LATELY I have been fortunate enough to go on something of a musical journey.

There are few things in life I find more satisfying than stumbling on a new song, a new album or artist that you instantly connect with and know that, even though it’s the first time you’re hearing it, it will remain in your playlist for a very long time.

It was like that when as a kid I found Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and Dire Strait’s Love over Gold. They’re still on high rotation in Race Torque Central.

Music is to me, like to many people, very important. There’s little better than coming home from a week away, jumping in the car late at night and driving home with nothing but the road and your favourite tunes.. it’s a cathartic experience.

Lately, and for which I must (rather begrudgingly) give my little brother Evan full credit for, Canadian musician Devin Townsend has come into my world.

I’d been aware of this tall, bald and lanky guy for a long time and knew that he was an excellent guitarist and a singer with a huge range but had – in a rather silly act of closed-mindedness – always associated him with the thrash-metal and really, really heavy stuff that the bro was a big fan of.

And that was not my cup of tea, so until late last year I’d pretty much ignored most of his prodigious output (which at last count is over 25 albums).

What an idiot.

When I actually opened my mind to some of his other work, I discovered a range of music that covers almost every genre I’m interested in – and I have eclectic tastes – and took me into worlds I never knew existed.

I still can’t grasp the really heavy, shouty-screamy thrash stuff that makes up his early solo work and his iconic band, Strapping Young Lad, but almost all of the stuff he’s produced as the Devin Townsend Project is phenomenal.

While Devin describes it as ‘Prog Metal’, the best way I could possibly describe it is a mixture of Pink Floyd, Metallica and about 50 other groups I love from the 70’s through today.

It’s a mixture of heavyish rock to 10-minute epics through to songs that border on commercial radio worthy fodder and even some background ambient stuff – but all of it is strung together in incredibly well constructed albums that segue seamlessly one song to another with a musical or lyrical theme.

Turns out the man himself is very funny and his albums are infused with a sense of joy that connected to me instantly. He doesn’t take himself or his music seriously and you can tell that, for him, it’s just a massive joy to keep pumping our records, touring them and going about the cycle again.

I also find it appealing that he’s never quite gone commercial, though for the life of me I don’t know why. He’s hovered around the fringes of mainstream, being successful without ever having that massive million-plus album that cracks the regular radio playlists.

I find it all incredibly uplifting and for whatever reason it is apparently the kind of music I need in my life right now.. which is fine by me.

His latest album is called Transcendence and came out late last year and it is, in almost every way, just about perfect. It is by far and away my favourite album at the moment and probably slots somewhere in my ever-changing top-10 list of top records.

I bought my brother tickets to see the DTP play in Melbourne later this year and I think I’m looking forward to it as much as he is (or better be).

Anyway, the point of this missive is that this new revelation in music has helped me continue to open my eyes to my other love which is, of course, motor racing.

It’s easy to get bogged down in our life, travelling the road from one track to another and doing the same stuff every week.

Yes, it’s hugely enjoyable and yes it really is bloody good fun but it’s also a job and like any job, it can be tiring, stressful, emotional and hard.

So looking outside the box just slightly to find new things helps keep it fresh and bolsters the enthusiasm for the next challenge ahead.

Take, for example last weekend, where I was at the opening round of the Shannons Nationals and lucky enough to commentate the opening rounds of both the GT3 Cup Challenge and Formula 4 championship.

The Porsche’s were terrific and watching one of Australia’s best athletes, John Steffensen, work his way through the weekend in such style, commitment and poise was compelling.

In Formula 4 watching on as we quite literally in front of our eyes discovered new talent we’d never heard of before was just as thrilling.

15-year-old Kiwi Liam Lawson (pictured) is a superstar in the making, with wonderful car control and an innate talent for performing at a very high level in wet conditions, in particular. The young Aucklander was composed and entertaining outside the car, speaking with confidence and with a level of maturity beyond his years.

As we were throwing around comparisons with Scott Dixon it was no surprise at all to learn that the same man responsible for bringing the now-IndyCar legend to Australia way back when, Kiwi great Ken Smith, is responsible for young Liam’s trip across the Tasman too.

And then there’s another 15-year-old, Ryan Suhle, who came from nowhere (well, karting) and banged his Zagame car on the front row, first time out.

There’s also been my other challenge of late, which is learning a whole group of new names, faces, cars and places from the SASOL GTC Championship in South Africa.

We put the first show together for this new series last week and it was really.. exciting, I suppose is the best word, to be able to call a new set of names and learn how they went racing. It was great to watch Gennaro Bonafede, the round one winner, go about his business and see last year’s champ Michael Stephen storm through the field in the opening race. New names, new cars and new racing to sink my teeth into.

As I said earlier – looking outside of our own box, be it here in Australia or over in Cape Town, can be refreshing and invigorating.

It’s something to keep in mind the next time a song you’ve never heard before comes on the radio, or racing you’ve never seen before comes on the TV.

Because if you change the station too soon you might rule yourself out of years of potential enjoyment of going on that new journey into a new world of speed.. or sound.

WORDS: Richard Craill
IMAGE: Nathan Wong / Shannons Nationals

CRAILLSY’S TOP 5 DEVIN TOWNSEND SONGS:
This is by no means a definitive list – merely a peak into a very diverse discography.

1. Stormbending – Transcendence.
Hugely powerful and showcasing Devy’s incredible vocal range, this track off his latest album is a masterpiece.

2. The Death of Music – Ocean machine
From one of his earlier works, this is an understated song but puts Townsend at his emotive best and, performed live here in 2014, offers up a truly remarkable vocal performance. Blows your mind.

3. Where we Belong – Epicloud
It’s a love song, yes, but it’s also incredibly catchy and I dare you to not be singing along by the final chorus. Softest song on this Album, which is all bloody great.

4. Supercrush! – Addicted!
Heavy but catchy and showcases a long-running combination between Devin and Dutch vocalist Annie van Giersbergen (no relation to Shane) that works so well. She appears on a majority of his works under the Devin Townsend Project banner.

5. Before we Die – Sky Blue / Z2
Showcases everything that makes this group amazing: Insightful lyrics about grabbing life by the horns but at the same time taking time to soak it all in without rushing, great vocals, great production, great guitars and annoyingly catchy.

6. Bastard – Ocean Machine
Number 6 in my top 5 because it’s a remarkable song. Quite Floyd-y, but wow. What a thing.