 Devin Townsend was born in New Westminster , British Columbia , on May 5 , 1972 . Townsend picked up the banjo when he was five , and began playing guitar when he was 12 . As an early teenager he befriended Brian " Beav " Waddell , who would later play guitars as part of the Devin Townsend Band and bass on the Devin Townsend Project . He participated in several metal bands while he was in high school , and founded Grey Skies at the age of 19 . Around the same time he joined a popular local group called <unk> Thought , replacing <unk> Simon on guitar and playing alongside bassist Byron Stroud , both of whom would later become members of Townsend 's flagship band , Strapping Young Lad . In 1993 , Townsend began writing material under the name Noisescapes , a project he later described as " just as violent as Strapping Young Lad " . 
