Devin Townsend says he wishes he’d never collaborated with Nickelback’s producers – and has vowed never to let the resulting track see the light of day.
The prog icon wrote a song with the people behind Nickelback, Daughtry and a string of American Idol winners – but he says he’ll never release it as he finds it “fucking disgusting.”
After the release of his Z2 album, Townsend was encouraged to write with others, but he has described the experience as “everything I dislike about music.”
Townsend tells Decibel: “I went to LA and I wrote with a team who produced all the Nickelback stuff recently, Daughtry, all the American Idol people who win, and I wrote a song with them.
“And I hate it in such a way that is hard for me to quantify. I really like the guys, I think they’re really talented, but I told them yesterday or the day before that I’m not putting it out. There’s no fucking way I’m putting it out.
“I can’t spend 25 years sticking to my guns to try and sell people this. It’s everything I dislike about music, with my voice on it. It’s fucking disgusting. It’s not their fault, but with my voice on it, it’s just not where I’m at.
“For me, music is about expressing the inexpressible, and as I get older, what I feel the need to express becomes less and less poignant to others. It’s a shame. When people are like, ‘Nothing you’ve done is as good as you did when you were younger.’ And I’m like, ‘You may be right.’
“But what I’m doing now is exactly what I feel like I should be doing. So what do you do? Do you go write a fucking pop song and cash in and then spend the rest of your life thinking, ‘I could have stuck to my guns but instead I sucked a cock.’”
Meanwhile, Z2 has been nominated in the Metal/Hard Music Album Of The Year category at the 2015 Juno Awards. It’s up against records by Kataklysm, Shooting Guns, Single Mothers and Skull Fist.
DEVIN TOWNSEND 2015 UK TOUR DATES
Mar 29: Bristol O2 Academy
Mar 30: Glasgow O2 ABC
Mar 31: Manchester Academy
