing it.
You said earlier that this was the first of four records. Is there any significance to the number four?
It would have been five if there was more material; it would have been three if there was less. It was all written at the same time and I seemed to have enough music for four records. There’s nothing to it beyond that.
Do you see Ki as its own separate entity, in addition to part of a collective whole?
I think that is probably the case with all of them, but honestly man, the thing that I want to make clear is that there is no message, no overt theme, no preaching of anything, or me making a profound statement. I write music and over the past three years, I wrote four albums worth and if I can get these four records out of my head, it’ll make room in my head for the next four.
You brought in a whole bunch of musicians, which you will revolve for each album. Which musicians did you pick for Ki and why?
The drummer’s name is Duris, bass player’s name is Jean, and keyboardist’s name is Dave. I picked them primarily because it wasn’t the style they were familiar with. The drummer is in his mid 60s and never played heavy music before, but he was a pretty angry cat. I recognized that and thought it would be an interesting depth to the record, to have people forcing themselves to do things out of their comfort zone, which included myself as well.
Looking back at Ki, what tracks do you feel really proud of?
I like the songs “Ki,” “Gato,” and “Terminal.” I like the whole record, but those are three standouts for me.
You brought in a female vocalist for a few tracks, including “Gato” and “Heaven Sent.” Did that decision come when you were writing the album or when you started to record it?
I really love the sound of female vocalists on heavy music. I’m not talking about the typical heavy metal female vocalist, who sounds like a guy. I want female vocalists to be awesome female voices on heavy music. I like the jump in position between super, testosterone-filled male element of it and the really soft, feminine thing on top of it. I think for that, you require female voices that are really specific.
On the next record, Addicted, the female vocals are done by a girl named Anneke (van Giersbergen). She played for The Gathering years ago, so she’s coming over to Vancouver. She has a strong and clear female voice, and for me, I love it. I love it when female vocals are on top of incredibly heavy music; that sounds really cool. For Ki, I met Ché Dorval through Dave, our keyboardist. She has a good energy and is a really smart person with a really good voice. If I could sing like that, I would, but I can’t. I can pretty much pull off almost any male voice, expect for baritone kind of sound, but female vocals are out of my league (laughs)
