In a recent interview with Consequence of Sound, Devin Townsend once again sang praises of NICKELBACK frontman Chad Kroeger.
Townsend previously admitted that his previous hatred and badmouthing of NICKELBACK was in part driven by jealousy, adding that he realized that although Chad‘s music reaches wide masses, it still comes from a genuine and honest place.
He now said:
“One thing that I would say about Chad that I think will eventually be known about him, is that he is a functioning genius, in my estimation. I think that people don’t realize how clever that guy is.
“And his success in a lot of ways, I believe – although what he’s writing is coming from a place of what he wants to write – I think is his ability to analyze the public and musical structures, and the ways that people react emotionally on a commercial level is such that he is almost more like a scientist than he is a rock musician.”
Devin added:
“And I’m fascinated by people who are clever, and specifically when the cleverness of them is something that I can make mental notes, and refer back to my own work with.
“It was a godsend for me be fortunate to interact with him for a few days, because just by watching him function and by being able to ask somebody with that sort of pedigree questions that had been plaguing me about my own career, it allowed me to make decisions on ‘Empath’ that I don’t know if I would have made had I not made his acquaintance.”
