Napalm Flesh
Issue 216 / December 2006 More from this Issue
Download PDF
By Bryer Wharton
For the close of this year something slightly different comes for this month’s column. Coming to you slightly fresh or reeking of old gym socks is a collection of excerpts from interviews that have never seen the light of day. Some of the tapes with the recorded interviews have been collecting dust for over a year; some are mislabeled with the wrong date. Regardless of when the interview actually took place, the information from the interviewee is still as relevant as ever. Enjoy the portions of these conversations from within the vault. And if you still need a fix of CD reviews, plenty can be found on the SLUG website. Hailing from Vancouver, Strapping Young Lad has always been a favorite of mine. SYL is led by the extremely eccentric vocalist/guitarist Devin Townsend, who also leads numerous other solo projects, and is also an idol of mine, an artist that I constantly look to for creating music that goes above the regular standards. I had the chance to interview the man during the band’s tour with Fear Factory which I fortunately caught in lovely Las Vegas.
SLUG: So for the poor suckers that are going to this Fear Factory tour that have never seen or possibly even heard of you, what would you describe Strapping as?
Devin: Uncomfortable chaos with a big fat guy playing fast drums and a little skinny bald guy yelling at you and telling you to fuck off and everybody making snarly metal faces and a lot of hair. Strapping is not known as being the coolest metal band in the world or like being bros with everybody in the audience. I write the music because I feel it in my head and it is not necessarily because I like feeling that type of music.
SLUG: Yeah, I remember when I saw you up in Seattle; the first thing you said to the crowd was "We’re Strapping Young Lad and we hate every fucking one of you."
Devin: Yeah, like in New York the other night, we were on the stage and I’m like, "fuck you guys, you guys fucking suck," and they’re all like "rawr" and I’m like, "no, really we hate you, you fucking suck, I’m not lying or kidding," and they are like "rawr" and I’m like, "Great, not only do we hate you, but you’re going to buy our merchandise."
I also had the opportunity to talk to Nergal from Behemoth when they came to town a while back with Suffocation. Without his corpse paint and spikes, the man displays a totally different persona offstage.
For the close of this year something slightly different comes for this month’s column. Coming to you slightly fresh or reeking of old gym socks is a collection of excerpts from interviews that have never seen the light of day. Some of the tapes with the recorded interviews have been collecting dust for over a year; some are mislabeled with the wrong date. Regardless of when the interview actually took place, the information from the interviewee is still as relevant as ever. Enjoy the portions of these conversations from within the vault. And if you still need a fix of CD reviews, plenty can be found on the SLUG website. Hailing from Vancouver, Strapping Young Lad has always been a favorite of mine. SYL is led by the extremely eccentric vocalist/guitarist Devin Townsend, who also leads numerous other solo projects, and is also an idol of mine, an artist that I constantly look to for creating music that goes above the regular standards. I had the chance to interview the man during the band’s tour with Fear Factory which I fortunately caught in lovely Las Vegas.
SLUG: So for the poor suckers that are going to this Fear Factory tour that have never seen or possibly even heard of you, what would you describe Strapping as?
Devin: Uncomfortable chaos with a big fat guy playing fast drums and a little skinny bald guy yelling at you and telling you to fuck off and everybody making snarly metal faces and a lot of hair. Strapping is not known as being the coolest metal band in the world or like being bros with everybody in the audience. I write the music because I feel it in my head and it is not necessarily because I like feeling that type of music.
SLUG: Yeah, I remember when I saw you up in Seattle; the first thing you said to the crowd was "We’re Strapping Young Lad and we hate every fucking one of you."
Devin: Yeah, like in New York the other night, we were on the stage and I’m like, "fuck you guys, you guys fucking suck," and they’re all like "rawr" and I’m like, "no, really we hate you, you fucking suck, I’m not lying or kidding," and they are like "rawr" and I’m like, "Great, not only do we hate you, but you’re going to buy our merchandise."
I also had the opportunity to talk to Nergal from Behemoth when they came to town a while back with Suffocation. Without his corpse paint and spikes, the man displays a totally different persona offstage.
Page: [1] 2 Next >>
Facebook
Myspace
Twitter
YouTube
Vimeo
RSS
Be the first to comment!
Add a comment
Please keep your comments on the subject of the article.
We will delete your comment if it is racist, misogynistic, sexist, bigoted or just plain lame.
No HTML allowed!