Matt Westcott talks to Canadian rocker Devin Townsend about his new album, Epicloud, ahead of his date at Newcastle’s Northumbria University on Tuesday

YOU’VE recorded 15 albums so far, how would you describe where you are with your career and what have you learned along the way?

ITHINK I’m at a point where creatively at least, I’m pretty free. The pitfalls of being a ‘pro’ musician in this day and age are different than I expected as a kid, and the one thing I really didn’t expect was to have been able to carve out a career for myself where I’m able to do whatever I feel.

I guess along the way I’ve learnt a bit of humility and some limitations based on being caught up in my own nonsense and consequently being burned by it. I’m happy to be able to put one foot in front of the other still, and maybe that will ultimately define my whole trip.

You have said your inhibitions held you back in the past because of what is expected from a rock musician. What made you shed those inhibitions on this record and what has the reception to it been like?

Well, typically I don’t sell many records, yet I seem to get a lot of attention as an artist. I do a ton of press, and my face has become much more visible than in the past. The end result of that is people on either side of the fence who really like what you do, or dislike everything about it. I used to be very concerned about those types of criticisms, but there comes a time when you find that ‘visibility’ equals being a poster boy for certain things beyond your control.

Ultimately, you can’t make everybody happy of course, and the more what I do gets scrutinised, the more I have to just let it all go. To hold on to some of the stuff that comes your way via negativity or whatnot just makes you second guess everything you do. When I say ‘I don’t care what people want from me’...it’s based more in riding the waves of it all, good and bad, rather than being unappreciative of the support I receive.

The reception to Epicloud has been really good though. Different from what I expected.

It’s unusual to find rock musicians who accentuate the positive. Does it take a conscious effort to write something more uplifting?

My glass is near empty most of the time. I’m a pessimist by design. I have anger and depression like most of us – if not more. I make positive stuff at this point in my life because it seems like the biggest middle-finger I can currently give to my fears.

I’m not trying to antagonise though, it’s more based on a reaction to the media. Everything insists on perpetual fear, and I’m pretty much sick of it. To make a conscious effort to make positive statements in the face of the negativity I usually feel allows me to grow, I think.”

How would you describe a live performance and is it an altogether more emotional experience than recording in a studio?

The studio is much more emotional in general because you’re ‘safe’. You can emote without an audience to judge it. Live, well I’m still working it out. I tend to diffuse a lot of what I do live with self-deprecating chat that comes pretty naturally. So it’s a good defence against that sort of thing right there. However, I find that there have been a few shows where it is emotionally overwhelming, and in those situations, you’re pretty naked. But you know, ultimately it’s six of one, half-a-dozen of the other I suppose.