April 1, 2025 • 23 mins
Join @thebuzzknight for an episode with Alex Lifeson, legendary guitar player from Rush as they walk through the sonic landscapes of his brilliant career. From the progressive rock heights of Rush, to the atmospheric creations of his new band "Envy of None", Lifeson shares the inside stories that led to his brilliant creations. You'll love hearing from this groundbreaking artist who continues to challenge his creative boundaries.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Taking a walk, and you're never finished, you know, so
long as you have the spirits and the passion and
whatever it is that you're doing, you're not dead yet.
You can treat it like it's a new day every day.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast hosted by Buzz Night,
the show where Buzz speaks with some of music's greatest
legends about their music, their influences, and their latest work.
His guest today is the great Alex Lifson from the
band Rush. Alex his new music out with his band
Envy of None, called Stygian Waves. You'll hear the inside
(00:36):
story of his new music, along with some stories from
his amazing days with the Canadian power trio Rush. Buzz
Night is joined by Alex Leifson on the Taking a
Walk Podcast right now.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
So, Alex, welcome to Taking a Walk. It's such an honor.
We're going to talk about your new music from Envy
of None. We might touch on this little power trio
name Rush as well in your career. But since the
podcast is called Taking a Walk, I did want to
ask you if you could take a walk with someone
(01:13):
living or dead could be involved with music, doesn't have
to be Is there someone you would like to take
a walk with and where would you take a walk
with him?
Speaker 1 (01:23):
I would love to take a walk with my dad.
My dad died twenty one years ago, but I think
of him often, as we do when we've lost a parent,
and I would love to ask him if I did, okay, Dad,
(01:44):
if I if I became the man you hoped I
would become and did the things that make a difference
in the world. And I think he'd be proud of me.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
I dare say he would for sure, because you have
made a difference and you're still making a difference, and
the beauty of the music that you continue to give
us is amazing. So thank you, thank you, thank you.
Can you talk about the earliest guitar influences and how
(02:14):
they shaped your playing style? And by the way, thank
you for gracing us with the wonderful wall of guitars
back there. It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
It's my toolbox, you know. I started seriously listening to
music when I was probably about ten or eleven years old.
I got my first guitar when I was twelve.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
It was.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
A Kent my parents paid five dollars for it was
an acoustic guitar. A year later, I begged for an
electric guitar and I got a Canora, which was fifty
nine dollars. That was a really big move. It was just,
you know, obviously an expensive Japanese guitar, but I loved
it at night. I have it here in my Iraq. Actually,
(03:03):
on the other side, I had it refurbished and it's
back to its original But for me, the influences that
I listened to in the very beginning, where you know,
I listened to the Beach Boys, listened to the Stones.
I was not a big Beatles fan, but I did
like the variety in George Harrison's playing. Always great sounds
(03:24):
that they had. But of course it all changed when
Jimmy Hendrix arrived. And I remember clearly being in John
Retzi's he was our original drummers in his basement with
his brothers when we first got that Are You Experienced album?
Put it on and we were speechless. No one made
a sound through the whole thing. We were just so
(03:45):
shocked and blown away by what we were hearing. Jimmy
Henderson was not a direct influence on me, but he
was certainly his sensibilities made a big impression on me.
I went on to Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page they
were or Pete Townsend was an enormous influence. I loved
his rhythm playing and his acoustic playing. And as years
(04:08):
went on, you know, I listened to a lot of
different guitar players. Again in the early days, uh Steve
Howe from Yes and uh Steve Hackett from Genesis. So
there's been a long line, but those few in the
very beginning, we were very, very impactful for me.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
I've heard you discuss the the science of guitar constructions,
such as the the nuances of a solid body versus
a hollow body. Who helped grow your you know, immense
curiosity to this day of the instrument. And can you
talk about how, maybe over some instances you have reworked
(04:52):
some guitars to suit your very needs.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Yeah, you know, the stuff that I'm doing now with
envy of non I go, you know, I, you know,
I spin a round in my seat and I look
and I sort of look at the wall, and I go, okay, yeah,
that one's going to work on this song. So I
start there. I've always been kind of a bit of
a technical person. I don't know if I've learned a
(05:21):
lot directly from other guitar players or any specific guitar player.
I've always been intrigued by effects and how to manipulate
them and how to get the most out of them.
The stuff that I'm doing with Envy of None is
quite a departure from the stuff that Alex Slipston did
with Rush. It's a very different palette and I get
(05:44):
to make or create sounds that are not guitar like
on a guitar The first album was probably seventy percent
like that, where I made an effort to really create
sounds that were on guitar like unlike anything, and I
really enjoy that experiment. It's challenging, it's gratifying when you
(06:08):
when you're successful with it and you do some good
stuff and create some great sounds, And that's really kind
of where my head's at. I've always been inside the
instrument because I have such a background. I've been playing
since I was twelve years old, so over fifty years.
I understand what the difference is between a solid body
(06:29):
and a holibody, the tonality, the riz and strings and
how it's projected in the body, or whether it's a
solid body or a holl of body. It's just it's
always been a fascination for me, and I play every day.
I probably play a few hours a day, and I
always reserve an hour before I go to bed to play.
(06:53):
I keep a couple acoustic guitars in my bedroom and
it's the first thing I do when I walk into
that room before going to bed, as I play for
an hour, so I'm in a really good space. Guitar wiss.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
You know Russia's evolution over the years from album to
album as a fan, it really always kept me really
thirsty for, you know, the band's next great moment. I
was hoping we could jump across a few album to
album periods and kind of get your reflection on what
(07:23):
changed from from one to the other in that in
the terms of that evolution, if that's okay, first of all,
from Hemisphere to Permanent Waves, what was going on and
evolving in your mind and in the band's mind.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Then Hemispheers was a very challenging record to make. We
wanted to make one last attempt, or take one last
attempt at doing a concept record, much like twenty one
to twelve was. You know, we always were conceptual in
the way we put records together. They were always thematic
in terms of Neil's writing, they were always thematic with hemispheres.
(08:04):
We wanted to do that and really make it a
powerful concept piece, but it was very, very difficult. The
key that we chose to work in was a key
that was just outside of Getty's range, so it was
really difficult for him to do the vocals, and he
spent a great deal of time doing that. It was
(08:25):
quite an effort on his part. Once the record was finished,
we toured it. We really wanted to take a break
and reinvent or not reinvent ourselves, but just move forward.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
You know.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
We were always very progressive in the way we tried
to do things, and when we started writing the material
for Permanent Waves, it seemed to be quite It was fresher,
and the songs in general were shorter and more kind
of impactful and pointed, and that was really a departure
(08:57):
for us, and it was really the precursor for movie pictures.
You know, I don't know if we would have made
but we could just if we hadn't made that record.
You know, great memories of those two records, and things
were changing, you know, music was changing. We were always
had a finger on the pulse of what was happening
around us, and we used to say we were We
(09:18):
were never in the mainstream, but we were sort of
on the bank, walking along with it.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
What was going on. From Signals to Grace under Pressure,
that was another amazing evolution.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Signals also was a bit of a difficult record to make.
We struggled with mixing that record. We thought that perhaps
this was the time for us to look at different producers,
working with different people. We'd worked with Harry for a
lot of records it loved him and had such a
(09:52):
great time making records with them, great results. We felt
if we didn't, you know, take that leap at that time,
that we were I ever going to know what it
was like to work with someone else and what their
influence might be on the work that we were doing.
So we decided to work with a different co producer,
Peter Henderson on Grace and then that was full of
(10:15):
its own set of promise. That was also a difficult
record to make. We were in Quebec in the winter
and it was minus forties for weeks when we were
up there, and we made the best of it, but
we found that we had to work a lot harder
on that record as producers, and Peter was more of
(10:40):
a great engineer to work with, but when it came
to making decisions about production, he was not quite up
to snuff.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
So the Envy of None, the new project, Stitchy in Waves,
the excitement of your collaboration really just leaps out of
the speakers, Alex, it really does. It's bold, it's moody,
it's unique. The album, you know, follows your twenty twenty
two self titled debut, and then of course the EP
(11:11):
as well. Can you first talk about how Envy of
Nune first came together.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Sure, it's kind of a cool story. We were, you know,
Rush finished in twenty fifteen, the last tour, and I
just kind of hung out, you know, I was taking
time off, I wasn't playing a whole lot, but I
didn't completely abandon it. I don't know, probably about eight
months later, sometime in twenty sixteen, Andy Current approached me.
(11:41):
And I've known Andy for over forty years and he
worked in our office for twelve years, so you know,
we were very close. And he played in Cony Hatch,
you know, a quite well known big hair band in Canada,
and he asked me if I would put some guitars on,
just scratch guitars on some stuff that he was working on.
And yeah, sure I did that, and I did. I
(12:02):
did a few songs and they were scratched. I mean,
I didn't spend a whole lot of time on the sound.
I just used plugins sent it to him, uh, And
so it was kind of like enough of a work
tape for him. He was invited to be a judge
at a talent contest and Maya Win was one of
(12:23):
the contestants, one of one of his contestants, and he
said to her, you know you should What you should
do is as advice. What you should do is work
with other people, you know, learn more about yourself and
how you work, and and go from there. And she said, well, Andy,
I googled you, uh, and I know your background, So
why don't we work together? And he kind of laughed
(12:44):
and thought, Yo, that was pretty ballsy, and he said, Okay,
I'll send you a song that would kind of work
I'm kind of working on and and see what happens
we sent that. He sent her the song Liar, which
was on the first record that we had another fear
singer sing on with very very different style, and she
did her vocal sent it back and Andy said to
(13:08):
me said, you have to you have to hear this.
I listened to it. I wrote back to him, erase
everything that I did. I'm going to redo all the
guitars for real. We have to work with this woman.
We have to work with this girl. She was only
nineteen at the time, and I went on to use
her for another project that I was working on, and
then we just dove into what became Envy of None.
(13:29):
And I think that our sophomore record the difference. The
first one is very cinematic and it's very moody and tonal,
and but this second one has a lot of funk
in it. It's also cinematic and has lots of power.
But I think we are more of a unified band,
(13:49):
for lack of a better term. The first record, I
always said, you know, we're just four musicians getting together
to make music. But this second album, I think it's
it's indicative of the unity that we feel and the
closeness that we feel as friends and as writers.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Yeah, there's obviously this great spirit of joyous collaboration, and
you know, each of you challenging each other in a
wonderful way. And I mean, look, it's I give the
great you know, progressive rock alert for everybody on this,
but it's not just that. It goes beyond progressive rock,
which I love it. So I wanted to highlight some
(14:29):
of the songs in particular. First of all, the song
not Dead Yet, which is pretty amazing and powerful. I
see it as a look at agism and women in
the business and maybe in some regard, a mysterious poke
(14:50):
in the eye to the unfortunate reality in the world.
Do you want to talk about that song?
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Yeah, you know, and started working on that song lyrically,
as you know, a voice that you're never finished, you know,
so long as you have the spirit and the passion
and whatever it is that you're doing, you're not dead yet.
You can treat it like it's a new day every day.
(15:21):
When a Maya got it, she looked at it more
from a female's point of view. She understood where we
were coming from with it, and then she brought that
slant to it about a woman, particularly in the industry,
has a lot to say and it's a man's world
at times. It can be very, very different difficult. Yeah,
(15:41):
you know, it's it's never over and I can just
speaking for myself, I just feel rejuvenated. This is a
renaissance for me working on this material. I had some
health issues for the last couple of years, and I
went to a clinic and Ousta called Viva Meyer m
A White, and I had an amazing experience and I
came I left there a changed person. I learned how
(16:05):
to eat properly. I learned how to deal with the
problems that I have that are chronic and a way
to live with it. And I feel like I'm not
even close to being dead yet.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Amazing, amazing. Another one I love is the story. What
a great vibe to that one. Maya's vocals I think
are hints a bit of Amy Man but also of
Amy Lee from Evan Essence. I mean, they're really cool.
(16:36):
Can you talk about the story.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Yeah, story was primarily from Maya. It's you know, obviously
Maya's gone through a lot. She's during the recording of
this project, she went to India for a month. She
went as a chaperom for a adolescent you know thing
(17:01):
northern India, and it was it was an inspiring trip
for her. You know, she's had issues with a lot
of different things, and she's survived them and she's come
out of them glowing. You know, since she did this
trip and since we made the record and she rearranged
(17:25):
things in her life and got things sorted out. I
think what she was getting at with that song is,
you know, you want to be so good. I don't
mean good in a nice way. You just you want
to be good at everything, and you want to feel
good about yourself, and you want to be positive and
do the right things. And there's something in us that sabotages.
That's that little devil that sits on your shoulder that
(17:47):
sabotages you know, your your best intentions. And she wanted
to speak about that. But it's really one of my
favorite songs, and I get the solo on it. You know,
I've avoided playing solos because I don't want solos to
seem like a show off thing where I'm there in
the service of the song. But it was nice to
be able to play some solos on these records where
(18:09):
I thought they could be tastefully implemented to service the
song in the best way. So that song is really
a high point for me because I think that solo
really says a lot about the song, and it's really
the follow up part of that song after the solo
(18:30):
where we really drive the point home that's the most
powerful for me.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
And then the title tracks Digion Waves, which is just
so big and cinematic and just quintessential. Talk about that
one as well.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Dijon Waves was the last song that we worked on,
and earlier on it was gonna be another song, and
then we decided that maybe we'll just treat it as
an instrumental and when Maya heard that, she said, great,
I'd like to really let loose a bit for her
and just do vocalizations in it. You know, there's a
(19:12):
little bit of a line that she picked up from
her trip to India, but other than that, it's just vocalizations.
And Maya, I got to tell you, when she delivers
vocal tracks, it's not like five tracks with a vocal
and a double and two or three harmonies. She sends
twenty or twenty five tracks of the most incredible stuff.
(19:32):
Everything is fully produced, so all the effects are on it.
It's exactly the way she hears it, and it is astounding.
I mean, honestly, she's she's bordering on genius at times
with this record, and it is just such a great,
great thing to work with her. We dance together, and
(19:52):
that's one song where we really danced well together. It
has flavors of for trippern in Middle Eastern flavors, heavy industrial,
like a lot of things. It's a very active song,
lots of stuff going on, and melody's going on is
whipping around and power, and it was really a great
way to finish the record. And like the Stygian Waves
(20:16):
at the Gates of Hell, it's chaotic, it's turbulent and
and I think we we did exactly what we wanted
to do with our closing number with Stigion Waves.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
It's fantastic, it really is. And when I think of
the future, I know you have worked on some things
with Andy that have been soundtrack related projects. Is that
something still in your in your mind to pursue at
(20:49):
some point? And additionally, I know the band has not
been seen live on stage. Is there a future out
on the stage as well?
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Yeah, so Andy and I have done some things together.
It's it's a very competitive area of music to get into,
but it's really a lot of fun and we did
a few things. I've done a few things with someone
else that that is a writer for, you know, that
sort of work. We're hoping that we can get placement
(21:21):
with some of these Envy of Nun songs. We did
get placement on that song Liar on a Netflix series,
so there's that I would I would like to do it.
It's great to work to a visual, but right now
I've been so busy with Envy of Nun and a
few other projects that I'm working on, so I'm not
really missing that part so far. And playing live, I
(21:45):
think we've talked about it. We'd love to do it
because we think we could put on an amazing evening
of music. To play the both records in a nice
hall with a nice pa and light show. It could
be really a great evening of music. But the logistics
are not so easy. You know. It's a different industry
(22:06):
now from the one I grew up in at my
age at seventy one years old and my history. I'm
not ready to jump in a van and drive around
the country playing you know, nightly shows. If there was
some way to do it where we could go into
a city and do some multiple shows and maybe a
couple of cities, that's a possibility. At the same time,
(22:27):
we're relatively unknown, so to get the interest it's hit
and missed, and to get a promoter interested, we did
some numbers. We spoke to our agent and we looked
at some numbers, and we would only lose thousands of
dollars by doing something like a live show. So until
the conditions are a little bit better, I don't think
it's possible, but we're certainly interested in doing it.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
I'm so glad your health is well after your trip there,
and I'm so inspired by you were you know, cre
creative confidence and happiness with envy of none and it's
just such a fan of your work. I'm so appreciative
that you were on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Alex Lifson, thank you so much fun. It's been a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
and wherever you get your podcasts.
Taking a walk, and you're never finished, you know, so
long as you have the spirits and the passion and
whatever it is that you're doing, you're not dead yet.
You can treat it like it's a new day every day.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast hosted by Buzz Night,
the show where Buzz speaks with some of music's greatest
legends about their music, their influences, and their latest work.
His guest today is the great Alex Lifson from the
band Rush. Alex his new music out with his band
Envy of None, called Stygian Waves. You'll hear the inside
(00:36):
story of his new music, along with some stories from
his amazing days with the Canadian power trio Rush. Buzz
Night is joined by Alex Leifson on the Taking a
Walk Podcast right now.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
So, Alex, welcome to Taking a Walk. It's such an honor.
We're going to talk about your new music from Envy
of None. We might touch on this little power trio
name Rush as well in your career. But since the
podcast is called Taking a Walk, I did want to
ask you if you could take a walk with someone
(01:13):
living or dead could be involved with music, doesn't have
to be Is there someone you would like to take
a walk with and where would you take a walk
with him?
Speaker 1 (01:23):
I would love to take a walk with my dad.
My dad died twenty one years ago, but I think
of him often, as we do when we've lost a parent,
and I would love to ask him if I did, okay, Dad,
(01:44):
if I if I became the man you hoped I
would become and did the things that make a difference
in the world. And I think he'd be proud of me.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
I dare say he would for sure, because you have
made a difference and you're still making a difference, and
the beauty of the music that you continue to give
us is amazing. So thank you, thank you, thank you.
Can you talk about the earliest guitar influences and how
(02:14):
they shaped your playing style? And by the way, thank
you for gracing us with the wonderful wall of guitars
back there. It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
It's my toolbox, you know. I started seriously listening to
music when I was probably about ten or eleven years old.
I got my first guitar when I was twelve.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
It was.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
A Kent my parents paid five dollars for it was
an acoustic guitar. A year later, I begged for an
electric guitar and I got a Canora, which was fifty
nine dollars. That was a really big move. It was just,
you know, obviously an expensive Japanese guitar, but I loved
it at night. I have it here in my Iraq. Actually,
(03:03):
on the other side, I had it refurbished and it's
back to its original But for me, the influences that
I listened to in the very beginning, where you know,
I listened to the Beach Boys, listened to the Stones.
I was not a big Beatles fan, but I did
like the variety in George Harrison's playing. Always great sounds
(03:24):
that they had. But of course it all changed when
Jimmy Hendrix arrived. And I remember clearly being in John
Retzi's he was our original drummers in his basement with
his brothers when we first got that Are You Experienced album?
Put it on and we were speechless. No one made
a sound through the whole thing. We were just so
(03:45):
shocked and blown away by what we were hearing. Jimmy
Henderson was not a direct influence on me, but he
was certainly his sensibilities made a big impression on me.
I went on to Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page they
were or Pete Townsend was an enormous influence. I loved
his rhythm playing and his acoustic playing. And as years
(04:08):
went on, you know, I listened to a lot of
different guitar players. Again in the early days, uh Steve
Howe from Yes and uh Steve Hackett from Genesis. So
there's been a long line, but those few in the
very beginning, we were very, very impactful for me.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
I've heard you discuss the the science of guitar constructions,
such as the the nuances of a solid body versus
a hollow body. Who helped grow your you know, immense
curiosity to this day of the instrument. And can you
talk about how, maybe over some instances you have reworked
(04:52):
some guitars to suit your very needs.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Yeah, you know, the stuff that I'm doing now with
envy of non I go, you know, I, you know,
I spin a round in my seat and I look
and I sort of look at the wall, and I go, okay, yeah,
that one's going to work on this song. So I
start there. I've always been kind of a bit of
a technical person. I don't know if I've learned a
(05:21):
lot directly from other guitar players or any specific guitar player.
I've always been intrigued by effects and how to manipulate
them and how to get the most out of them.
The stuff that I'm doing with Envy of None is
quite a departure from the stuff that Alex Slipston did
with Rush. It's a very different palette and I get
(05:44):
to make or create sounds that are not guitar like
on a guitar The first album was probably seventy percent
like that, where I made an effort to really create
sounds that were on guitar like unlike anything, and I
really enjoy that experiment. It's challenging, it's gratifying when you
(06:08):
when you're successful with it and you do some good
stuff and create some great sounds, And that's really kind
of where my head's at. I've always been inside the
instrument because I have such a background. I've been playing
since I was twelve years old, so over fifty years.
I understand what the difference is between a solid body
(06:29):
and a holibody, the tonality, the riz and strings and
how it's projected in the body, or whether it's a
solid body or a holl of body. It's just it's
always been a fascination for me, and I play every day.
I probably play a few hours a day, and I
always reserve an hour before I go to bed to play.
(06:53):
I keep a couple acoustic guitars in my bedroom and
it's the first thing I do when I walk into
that room before going to bed, as I play for
an hour, so I'm in a really good space. Guitar wiss.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
You know Russia's evolution over the years from album to
album as a fan, it really always kept me really
thirsty for, you know, the band's next great moment. I
was hoping we could jump across a few album to
album periods and kind of get your reflection on what
(07:23):
changed from from one to the other in that in
the terms of that evolution, if that's okay, first of all,
from Hemisphere to Permanent Waves, what was going on and
evolving in your mind and in the band's mind.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Then Hemispheers was a very challenging record to make. We
wanted to make one last attempt, or take one last
attempt at doing a concept record, much like twenty one
to twelve was. You know, we always were conceptual in
the way we put records together. They were always thematic
in terms of Neil's writing, they were always thematic with hemispheres.
(08:04):
We wanted to do that and really make it a
powerful concept piece, but it was very, very difficult. The
key that we chose to work in was a key
that was just outside of Getty's range, so it was
really difficult for him to do the vocals, and he
spent a great deal of time doing that. It was
(08:25):
quite an effort on his part. Once the record was finished,
we toured it. We really wanted to take a break
and reinvent or not reinvent ourselves, but just move forward.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
You know.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
We were always very progressive in the way we tried
to do things, and when we started writing the material
for Permanent Waves, it seemed to be quite It was fresher,
and the songs in general were shorter and more kind
of impactful and pointed, and that was really a departure
(08:57):
for us, and it was really the precursor for movie pictures.
You know, I don't know if we would have made
but we could just if we hadn't made that record.
You know, great memories of those two records, and things
were changing, you know, music was changing. We were always
had a finger on the pulse of what was happening
around us, and we used to say we were We
(09:18):
were never in the mainstream, but we were sort of
on the bank, walking along with it.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
What was going on. From Signals to Grace under Pressure,
that was another amazing evolution.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Signals also was a bit of a difficult record to make.
We struggled with mixing that record. We thought that perhaps
this was the time for us to look at different producers,
working with different people. We'd worked with Harry for a
lot of records it loved him and had such a
(09:52):
great time making records with them, great results. We felt
if we didn't, you know, take that leap at that time,
that we were I ever going to know what it
was like to work with someone else and what their
influence might be on the work that we were doing.
So we decided to work with a different co producer,
Peter Henderson on Grace and then that was full of
(10:15):
its own set of promise. That was also a difficult
record to make. We were in Quebec in the winter
and it was minus forties for weeks when we were
up there, and we made the best of it, but
we found that we had to work a lot harder
on that record as producers, and Peter was more of
(10:40):
a great engineer to work with, but when it came
to making decisions about production, he was not quite up
to snuff.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
So the Envy of None, the new project, Stitchy in Waves,
the excitement of your collaboration really just leaps out of
the speakers, Alex, it really does. It's bold, it's moody,
it's unique. The album, you know, follows your twenty twenty
two self titled debut, and then of course the EP
(11:11):
as well. Can you first talk about how Envy of
Nune first came together.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Sure, it's kind of a cool story. We were, you know,
Rush finished in twenty fifteen, the last tour, and I
just kind of hung out, you know, I was taking
time off, I wasn't playing a whole lot, but I
didn't completely abandon it. I don't know, probably about eight
months later, sometime in twenty sixteen, Andy Current approached me.
(11:41):
And I've known Andy for over forty years and he
worked in our office for twelve years, so you know,
we were very close. And he played in Cony Hatch,
you know, a quite well known big hair band in Canada,
and he asked me if I would put some guitars on,
just scratch guitars on some stuff that he was working on.
And yeah, sure I did that, and I did. I
(12:02):
did a few songs and they were scratched. I mean,
I didn't spend a whole lot of time on the sound.
I just used plugins sent it to him, uh, And
so it was kind of like enough of a work
tape for him. He was invited to be a judge
at a talent contest and Maya Win was one of
(12:23):
the contestants, one of one of his contestants, and he
said to her, you know you should What you should
do is as advice. What you should do is work
with other people, you know, learn more about yourself and
how you work, and and go from there. And she said, well, Andy,
I googled you, uh, and I know your background, So
why don't we work together? And he kind of laughed
(12:44):
and thought, Yo, that was pretty ballsy, and he said, Okay,
I'll send you a song that would kind of work
I'm kind of working on and and see what happens
we sent that. He sent her the song Liar, which
was on the first record that we had another fear
singer sing on with very very different style, and she
did her vocal sent it back and Andy said to
(13:08):
me said, you have to you have to hear this.
I listened to it. I wrote back to him, erase
everything that I did. I'm going to redo all the
guitars for real. We have to work with this woman.
We have to work with this girl. She was only
nineteen at the time, and I went on to use
her for another project that I was working on, and
then we just dove into what became Envy of None.
(13:29):
And I think that our sophomore record the difference. The
first one is very cinematic and it's very moody and tonal,
and but this second one has a lot of funk
in it. It's also cinematic and has lots of power.
But I think we are more of a unified band,
(13:49):
for lack of a better term. The first record, I
always said, you know, we're just four musicians getting together
to make music. But this second album, I think it's
it's indicative of the unity that we feel and the
closeness that we feel as friends and as writers.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Yeah, there's obviously this great spirit of joyous collaboration, and
you know, each of you challenging each other in a
wonderful way. And I mean, look, it's I give the
great you know, progressive rock alert for everybody on this,
but it's not just that. It goes beyond progressive rock,
which I love it. So I wanted to highlight some
(14:29):
of the songs in particular. First of all, the song
not Dead Yet, which is pretty amazing and powerful. I
see it as a look at agism and women in
the business and maybe in some regard, a mysterious poke
(14:50):
in the eye to the unfortunate reality in the world.
Do you want to talk about that song?
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Yeah, you know, and started working on that song lyrically,
as you know, a voice that you're never finished, you know,
so long as you have the spirit and the passion
and whatever it is that you're doing, you're not dead yet.
You can treat it like it's a new day every day.
(15:21):
When a Maya got it, she looked at it more
from a female's point of view. She understood where we
were coming from with it, and then she brought that
slant to it about a woman, particularly in the industry,
has a lot to say and it's a man's world
at times. It can be very, very different difficult. Yeah,
(15:41):
you know, it's it's never over and I can just
speaking for myself, I just feel rejuvenated. This is a
renaissance for me working on this material. I had some
health issues for the last couple of years, and I
went to a clinic and Ousta called Viva Meyer m
A White, and I had an amazing experience and I
came I left there a changed person. I learned how
(16:05):
to eat properly. I learned how to deal with the
problems that I have that are chronic and a way
to live with it. And I feel like I'm not
even close to being dead yet.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Amazing, amazing. Another one I love is the story. What
a great vibe to that one. Maya's vocals I think
are hints a bit of Amy Man but also of
Amy Lee from Evan Essence. I mean, they're really cool.
(16:36):
Can you talk about the story.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Yeah, story was primarily from Maya. It's you know, obviously
Maya's gone through a lot. She's during the recording of
this project, she went to India for a month. She
went as a chaperom for a adolescent you know thing
(17:01):
northern India, and it was it was an inspiring trip
for her. You know, she's had issues with a lot
of different things, and she's survived them and she's come
out of them glowing. You know, since she did this
trip and since we made the record and she rearranged
(17:25):
things in her life and got things sorted out. I
think what she was getting at with that song is,
you know, you want to be so good. I don't
mean good in a nice way. You just you want
to be good at everything, and you want to feel
good about yourself, and you want to be positive and
do the right things. And there's something in us that sabotages.
That's that little devil that sits on your shoulder that
(17:47):
sabotages you know, your your best intentions. And she wanted
to speak about that. But it's really one of my
favorite songs, and I get the solo on it. You know,
I've avoided playing solos because I don't want solos to
seem like a show off thing where I'm there in
the service of the song. But it was nice to
be able to play some solos on these records where
(18:09):
I thought they could be tastefully implemented to service the
song in the best way. So that song is really
a high point for me because I think that solo
really says a lot about the song, and it's really
the follow up part of that song after the solo
(18:30):
where we really drive the point home that's the most
powerful for me.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
And then the title tracks Digion Waves, which is just
so big and cinematic and just quintessential. Talk about that
one as well.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Dijon Waves was the last song that we worked on,
and earlier on it was gonna be another song, and
then we decided that maybe we'll just treat it as
an instrumental and when Maya heard that, she said, great,
I'd like to really let loose a bit for her
and just do vocalizations in it. You know, there's a
(19:12):
little bit of a line that she picked up from
her trip to India, but other than that, it's just vocalizations.
And Maya, I got to tell you, when she delivers
vocal tracks, it's not like five tracks with a vocal
and a double and two or three harmonies. She sends
twenty or twenty five tracks of the most incredible stuff.
(19:32):
Everything is fully produced, so all the effects are on it.
It's exactly the way she hears it, and it is astounding.
I mean, honestly, she's she's bordering on genius at times
with this record, and it is just such a great,
great thing to work with her. We dance together, and
(19:52):
that's one song where we really danced well together. It
has flavors of for trippern in Middle Eastern flavors, heavy industrial,
like a lot of things. It's a very active song,
lots of stuff going on, and melody's going on is
whipping around and power, and it was really a great
way to finish the record. And like the Stygian Waves
(20:16):
at the Gates of Hell, it's chaotic, it's turbulent and
and I think we we did exactly what we wanted
to do with our closing number with Stigion Waves.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
It's fantastic, it really is. And when I think of
the future, I know you have worked on some things
with Andy that have been soundtrack related projects. Is that
something still in your in your mind to pursue at
(20:49):
some point? And additionally, I know the band has not
been seen live on stage. Is there a future out
on the stage as well?
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Yeah, so Andy and I have done some things together.
It's it's a very competitive area of music to get into,
but it's really a lot of fun and we did
a few things. I've done a few things with someone
else that that is a writer for, you know, that
sort of work. We're hoping that we can get placement
(21:21):
with some of these Envy of Nun songs. We did
get placement on that song Liar on a Netflix series,
so there's that I would I would like to do it.
It's great to work to a visual, but right now
I've been so busy with Envy of Nun and a
few other projects that I'm working on, so I'm not
really missing that part so far. And playing live, I
(21:45):
think we've talked about it. We'd love to do it
because we think we could put on an amazing evening
of music. To play the both records in a nice
hall with a nice pa and light show. It could
be really a great evening of music. But the logistics
are not so easy. You know. It's a different industry
(22:06):
now from the one I grew up in at my
age at seventy one years old and my history. I'm
not ready to jump in a van and drive around
the country playing you know, nightly shows. If there was
some way to do it where we could go into
a city and do some multiple shows and maybe a
couple of cities, that's a possibility. At the same time,
(22:27):
we're relatively unknown, so to get the interest it's hit
and missed, and to get a promoter interested, we did
some numbers. We spoke to our agent and we looked
at some numbers, and we would only lose thousands of
dollars by doing something like a live show. So until
the conditions are a little bit better, I don't think
it's possible, but we're certainly interested in doing it.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
I'm so glad your health is well after your trip there,
and I'm so inspired by you were you know, cre
creative confidence and happiness with envy of none and it's
just such a fan of your work. I'm so appreciative
that you were on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Alex Lifson, thank you so much fun. It's been a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
and wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Lynn Hoffman
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