Devin Townsend Admits He’s Not a Good Band Member
Being in a band is hard for many reasons. Dealing with a bunch of people for a long period of time is rough, and trying to share a collective vision with them is even worse. It’s a commitment, even if they’re your friends, and it can often lead to tension and in many cases breakups.
In this week’s episode of The MetalSucks Podcast, Devin Townsend acknowledged his difficulty in collaborating with others, and admitted that it’s one of his faults:
“Specifically for me, I’ve realized, speaking about taking the long route, I realized I’m just really not a great band member. The way that my creativity functions best is if I can kind of be the vision for it, and then sort of delegate that, and then having a rotating cast of people that incorporate that allow me to articulate each one of these ideas in the most accurate way.
“Being in a band, dude, it’s like being married, but there’s no sex, there’s no watching TV – maybe there’s watching TV, and I guess for some people there’s sex, but my point is it’s like you’re married to five people that you’re friends with, but it’s not the same as what it requires to hold a marriage or a relationship together.
“So, at a certain point, I just think to myself, ‘I just don’t want to do this.’ Maybe eventually I’ll find myself in an actual band with a bunch of people who are contributing members in the exact same capacity, and I don’t have the emotional investment to the person who had envisioned it that I’m trying to chase – maybe.
“I could see that being really nice in the future. I’ve learned the hard way now, after trying to have band after band after band, it’s, like, ‘Fuck that, man, I’m not good as a band member.’”
Listen to the full episode below, and catch Devin on his upcoming North American tour with Haken and The Contortionist:
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27-Feb Phoenix Concert Theatre – Toronto, ON [tickets]
28-Feb Corona Theatre – Montreal, QC [tickets]
29-Feb Warsaw – Brooklyn, NY [tickets]
01-Mar Paradise Rock Club – Boston, MA [tickets]
03-Mar Theatre of Living Arts – Philadelphia, PA [tickets]
05-Mar The Underground – Charlotte, NC [tickets]
06-Mar Center Stage – Atlanta, GA [tickets]
07-Mar The Plaza Live – Orlando, FL [tickets]
09-Mar Warehouse Live – Houston, TX [tickets]
10-Mar Granada Theater – Dallas, TX [tickets]
12-Mar Cannery Ballroom – Nashville, TN [tickets]
13-Mar The Crofoot Ballroom – Pontiac, MI [tickets]
14-Mar Metro – Chicago, IL [tickets]
15-Mar House of Blues – Cleveland, OH [tickets]
16-Mar Rams Head Live – Baltimore, MD [tickets]
19-Mar First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN [tickets]
20-Mar Granada Theater – Lawrence, KS [tickets]
21-Mar The Oriental Theater – Denver, CO [tickets]
23-Mar The Van Buren – Phoenix, AZ [tickets]
24-Mar The Mayan – Los Angeles, CA [tickets]
25-Mar The Regency Ballroom – San Francisco, CA [tickets]
