During a press conferenece held at this year’s Hellfest in Clisson, France, Devin Townsend was asked if there were plans to celebrate the 30th anniversary of guitar legend Steve Vai’s Sex & Religion album. That record was largely responsible for introducing Townsend to the metal world, and two years later he returned with his own band, Strapping Young Lad.
Townsend: “I love Steve, and if he wants me to do something with him, of course I’ll do something with him. He’s a genius and I love him. I love that guy. But also I think a lot of what made that record interesting yet very odd was the fact that we’re very different. And back then we were really different. Now we’re less different, but we’re still very different.
The Starmus Festival (in 2017) was great to reconnect, but we’re still very different. And I may be wrong, but I think our reasons for doing what we do are fundamentally slightly different, and it’s always a little chocolate and cheese, you know? But among the people who I count as being closest to my heart, he is one of the very few. And as a friend, I would be happy to do anything that he would ask of me because I love him. It’s true.”
Check out the entire press conference below.
Sex & Religion is Vai’s third studio album, released on July 23rd, 1993 through Relativity Records. Townsend performed all lead vocals for the album and co-wrote the tracks “Pig” and “Just Cartilage”, the latter of which was only released as a bonus track in Japan.
