Chicago Rocker Leon Frear is back after his debut with his new single, A Town Called Chapel. This is from his upcoming album, Wild Rice, which shows his range of influences. Creative, bursting with ideas and a unique approach to music places his songs on a pedestal that is awe-inspiring. Lost in the Manor interviews Leon Frear about his styles, approaches, and how he makes music.
1) Please introduce us to your latest single and upcoming album?
I debuted with the single ‘Secret Second Moon’ and the newest single is ‘A Town Called Chapel’. It's the first song on my debut album ‘Wild Rice’, which will be out at the beginning of March.
2) What is your philosophy or approach to the music you create?
I don't have one over-arching philosophy for the music I make and I try not to get too wrapped up in thinking any one way is the way. I don't really concentrate on things like playing within a genre or keeping to one type of sound. But sometimes I get an idea for a melody and I will just pull on that thread until I tease out where it wants to go. I don't have any formal training or real grasp of music theory so my songs tend to develop organically, rather than being something I've planned out.
Lyrics, on the other hand, are more the marrow of my songs. Even if I don't have all of the puzzle pieces yet, every song I've ever written has sprung from some turn of phrase, hook or few paragraphs. It always starts with the words.
3) How did you first get into making music and what instruments do you play / did you play on this album?
I first realized I had musical talent way back in Sunday school. I was banging on this toy Cherokee drum like a little devil. My Sunday school teacher was so impressed she told me I ought to get out of her class right away and go join a band.
I recorded the ‘Wild Rice’ abum in my home studio and, mostly because I didn't really know anyone when I moved to Chicago, I just played every instrument myself. I've always made records in the context of being in a band, so I had never done that before. It was rough going at first. It's not really a great space for recording. The rooms are boxy, it's noisy and most of my gear is pretty out of date. And doing everything alone meant I had to re-invent and re-learn my approach to recording. Especially when it came to things like practicing and playing drum parts. I'm not a drummer by trade. I mostly just play guitar and do two finger melodies on the keyboards. Well, I know a little bit, but the effort it took to learn some of those parts and to play them well enough for the record was definitely a challenge.
4) What are the themes running through your latest single and forthcoming album?
‘A Town Called Chapel’ is a song about leaving home that I wrote right before I decided that, for my own well-being, I needed to leave my home. So I packed up all of my things and moved hundreds of miles to Chicago. If you've ever loved a person or a place that turned out to be destructive for you, you might find something in the track that you can relate to. Starting over was one of the hardest decisions I'll ever make. 10 years have passed and I still think about the friends and lovers I left behind, and I still lose sleep wondering if some of them will ever forgive me for it.
Most of this album, Wild Rice, it was inspired by this painful time in my life where a lot of things changed for me. I lost friends, relationships, property, love and community. I had to start my life over. And I needed to sober up. You know, it takes time for some of those things. So I embraced a long period of isolation in a place where it seems like winter can last 9 months. But these songs started bouncing around in my head. And after a while I started working on writing more lyrics and telling the story and putting everything down on tape. In a lot of ways this record is just me wailing in pain and anger and hoping listeners will hear that in these songs and feel that anguish along with me. I decided to call it Wild Rice as a tongue in cheek homage to reaping what you sow.
5) How have the artists you've interacted with or the music you love influenced the way you create, release or consume music today?
I was fortunate enough to come of age during the tail end of the punk/indie rock movement of the late 90's early 00's. And one of the reasons I make music now is because those artists made everything seem so accessible. It was truly inspiring to think that recording and releasing your own album was something that anyone could just go and do. I think about Dischord, Simple Machines and Merge records, and all of those punk and indie bands that were constantly coming to town, and the message was always just, "we're regular people ''. It made me think "I can do this too." Be in a band, make a record, go on tour. I like to think that the spirit of that still motivates me today.
6) If you could collaborate with any artist, living or dead, who would it be and why?
Hmm... Maybe Grant Hart? A younger Leon Frear might have given you a different answer, but I chose Grant because he's someone whose work I've come to appreciate more and more as I've grown as a songwriter. I used to listen to those Husker Dü records with a heavy hand on the skip button and it was all because I didn't really care much for Hart's singing voice. And maybe Bob just naturally grabbed a lot of the spotlight. But now I know I just wasn't a very good listener back then. Comparing the two primary songwriters in retrospect, I've come to feel that Grant's songs incorporated more complex melodies and interesting subject matter. There was also an earnestness to his lyrics that I just really appreciate. As someone who knows he's probably not the best singer in the world I can really find inspiration in that. I can still write interesting, well-crafted music. I just have to hope that my fans are better listeners than I was!
7) Has living in Chicago somehow come to shape your sound or is there a geographic element of influence here at all?
I always thought Chicago bands like Tortoise, Shellac and Gastr Del Sol were cool, and I like to think exposure to music from a multitude of places converged to influence or inspire my sound(s). There's definitely a geographic element to ‘A Town Called Chapel’ and ‘Wild Rice’, but Chicago mostly served as the blank canvas, the proving ground for the stories I'm telling on this album and this song. The truth is a greater geographic element of influence is the small college town I'm from, where all of this started. So, yeah, Chicago was the workshop or studio, maybe the isolation chamber, but the stories are layers of paint sourced mostly from an old suitcase I brought with me from the South.
8) Would you say that the reason you began making music is still the reason that you are still making music today? Please explain.
Figuring out why I started making music would probably take more therapy than I could ever afford. Really though, I can't tell you why I started making music other than it's just something I've always done. Even as a kid, I wrote these silly little songs. But after I hit my teens I moved to a small music town and things really took off. Being a part of that scene, that community, playing real gigs. I fell in love with all of that. It became my identity. Writing songs isn't always something that's easy to do. They don't usually spring forth whole cloth. They don't all turn out to be good. But I couldn't imagine a version of my life where I didn't try to write songs.
9) What are you listening to lately and which newer / emerging artists can you recommend to our readers?
Lately I've been enjoying listening to a lot of DeVotchka, and that new Idles material I've heard has been pretty rad. I've also recently discovered an artist called Micah P. Henson who I'm really excited about catching up on. There's just so much content/product being put out there these days by new and emerging artists. I worry that a lot of the good stuff is being drowned out by acts who are mostly just interested in instant fame or a big payday from their viral video or song. Sometimes I think there must be so much I'm missing out on.
10) Can you share anything about your plans for the next year or so that fans can look forward to?
My third single is just around the corner. It's called "A Morning House" and it will be out on January 30th. There's also the possibility of another video coming in the next few months. It's something I would love to be able to do. It will depend a little bit on the response to the album release and whether or not it makes sense financially. Other than that I'm really keen to start working on the next record. I've got a pretty good idea of what the title and theme will be and some of the songs partially written. But considering how long it took to fully complete Wild Rice, it may be a while before any of that sees the light of day.
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