Not sure how easy this will be for you to answer, but I'm always interested in how different people approach their writing.

A lot of people will write a riff, or a killer vocal line and write a song "around that" and it is often very easy to pinpoint, but the more I listen to Devin's stuff, the harder I find it to pinpoint what the specific intended hook is in each song, it just seems to fit together so perfectly. Rationally, it might make sense that the vocals are an important part of his songwriting from the off...but then I listen again and change my mind. Is he a "keep a tonne of riffs until I decide where to use one" type

My other guess would be that he has a pretty "complete" idea of what he wants something to sound... like relatively early on, whereas some people just let things wander ..

I'm just speculating and probably way off, lol

[Tracy]

Answering it perfectly myself is impossible but I do know that it starts with a riff idea and rolls around in his head for a long time before starts to form it into anything. The vocals come last. I will try to get a more lengthy answer from him but he's really busy with the DVD and I don't want to throw too many questions at him when he's only here for 4 days.

Thanks Tracy, that's great!