In a new interview with Loaded Radio, Canadian visionary musician, composer, and producer Devin Townsend spoke about his relationship with guitar god Steve Vai with whom he collaborated on the VAI band’s “Sex & Religion” album back in 1993. Devin said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “[Steve] was just at my house for a week and a half. We have a good relationship and he’s involved with [Townsend’s rock opera] ‘The Moth’.”[Steve is] a very important person in my life for a lot of reasons,” Devin continued. “But after so many years, we can be honest with each other too. And I think that where a lot of times collaborative efforts fall apart is everybody has to pussyfoot around each other. Specifically, if you’re both even reasonably accomplished in terms of putting out material, a lot of times collaborations with other musicians end up — everybody’s very, very careful with each other’s ideas. As opposed to saying, ‘Hey, no. I listened to the idea and I appreciate it, but it’s not for me. I don’t like it.’ Sometimes that falls apart with people that don’t have these more long-term relationships. And Steve and I now are in a position where when we do get together and we do jam and we do talk about concepts, we can vet each other’s ideas from a place of more objective creative analysis. And I value that greatly, specifically with somebody who, again, is so accomplished. It’s a great experience… I think what’s important about that as well is the reason why we’re able to still communicate is because we’ve gone through difficult periods.”Townsend added: “Another quote that I love [is] that ‘progress is only an awkward conversation away.’ And I think that if you’re in a position with somebody, if you’re fortunate enough to be in a position with somebody where you can have those difficult conversations, then that’s where real music is going to come from.”You get asked these questions when you’re younger, like, ‘Oh, could you describe what a dream band would be like?’ [You go], like, ‘Oh, okay, Jimi Hendrix on guitar, John Bonham on drums.’ But you think to yourself maybe the reason that those players were so fantastic is because the environments that they found themselves in. Maybe the reason why Jimi Hendrix is brilliant came out is because he didn’t have to answer to anybody. He just had the two players in his band and perhaps if you did put him into a ban, maybe his social anxiety would make it that the other guitar player, maybe Jimmy Page or whatever, would just steamroll him. And then by the time you’re done, you get this supergroup album that’s not as good as any of them individually. And I think a lot of the reason why that happens is the dynamic has to be established. And if you’re fortunate enough to be with musicians for many years, then you’ve worked through the arguments, you’ve worked through the ‘fuck this guy’ or the romance period even. And then at that point, when someone has an idea, you’re best suited to listen to it because why would they say it other than this person who’s brilliant has a good idea. Or an idea at least. And that’s where [Steve and I] find ourselves.”Asked when fans can expect to hear some of this material that he has been working on with Steve, Devin said: “Well, I think it’s a work in progress in that what we’re working on together with ‘The Moth’ is rooted in something that I’ve already written. So when he comes here, a lot of it is just, like, he has ideas. He’s, like, ‘What if we tried this? What if the chorus was doubled?’, things like that. So in an immediate sense, ‘The Moth’, the performances that we start with, because we’re doing performances of it with the orchestra prior to the record coming out, happens in March of 2025. But then where it evolves with Steve and I — I guess the thing that is frustrating to some of the audience is I personally am in no rush with any of these things. So, the honest answer is when it’s ready, it’ll be out. And what plays into when that is, is just everybody’s so busy. There’s no direct plans, but it’s already in the process. That’s a copout of an answer, but it’s an answer nonetheless.”Devin will perform “The Moth” together with the Noord Nederlands Orkest symphony orchestra in late March at De Oosterpoort in Groningen, The Netherlands.”The Moth”, a “rock opera” Devin has been working on for years, represents his lifelong ambition. “The Moth” tells the story of the human experience from birth to death, comparable to the transformation of a caterpillar into a moth. It symbolizes the human quest for meaning and offers perspectives on the fear of death through analogy and narrative. Ever since Townsend witnessed large musicals such as “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Phantom Of The Opera” in the 1970s, he has seen this project as his calling.”The Moth” has been in the making for over a decade, and Townsend has been building towards it for 30 years. Now, he is ready to bring it to life. He will share the stage at De Oosterpoort in Groningen with no less than seventy musicians from the Noord Nederlands Orkest, a sixty-member choir, and his own band, which includes Mike Keneally, Joseph Stephenson, Darby Todd and James Leach.”Sex & Religion” saw Vai joining forces with a band of “monster musicians” — including drummer Terry Bozzio and bassist T.M. Stevens — to create an effort that was radically different from 1990’s “Passion And Warfare”. The VAI band split up after the album was finished, and Vai subsequently toured only with Townsend and several session drummers and bassists.More than a decade after their initial musical partnership, these two creative giants again crossed paths. In 2005, Vai played a guest guitar solo on Townsend’s “Synchestra” album, and in 2013, was cast as narrator on Townsend’s “The Retinal Circus” live album. When Vai decided to record 2016’s “Modern Primitive”, which featured music he wrote in the period between his debut solo album, “Flex-Able”, and the aforementioned “Passion And Warfare”, he enlisted Townsend to sing on a song called “The Lost Chord”.[embedded content]