Pleiona: An Interview With I Legion's Frederic Riverin

The one great thing about starting AFGM was not only the chance to meet and interact with some of my favourite bands, but also gives me the chance to establish new connections and find new music I wouldn't have necessarily been offered on another platform.  With that being said, I always had faith in my home country of Canada to produce top quality music that showcases talented musicians who could easily top charts and create international buzz.

One of those artists that has been creating a name for himself is Frederic Riverin and his project I Legion.  Armed with an idea, a guitar, some recording equipment, and a slew of special guests, this guy has been one of those Canadian artists listed in my rant above.  You can check out AFGM's first interview with him (below):

I Legion: An Interview With Frederic Riverin

My previous interview with him was completely introductory as I knew relatively nothing about the guy but was very interested in his music as well as his associates.  Those associates are (but not limited to) Angel Vivaldi (solo artist), Björn Strid (Soilwork), Ashe O'Hara (TesseracT), Andy James (Guitar Academy), Bill Fore (Mutiny Within), Pascal Jobin (The Agonist), Sebastian Reichl (Deadlock), Jon Howard (Threat Signal), Chris Clancy (Mutiny Within) and more!  There has to be an assumption that if all these artists believed in Frederic's work, then it shouldn't go unnoticed and should be listened to for fans of metal.  

Even as I write this, the format of the album is still uncertain. According to Frederic, it could be divided in 4 EPs (each one released at a different period) so folks might have to get their fix in increments.  I guess that is something we will have to eagerly wait and see.  So like most of my interviews, I threw a couple questions to Frederic for some Q&A and of course his answers are very in depth and informative.  Check out the details surround the next phase of I Legion.

AFGM: It seems you got quite a bit of diversity with regards to the three demo track you sent me for sampling.  It ranges from blast beats to piano melodies, and everything in between!

FR: Yeah I really wanted to explore a lot more with this new release. The first album gave me confidence in my playing and writing skills, so I decided to push the extremes; the soft parts are mellow and softer, and heavy one are faster and heavier. And as I have no one to tell me what to do, I can go in the direction I want to go, and hopefully people will follow me and enjoy it.


AFGM: So who do you have on your roster for this new album?  You always seem to have a great lineup of talented musicians.

FR: I am lucky to have the same lineup of singers to follow me again for the second ride. There's no doubt that the presence of Björn, Jon and Chris helped a lot to be noticed by the fans and the press. Without them, the first record wouldn't be as good. There was no reasons to exclude them from the second record, they are an huge part of I Legion success, and I want them to be involved as long as they want.If there’s a 3rd record in some years, I will knock on their door again.

I wrote about 15 songs this time. 5 songs for each of these 3 singers were a lot of work for them, and as I always get new contacts and have a lot of people in my "I want to work with" list, it was time to bring new style and fresh air to the project. This is why I picked up 3 totally different voices: Ashe from Tesseract, who's a lot more on the prog side of metal, while having a more softer and high pitched voice; Bekki from Domenica, which I follow since a while and she deserve to be known. She has the rawness of Courtney Love and the melodic side of Dido, if I can explain it like that. I wanted a female presence for so long (referring to Alissa almost being a part of the first album, until few weeks prior to the recordings) that I can only rejoice of her addition; which leads me to the last member to be introduced on vocals, Sabine from German death-metal band Deadlock. If angels could sing, I'm pretty sure they would have her voice. I'm totally stocked on this one, and she will blow your mind too.



On guitars I can count again on my friend Angel Vivaldi, not only for guitars but also on the creative process. He heard it all since the very beginning and I'm involving him on every stage. I couldn't praise enough this guy for being a talented guitarist and a good friend too. I wouldn't be surprised to see him among the guitar gods like Vai and Satriani in a short time.

I announced Jake Kiley from Strung Out as a new guest late 2013, but depending on when the full album production will be done, he may be a part or not of the project. As we speak today, he can't. In 6 months? Who knows? He wants to do it, but he's deep into Strung Out new album for the moment. It’s the risk of this project. If an artist is called for touring or have something urgent with his own band, he will drop my project and I’m really okay with that. It could happen anytime and I have no control over it.

So this being said, I have the pleasure to welcome once again my buddy Andy James. He’s a rising star in modern guitar world, he has an guitar academy, his own signature guitar, his own column on jamtrackcentral…the list could go on. But mostly, this guy has one of the best technique and sense of melody I’ve ever heard. He can lift a simple song into a war machine with his presence. Just listen what he did on Signs From Above. He totally slayed the song.

Then I introduce new features: my fellow Quebec brother Pascal Jobin, from the Agonist, and Sebastian Reichl, which is the lead guitarist for Deadlock (playing with Sabine). Believe it or not, Pascal was the one I bugged the most to be a part of the project, he was harder to get than any musicians overseas! Jon probably gave me an hand to close the deal with him while touring with The Agonist last year. Maybe he got him drunk and convinced him that it was a good idea to joins us lol. Joking aside, he is awesome. He's like the French John Petrucci for me. His sense of melody and dedication to craft licks impressed me. Had a blast with him last year, had a lot of Jagerbombs and Blueberry beers chugged down. Was an awesome night for sure, for what I can remember.

Sebastian accepted right away, I think he replied to my message the same hour. I love this guy so much, he writes music that I'd wish I could write too. You know when you hear a song and you say to yourself 'damn, I wish I'd write this one!'. Well that’s why I wanted Sebastian on the second album. His vision and sound connect with mine.

Last addition but really one of the best: Nathaniel Rendon on keyboards. I discovered him while listening to an awesome prog-metal album from The Deadstation. He was a guest musician on this one and I told myself that if I needed keyboard parts, he would be the guy. He's really involved too in the writing and there will be a lot of keyboards and piano all over the songs. Nothing too fancy, just to add more depth to the songs.

(Bjorn and Frederic)

AFGM: Can you give us details about the new EP?

FR: The purpose of releasing this is to help the fundraising, which is running since December, and also get label’s attention. Would be awesome to have someone backing up the project, handling the promotion and maybe help us out money-wise. I raised enough money to almost fund all of the upcoming EP, but I’m still paying from my pocket. Now, the funds are at 0$. All has been invested and hopefully the EP sales will kick the funding for the full album.

The EP should be out summer 2014 and will be titled PLEIONA. 4 tracks, 5 different singers. I think it will show what we are capable of, it will totally take people by surprise. All singers will be featured: Bjorn, Jon, Chris, Bekki and Ashe. As we speak, I haven’t heard any of the singers tracks or guitar solos. So I’m as just in the dark as you can be.

For the first time ever, Bjorn and Jon will sing together on the same track. Should be really really interesting. The song clocks about 6 minutes, it’s really epic, melodic and aggressive. It should please any metal fan. To use Bjorn’s words, “it sounds fantastic”. Lot of keyboards, guitar harmonies, hardcore breakdown, blast beats…everything is in there! I’m not quite sure who will perform the solo yet. Maybe Angel or Sebastian. I have yet to confirm this.

Chris’s song is really different. It sounds a bit like these 80’s rock songs. I really like the mood of it, it’s melancholic to the core. We changed the verse lately to fit Chris’s vocals, it’s more melodic than it was at first. But I kept the original verse for the finale of that song. It will make your head bang! Pascal is performing the guitar solo on this one.

Bekki’s song, which is also the title track “Pleiona”, is my biggest achievement yet. All I can say it’s that you will like or hate it. It’s a ballad, really really slow and melancholic, with piano tracks along all my parts. Sound like something that Stone Sour could have come up with. Never had a woman singing over my stuff, so it will be pretty interesting. I’m doing the acoustic soloing and Andy James will showcase his talents in the middle of the song, when the distortion comes in.

Last song, which have been a late decision when I chose to cut the artwork budget to release an extra song. This one will feature Ashe O’Hara. Honestly I had an hard time finding the right song for him. I’m an huge fan of his vocals, but how to fit those with I Legion style? I’d have the same problem if I had to find a song for James Labrie or Bruce Dickinson. I love these guys, but how to incorporate their style with mine? I finally found the right track for Ashe, as soon as the verse kicked in, I knew it was HIS song. His vocals will totally float on this tune man, it will be insane. The song is kind of upbeat with a little punk feel, while the chorus reminds me of In Flames, musically. The bridge section is really strong on that one, people will love it. My friend Angel is performing the solo on that one, by his request. He wanted to play along with Ashe so I granted his wish. It’s because of Angel if I discovered Tesseract so I owed him a thing or two.  haha 

AFGM: Could you take us through the writing process and what it looks like from your perspective?  What emotions were you going through?  What is on your mind when composing?

FR: I started writing early 2013 for a project called Bear River, with Bjorn Strid. We stopped the project last summer for the simple reason that Bjorn couldn’t commit to a full time project and be targeted as the frontman. I totally understand his point, and honestly, he’s so damn busy and involved everywhere. I couldn’t picture him doing 15 songs for Bear River. But obviously, some of the material wrote during that time will be on the next I Legion album.

End of 2013 has been a crazy on the personal side. Going through a separation, a battle for the kid's guard, reconciliation with my parents...events that obviously influenced me while writing these songs. May explain why I went into totally opposite directions musically, with blast beats, breakdowns and piano. I had to get this shit out of myself.

Off-topic, but in rough moments you can count your real friends on your hand. I have real buddies who helped me here, by supporting me and give me a place to stay. But I also found that friends can be on the other side of the world too. Jon and Angel have been there since day 1 to hear me whine or listen to my stories. They have been as supportive as real friends would be.

That being said, I met a lot of new people too, created new friendships, being let down by some girls. This will shine through the songs for sure. A specific woman inspired me enough to give me the album thematic and she's what I can say the central part of the record, in the way she's gave me the tools and the inspiration to transpose the emotions into songs. And this time around I composed the songs without thinking of vocal melodies, which is totally different than the first record. On this new release the artists will put their own stamp on the song. Many of the vocal lines and lyrics on Beyond Darkness were written by me, and I wanted to do differently.

AFGM: What was the most difficult moment when creating this new album?

FR: Money? This has been a real issue and source of headache. How can you pull off 15 songs, have them mixed and produced when you don't even have enough money to pay your own bills? And honestly I wish I could tell you that writing songs isn't easy, but it isn't my case. I could write a lot more and do a double album. But with no money, just forget it. Hopefully the EP will get more fans into the project.

AFGM: Can you give us a breakdown of your gear and why you decided to use it?

FR: Oh my god, this one will be pretty easy! I'm so ignorant when it comes to gear. I'm not a guitar geek for sure. I want to plug my guitar and play, that's it. For this album to I'm using an Ibanez Prestige RGA220z through a Focusrite Scarlet interface. Then everything is recorded with Reaper software with Revalver emulated guitars. This is only for my home demos of course.

(Woodward Studios in Hamilton, ON)

The album will be mixed and produced by Jon Howard in his studios in Ontario (Woodward Studios) and he will do the magic with my recordings. I send him DI tracks (direct input tracks, which mean dry clean with no effects) and he does his stuff. Last time we talked we used Mesa Triple Rectifier for the rhythms and various amps for the leads tone.

AFGM: Do you feel you might have the necessary resources to put together a small tour or mini-tour?  Has that ever been on your mind for I Legion?

FR: With enough money I guess I could set up a special show with North American artists (Jon, Björn, Pascal, Angel and Bekki) but I really really doubt it will happen. It isn't my priority with this project, even if it would be a dream to perform live on the same stage.

AFGM: How is social media working to the advantage of I Legion?  Do you find yourself benefiting from it or does it seem like a large amount of hassle that how now become a norm?

FR: It can only be useful for a little project like I Legion. People can share the Facebook page and the YouTube videos easily. Even if I had more than of my share of illegal downloads, I still believe that social medias are now the best way to reach out new fans and get the word out.

AFGM: Has there been any thought to expanding your video catalog by means of a lyric/music video or a playthrough?

We are focusing on the EP on the moment, but I would love to do another video. Maybe an acoustic version of a song when one of the singers will come near my town, who knows?

("Beyond Darkness" is taken from I Legion's debut album in 2012)

AFGM: I realize that your influences play a major role in who you are as a musician.  Do your guest musicians feel the same way to their influences or look to you for guidance when creating their pieces for this album?

FR: I give them total freedom for their parts. The songs are already fueled a lot by me, so I want the artist to put their own touch to it. It's up to them to keep their respective band touch aside or not while contributing, but a lot of these songs are totally different from what they usually do, so they have no choice than go out their comfort zone.

As for myself, my influences are pretty clear. I’m aware that I’m really not reinventing the wheel, I’m simply writing music I’m pleased to hear. Honestly I don’t think I’m writing complex and challenging songs at all. Any guitarist will be able to cover these songs easily.

AFGM: So let's talk about some personal heroes and influences.  I have seen a few photos now (via Facebook) where you have been meeting major influences of yours such as John Petrucci and Dream Theater. 

"One of the most amazing night of my life! I wanted to share with you guys, it's so inspiring to see them play and how dedicated they are to their art.  And you know that feeling of meeting your hero is indescribable!"

Can you take me through how you got in the photo op and what you were feeling like during the meet?

FR: I paid for it haha it was a part of the VIP package for their show so I'm like everyone else for this. He don't know who I am, and honestly the meet and greet is really restrictive and you barely have time to talk sadly. It's all set up to be really fast and not really personal. But still, that's awesome to shake his hand! He loved my shirt, so I didn't wear it for nothing ;-)

I'm still like in my teenage years when it comes to musicians. I want to meet them, take pictures, share stories. Nothing will ever change it. Best meeting I had was with Björn and Soilwork for sure. Spent the whole day with them, visiting Quebec City, drinking local beers I brought and watching ABBA dvds in the tour bus. And how often a vocal hero is paying your beer bill with his Swedish credit card? lol Typical metal meeting right? 

AFGM: "I have been waiting for this moment since 2004. Ten years of wait before meeting 2 of my biggest influences."

Could you possibly describe what you were going through when meeting the guys from Unearth?  What did you guys talk about?

FR: We were supposed to hang out before the show but they were really exhausted. We had a quick chat, I shared a beer with Buz, talking about the new Unearth album and a possible guest solo for another I Legion album. But still it's cool to see they know who I am and that they love what I do. We talk sometimes via Facebook so if I ever need to ask them something I know they’re not too far away.

I actually hang out with the guys from Texas In July, who opened for Unearth. I haven't heard from them before and after sharing a meal and a beer, they have been an huge discovery. End up the evening with all their CDs.  :-)

AFGM: So let’s assume there are readers out there looking to contact you for advice/words of wisdom.  What would you tell them when looking to create their own project similar to what you have done with I Legion?

FR: Don't be shy to ask. This is true in every aspects of your life. If you don't try, you'll never know. I asked many musicians and ended turned out in the end (always politely of course) but at least I tried. And I will try again. I hit up Christian Alvestam, Alissa White-Gluz, Marco Sfogli, Porter McKnight, Chris Kells, Oscar Souto and many more.

I'd love to see more collaborative projects like mine, as long as they use different artists. There's so much talent out there!

***

BONUS QUESTION!

So Frederic gave me the opportunity to ask a question geared towards the guests featured on his album.  Musician Nate Rendon was kind enough to share some insight into his collaboration with Frederic.

AFGM: How do you feel about contributing to music you didn't write at first? Will you sneak in some of your own band signature sounds or try to fit yourself to the I Legion sound and groove?

NR: I absolutely love collaborating with other musicians and artists on projects. I do believe that I was brought on to this project because of my personal keyboarding style and my ideas so you will definitely hear some of my own personal style and musical voice on the album. Collaborating is nothing new to me; I'm a full time film and video game composer and those projects are all pretty much a big collaboration from beginning to end and it's not unlike I Legion's project at all. Just like a director or game designer will bring me a close-to-finished product to add music to, Fred will send me songs that are pretty much completely fleshed out as far as the form and basic rhythm parts go. I'll add textural and melodic keyboards where appropriate and we'll go back and fourth a couple of times revising and fleshing out the keyboard ideas until we're both happy with it. So far that process has yielded some amazing results. 

Keyboard parts that I would never come up with on my own. It's the kind of music that can only come about with two or more creative minds coming together. I'm very excited to be working on a project like this since I get to take off my composer hat and get to dust off my producer/keyboardist hat and play some metal (which I'm a huge fan of). I don't get to do as much metal as I would like so I was very excited when Fred called me up and offered me the keyboardist spot on I legion's album. I'm absolutely loving the music so far, so many creative minds are going to be a part of this project and makes me very excited to be a part of this. The music is great and I'm really looking forward to hearing the final mix.

A big thanks goes out to Frederic for reaching out for an awesome follow up interview.  Be sure to follow his Facebook page for updates and also follow him on YouTube for more videos and song samples!