Dead Rhetoric: In a recent interview I read, you were talking about what you do well, as opposed to emulating other bands. With your eclectic album to album sound, where does your musical identity come from?
Townsend: I’m really good at being me. The me that I am is so transient, I just have to keep up with the way my likes and dislikes are evolving and try to be true to that. I think it’s easy to fall into the expectations of what people perceive you as. People think of me at some point in my career as being this crazy guy in Strapping, and other times I’m this comedian in a suit – whatever it is, it’s very easy to pay attention to what people’s perceptions of you are, as opposed to following it where it goes. The guy in a suit thing was me for a bunch of years. Really being able to be open to who the hell I am at this point, or at any point, is fundamental in being honest with that. I think it’s also, as I turn into a middle-aged musician now, it’s not like I’m a young kid anymore, I’m middle-aged. You feel yourself turning into your dad, or your grandpa, or whatever, and it’s terrifying. You want to be ‘that guy,’ you still want to be that vital musician, and this younger band is doing this or that and you decide to follow it. That’s a slippery slope as well, because eventually you end up being that old guy that’s trying to be young.
The people that have been so kindly supporting me for so many years will get bored of that, and I’m going to be bored of that. So things like Casualties, it’s an honest move for me because again, whether or not people like it or there’s an audience for it at all, there’s really this sense, at least for me when I listen to it, of authenticity. I was left to my own devices, and I was able to analyze my own desires, wants, likes, dislikes, and mental processes, and that’s what came up. There was no pressure, no expectations, no money – that’s what happened. When people hear it, I think what you are actually participating in is an authentic experience, and that’s as much a part of what I’m doing now as it was when I was doing Strapping, or Ziltoid, or Ocean Machine – it’s the same shit. It’s just a different aesthetic as you get older and you have to follow that.
Dead Rhetoric: Going along with that – the two big things, from what I’ve seen that feel most important in your music, is that when you write something there’s a certain honesty to it and a bit of truth, or at least your own version of the truth. Do you feel those elements are important?
Townsend: They are essential. Because other than that, there’s nothing about the song that holds my own interest, and without that interest, it becomes commercial music. It becomes paint by numbers, it’s just my own numbers. I know that if do this, and play these chords, and use this production, it will be similar to things that I’ve done in the past and I know there is enough of a market for that, so I can probably sustain myself. Eventually it dwindles away and you become the guy that releases the same thing over and over again. It’s less and less vital. That vitality comes from those two things that you suggested. That’s what allows the music to be an authentic soundtrack to someone’s world.
Dead Rhetoric: As you’ve gotten older, you have done more creative risks. Is it just that mentality of trying to stay true to yourself, or is it partially because you are more comfortable in being able to make that jump and take a risk?
Townsend: I think I’m probably more comfortable. The fact that I’ve been doing this for so long gives me a bit of leverage in terms of my fearlessness that comes from that. I’ve been showing up for so long that I’ve kind of got a seat in the corner so I can kind of get away with these things. It’s certainly not to be provocative. I remember when the music for Casualties was appearing – my thought wasn’t “Oh boy, I can’t wait to throw a curve ball into people’s listening experiences and give them some weird country music;” my first thought was like “Oh fuck, now I have to try and sell this shit.” Really, that’s what it came down to. I was just like, “Oh god, now I have to try and explain this.”
Why did I make this record? Really, the only explanation is that it’s what I felt like doing. But that doesn’t cut it. This morning I did an interview about Casualties and every question was “why.” Like, “You chose to make a creepy atmosphere on this record – why?” And so I started to answer, and if I was to answer honestly, I’d say “I don’t know, that’s what was resonating me at that point.” But I try to entertain it and articulate it. Then the next question was, “This new record is much more different than your other records – why?” By the end of it, I thought, I have no more answers for this. It’s certainly not to be provocative and I’m certainly not trying to make a point. Everything in my creative identity was pulling me in that direction, so it’s obvious to me that it’s the direction I needed to go. Otherwise it’s like a science experiment – I figure if I do this and this, people’s reactions will be thus, and that will allow me to perceive into the future. I wish I was smart enough to think that far enough into the future!
Dead Rhetoric: Your fanbase does tend to be pretty accepting of whatever you do. Does that help you out in terms of not having to worry as much when you take these risks, or no?
Townsend: It’s worrisome only because it requires me accepting the fact that they are loyal, not out of the goodness of their heart, but because they are hearing something authentic. It makes me responsible, in a very healthy way, to myself and to really be cognizant of why I am doing this thing that I’m doing. Not creatively-speaking, but if the reason that I am doing “X Project” is to try and secure myself financially or win some scene points, their sometimes decades-long participation really forces me to ask myself those questions. And those questions lead me to records like Casualties, or Ziltoid, or Infinity, or whatever it is.
When people hear it, whether or not they like how its packaged – the aesthetic it provides: country music, heavy metal, classical, at least they know they are getting something that’s from the heart. That’s really important because that’s what music is – it’s supposed to be that, in my opinion. Otherwise it’s that cheerleader song that is on the radio 24 hours a day. I hate that! Every time I hear it, it’s like, “Who would write that? Why?” But again, who am I to say? There are people that love that, and hate everything I do, and I’m not saying that it’s better or worse, but to answer the question about responsibility to the fanbase – it’s trying to not write “Cheerleader.”
Dead Rhetoric: Lastly, is there anything at this point that you feel that you need to go out and accomplish or are you just playing it by ear?
Townsend: The last real remaining thing is for me to find a group of peers, people who have been doing this for as long as I have, who have had similar experiences and a similar level of exposure, and put together something collaborative between us. I hate to use the word supergroup, because at our level, it’s not super but you know what I mean. People who have a name, coming together to do something independent of their day job, so to speak. In a project like that, I would love to play bass. That would be something that I haven’t done yet and that I feel that I could really contribute a lot to. It would be nice to be in a scenario where your conversations when you are not playing music have nothing to do with music. I think that would be really nice.