ProgBeat: “DOWNLOAD MY MUSIC”
Says Devin Townsend
Fellow prog-meisters, if you haven’t yet had the pleasure, let me be the first to introduce you to one of the coolest things to happen to the progressive rock artist-audience dynamic since online album teasers: The one and only, HevyDevy Forums.
I know, I know–what’s so great about a forum, right? Well, for most forums, maybe nothing. But king of prog Devin Townsend’s forums are different for one very key reason: he’s actually a part of them. Most fan forums are arenas for gushing. Die-hards will go on and debate with other die-hards about lyrical significance, or the pros and cons of using synthesized mellotrons over analogue. Sure, sometimes a moderator may post band news, or merch updates, but for the most part, pretty standard fare.
But Devin Townsend–oh, Devin Townsend!–like everything else he does, runs the show a little differently. Standard fare for him is personally going onto his discussion boards, reading fans’ comments, posting studio and album updates, and interacting with all the gushers and die-hards and faithful prog-meisters.
Back when his upcoming 4-CD concept series, THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT, was still only in its conceptual and rudimentary stages, he’d post little diddies about what to expect and how everything was taking shape. And me, being a low-level certified gusher, myself, would relay the information to friends–and then we’d proceed to argue the merits of multiple-CD series’ over simple double-albums–or, hey, why not triple albums?
But now, with the first DTP record, Ki, due in only a matter of weeks, people found that it had been leaked, and Devin posted on his forum a simple message in all caps: “DOWNLOAD MY MUSIC.”
So straight-forward that it came off cryptic, fans were confused. Was it a veiled threat? A dare? What could it mean?
Townsend posted again:
“Jebus guys… 
I’m just being clear here after my confusing rants the other week. Downloading helps artists like me. Enjoy… If you wouldn’t mind supporting after the fact, thats great! Either way…I think I had confused some folks with my rambling, so I’m just being clear here.
Love, Dev”
In the mainstream music scene, Devin Townsend’s admittedly not the hugest name. People aren’t lined up outside of Best Buys and Wal-Marts waiting for his latest release, and they’re not clamoring for a show at the House of Blues or Hard Rock or MSG. But to others–okay, myself included–Townsend’s the prog equivalent of a METALLICA or a…CHICAGO. Maybe it is just fan gushing, I’ll admit. But to have an artist you love personally giving you updates on his recording, telling you to download his music, posting lyrics or just checking in to say “hi”–it’s pretty freakin’ cool.
This entry was posted on Monday, May 11th, 2009 at 6:58 pm and is filed under music, prog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
