I think that, as well as Strapping Young Lad kind of having the name for themselves based on brutality and aggression, I think there's also something to be said to the fact that every Strapping record is different. They're all different.

Sometimes I'll be writing something, and I say to myself, 'Okay, that's definitely DTB,' or, 'It's definitely Strapping.'

I'm doing this record called 'Epicloud.' Over the course of the full record, there's sort of new agey stuff, jazzy stuff, really heavy stuff. We basically cover the gamut.

'Epicloud' is the first record that I felt confident enough to include all those things on one record, so it goes between melodic hard rock to schizophrenic heavy metal to country to really ambient stuff, and it's all in one place.

I really like the art of music, the way that you can express yourself through music.

I'm really into music, I'm really into art, and I want to keep that fire alive.

It's like... to make a good record - I don't care who you are - it takes a long time and a lot of passion and a lot of attention to detail, right?

After Strapping, the amount of things in my life had changed were more than I'd ever had to process in any one time, and as a result of that, I found that my writing was veering off in four - sometimes even more - directions.

I think when music, specifically heavy music, the motivation for it is other than truly feeling it, that's when it becomes really difficult for me.

The identity of each band is what's important for me production-wise.

To have the opportunity to be creative and clarify the nature of that creativity, there are definitely some long days, some 18-20 hour days with interviews or computer work, but I have a friend who is every bit as intelligent and creative as me who works at the mill.

For me, the opportunity to express myself in this way is something I don't take for granted.

The reason Strapping came to an end is because I'm no longer in my mid-20s.

I love people; don't get me wrong. Individually, I love that interaction between people, and I'm not an ogre or something; but huge crowds of people, huge groups of people who seemingly have endless access to you - as I get older, I'm not really into that.

I know that I'm often perceived as this odd guy who's a bit out there, and I've probably, once in a while, reinforced that image, but I'm really not that person, and, in a way, I want even less so to be seen like that.

I'm very creative - making music, making puppets, that's my thing - but mainstream success and the demands that brings? No, not really for me.

Music is so important to me that that's got to be the only way I can do it. In the purest possible way.

I've always been into easy music. When I was 15, the record for me was 'Hysteria' by Def Leppard.

I've always loved the sound of female vocals.

I guess I'm not really into female vocals that sound masculine, I guess. A lot of times, the heavy female vocalists always end up sounding like they're screaming or whatever.

Because I think I am pretty left-brained - more than I gave myself credit for - I think I've managed to really dissect emotions. At least my own. And I've been able to understand what they do, how they do it, and when.

'Deconstruction' is a really heavy record, a real symphony in a lot of ways, but with heavy musicians from the metal world - friends of mine.

As Devin, the person, I'm very different from my artistic self.

I have, like, three or four friends and am a very private person.

I've been making music for so long, and the main hurdles I've run when dealing with any public exposure is that many of my projects are so different from each other.

Strapping Young Lad is a representation of me, just as much as 'Ki,' 'Ghost,' 'Ziltoid' or 'Infinity.' There's no difference; it was just a different period of time.

The best way of me not doing things is to demand it from me.

I have no interest in being told what to do.

I make music for people to hear it, so get it however you want!

If you're making music strictly to make money, you might as well find another job.

I'm just a perpetually confused and terrified person that is trying to be less so all the time, and music is the byproduct of that.

With 'Epicloud,' I wanted something catchy as the flu but with a sentiment that is romantic, positive, and beautiful. Spiritual without religion and set to heavy music.

I spent a great deal of my career willingly ignoring the fact that people are participating in it, because it allows me to function without second-guessing it, without thinking, 'Oh, I wonder what people are gonna think of this,' or, 'I wonder what people aren't gonna think of this.'

It's really hard to foster self-love; it really is. I think a lot of people who claim that they do have a definite lack of self-loathing are either lying or just in a place that I don't relate to.

The music industry is really difficult.

If you think meet-and-greets are fundamentally stupid, then you're never not gonna think that.

I don't have a lot of time for people who don't take care of their own problems. Everything that needs to be done takes effort.

I don't think anything that I have done has been forced by commerce exclusively.

Luckily, my creative juices are pretty much on tap. If I'm compelled to do something, I can go for it and get it done.

I come from a blue collar background.

My lineage is partially Irish.

I think that the pivotal point of me in terms of the choral stuff is that I was involved in this provincial choir at 16 or 17. We went and played in churches and convention centres. The music we got to do was so inspiring for me.

I love Strapping Young Lad. I'm incredibly proud of that band; I'm incredibly proud of everything we did.

There is no way I'll ever write an album for Avril Lavigne or Christina Aguilera. I just couldn't do it. There is no way I could ever do it because my musical process is about being directly involved with whatever I'm going through in life.

What made Strapping Young Lad important, at least to me, was I was being honest about whatever was important to me at that time. In many ways, that musical process is there to resolve those issues, if you will.

I like Canada for a number of reasons, politics and people and all that stuff aside. I was raised there, and I write music best when I'm in situations that I'm surrounded by nature, and when there's seasons.

The bottom line is music, for me, is an exhaust port for life, and if I have a chaotic year, then I'm gonna write a chaotic record, and that's what happened with 'Ziltoid,' with 'Z2.'

I think that the world is full of really, really good musicians, but that's not necessarily my motivation for having people involved. It's more how they contribute to the scene as a person.

I tend to find in my musical world people end up appearing, and I'm pretty good at being able to discern right away whether or not they are going to be appropriate based on their personality.

I'll be the first to admit when I'm influenced by something.