Imagine how my mom felt when my sister took her giant 8-kid Irish Catholic family and took them out of the Catholic church and into a non-denominational one. Holy shit, talk about defiance!

classic! absolute classic!

I smoked a whole lotta pot with Russell from Symphony X in his backyard studio. Cool guy.

I guess it'd be hard for the average fan who comes here and actually has some (extremely limited) interaction with you, or any other of their favourite band members on other forums, for that matter; to maybe see them out on the street and face that internal dilemma of "OMG it's HIM!" vs. "wow... he's probably really sick of randoms coming up and saying "wow, man, you changed my LIFE"

yeah thats always a big internal conflict... i was really surprised at the show I went to in Baltimore, there were about 10 people who were meeting with Dev behind the bus plus me and my two friends... i can't speak for the group of guys but me and my friends were people who've been listening to Dev's stuff since back in high school and probably thought we'd spontaneously combust when we met him but it was THE most respectful i've ever seen a group of fans, everyone asked a question and passed around the sharpie but they weren't pressing for an autobiography or asking to get their armpits signed. the whole thing lasted maybe 5 minutes and my friends walked away talking about how much of a class act Dev is. good vibes, especially for a monday night show haha

this is a heavy thread but i'm glad it popped up

All,

This thread really turned into far more than what I expected (a blip on the radar, if that); I'm appreciative of Dev's response and the feedback from others.

FWIW- In a sea of boobies, all you need are a good pair of flippers.

FWIW- In a sea of boobies, all you need is a motorboat.

fixed.

Sorry, but you can keep your boat. I'm treading all day long.

Sorry, but you can keep your boat. I'm treading all day long.

Dude, in a sea of boobies why bother? I'd be quite happy going under.

FWIW- In a sea of boobies, you have everything you need already.

re-fixed

the dude there kept calling me a super-fan. Dude, do you know how awkward that is? Hell

Dude i think younger people like us need something/someone to look up to. Otherwise we will turn up like boring and insecure assholes like that dude being rude to you. It's a part of becoming a man. Persons i look up to, My dad, my old teacher i had as a kid (he died 2 mouths ago..) and Devin. It's nothing to be ashamed of.

Dev, to quote your issue about beeing rude to fans that always stands in your way, it's fully understandable but try be careful with younger people man.. It could really ruin things for them i think.

cheers.

On the subject of oceanic breast current mitigation, I'll happily concede. Consider though that the flippers help you navigate with pinpoint accuracy.

Too silly...Gots work to do. OBTW check out the latest vid from Ziltoid. That's where it's at!

The comment above about me being pissy at an syl gig...could have been a money issue, could have been a fight with the wife, could have been a fight with a band member, could have been diarrhea...who knows?

Totally, I thought as much. (It was at the Rave in Milwaukee, for what it's worth) I wasn't posting that as a complaint or anything, just my relevant brush with Devyness. I totally get everything you've posted here; I know you're just a guy who does music and has ups and downs like any human being. Us creative types can be moody bitches sometimes. Hopefully DTP will come to Chicago/Milwaukee and I can bug you then.

this has been a fantastic read.

dev, ive always wanted to know what your thoughts are on religion etc..

you pretty much said it all in tracks like dynamics, heaven send, soul driven etc...

but its nice to actually hear straight from you.

speaking of.
here is a vid i made of heaven send some months ago, that sum up my thoughts on the subject and i think the themes of the song as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJkSr92bQDw

It's funny really. I was at this big gig in Plymouth. Machinehead, Bleeding Through (awesome but they got the shit end of the stick with the sound guy), Hatebreed (nice guys but ugh.) and I didn't catch the first band.

I felt totally shit. I was amongst a sea of people who all loved generally the same music as me, but felt absolutely no connection to them whatsoever. I just felt grumpy and alone, even around my friends. I feel this way about a lot of gigs (bar the more intimate, intense, talented ones). I used to be the first dude in the pit. Now I just want to put my hood up and hide in the corner with a beer and a cigarette or something. Its a totally bizarre situation when you compare it to when I'm actually playing at a gig - where I feel absolutely alive.

There's so many gigs where I simply want to say thanks to a certain band member for being an inspiration, or just playing out of their skin - and there's these bizarre people there who just act in this way that I cant describe. It's like they buy the album and then think they then own these people. It's a shame because they take advantage of a situation where the musician in question is being really nice and feels awkward to just say "no". It happened at an Insomnium gig I saw. Ville Friman, one of the guitarists, was totally mobbed by this nympho redhead who asked the most bizarre questions. I think he was relieved when I got him away from her to give my best and goodbyes.

There's a handful of people I would want to sit down with in my life that I don't know, and just share a totally inconsequential conversation with. Devin being one, Trey Parker, Alan Fletcher (if you don't own The Art of Looking Sideways, then GET IT.) and my grandfather that I never met.

By the way, thanks for making me aware of Open C tuning about 2 years ago. I adore it.

Yeah, on this recent tour, at one gig there was a guy in a fairly popular band that found his way on to the bus with (seemingly) the express purpose of 'engaging' me in some intense conversation...

This made me think of my favorite line from one of my all-time guilty pleasures from the 80's:

"I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down" verbally."

As much as I would like to have a deep philosophical discussion with the Dev, it must get pretty annoying after the ten-millionth inquisitive fan.