LLEXI LEON
Questions asked by Jon Wilde, added to Rock Realms 30th January 2009.
Llexi Leon is the guitarist/artistic mastermind behind London based gothic/industrial band Eternal Descent. Eternal Descent's music is intrinsically entwined with comic book imagery and mythological ideologies. Try saying that without sounding intelligent!
Hi Llexi, How would you describe your musical style?
Llexi: I figure it's pretty contemporary. Lots of orchestral and cinematic elements, but referencing metal, industrial, and some classic rock stuff at the same time. There is definitely a dark theme to a lot of it, quite gothic, and that is something which flows over the visual side of things too.
Who are your biggest influences?
Llexi: Creatively speaking, a pretty mixed bag! Rachmaninov, Bach, Beethoven, Vangelis, Howard Shore, Jeff Beck, Martin Simpson, Jason Becker, Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, George Lynch, Metallica, Alice in Chains, UFO, Sugizo, Dir En Grey... The list could go on and on really, and that’s just the musical stuff. In the art world, there is just too much great content to even start, I’ll mention Michael Turner though, he was a big influence for me in the comic art world, sadly he passed away last year.
Did you grow up in a musical family?
Llexi: Not really, although everyone in my family has a strong appreciation for music, so I was exposed to everything from classical guitar tapes and The Eagles records, through to Nirvana and Alice and Chains from my older sister.
Were you the cool kid or the musical geek at school?
Llexi: I was bunking off classes to shred through my scale and chord workouts. So I had the music geek thing going down, but I managed to retain some kudos by skipping class to indulge in my geekdom. Funny how that worked out.. (Not that I’d advocate such behaviour!)
When did you decide to focus on music and art? Did you start out with intentions of a normal boring career?
Llexi: I think the sheer prospect of a regular 9-5 career is what put me onto the path of starting my own company, and being my own boss. I guess I was around 16 or so when I thought... You know what, getting up at 7am and commuting just isn’t for me!
You are working with Eddie Kramer on the new record. That must be pretty huge?
Llexi: So I’m told! Seriously though, Eddie is a really great guy, and aside from the fact he’s a remarkable musician with a legendary resume, it's a pleasure to work with someone so experienced and educated in their field, and yet so willing to adapt to new styles, concepts and genres. I’m extremely lucky that he’s decided to get involved in Eternal Descent, and I can assure you the new record will be something very special. Nothing else out there is going to come close to what we’re putting together!
How is the recording going?
Llexi: It’s all pre-production stages at the moment, and sourcing the correct equipment to pull out the sounds we’re after. It’s a massive project! Right now I’m working through the scores for the whole thing, we’re talking like 60 minutes of notation, for strings, pianos, oboes, guitars, etc etc. While all that is going on, we’re picking out amplifiers and guitars, to get the right tones for certain sections. Some parts are going to be crushing, huge, in your face metal, while others will be haunting melodies or classic lead tones against the orchestra.
What has new guitarist Rob Sutherland added to the Eternal Descent sound?
Llexi: Rob is a scorching guitar player, he’s a guy with a great expression and dynamic in his playing. It helps that he’s very open minded musically, and really receptive to all the complex layered harmony we’re creating. As for his contribution to the record, you’ll really hear him as the backbone of the guitars, injecting the riffs with passion and groove in a way that a lot of guitarists just can’t come close. No doubt he’ll be harmonizing a bunch of the leading melodies too, and we’re working on some crazy counter point lead guitar stuff, A’la Cacophony (Marty Friedman Vs Jason Becker!)
You’re a big fan of integrating orchestral scores into your music. Any work on the horizon in the movie industry, or is that perhaps something you’d like to do in the future?
Llexi: Well, I wont say too much, but movies is definitely something we’re looking into with the Eternal Descent project!
Your music is intertwined with animation. How did the connection start?
Llexi: Originally I wanted to animate a music video for every track on my first album, Losing Faith. It turned out to be a massive time sink, and after nearly a year of hard work and ongoing development, I really wasn’t happy with the results, and pretty much canned that aspect of the project. On the plus side, that is when I realised the animation had fleshed out storyboards and scripts for most of the saga, which enabled me to easily translate everything to a comic book medium. The music, combined with the development content from the animation, and some concept artwork from a few different guys, made it easy to get the attention of some brilliant comic book artists, inkers and colourists, who were all eager to get started on the book.
Catch 22 question: What comes first, the comic book visuals or the music?
Llexi: Originally the visuals were in my head, and they became clearer the more I tried to visualize things through the music. As I tweaked the harmony and sounds to achieve the mood or ambience fitting to the hazy silhouettes I was seeing in my minds eye, the visions would become clearer, causing detailed characters and locations to take shape through my imagination. So in short, the sound and visuals feed off each other!
Judging by the pictures floating around the internet, you’re obviously a talented artist. Has any of your work been used elsewhere, or do you focus it all towards the music?
Llexi: I’m more of a concept guy and a designer. Whilst I did create and write the book, I don’t really take credit for the Eternal Descent artwork as most of it is fleshed out by a team of brilliant artists I work with. That team is headed up by Jason Metcalf, who is a phenomenal pencil artist. As it happens though, there is a lot of my own artwork floating around from the early animations, and plenty of concept material in piles at my home. Eventually I’ll officially release some work for Eternal Descent that is entirely of my own making. In the meantime, I act more as artistic director ;)
One of your main characters is called Loki (interestingly the name of one of my cats!) Does Nordic culture influence your work heavily, or is it just that Loki is a cool name?
Llexi: Great name for a Cat! I do draw a little on Nordic culture, along with biblical references, Greek myths, and legends in general. As you might have noticed, Loki can be seen wielding a long metallic hammer bound in various metals with some nasty spikes. This is actually a nod to the hammer of Thor, another Nordic reference. It’s fun to skim the surface of a culture and simply reference something because its cool, then at a later stage, that can provide a whole new element of depth for a story arc or plot twist. The thing about the characters and visuals in Eternal Descent is they present a great potential for a rich lore and history, which I’m constantly building upon.
What’s the story behind the possible Llexi Leon/Eternal Descent computer game?
Llexi: We were working on a 2D scrolling adventure / fighting type game for Portable consoles and downloadable content. There is a bunch of killer development content, but it’s on hold at the moment while I deal with the comic book and the album with Eddie!
You covered The Phantom Of The Opera song. Any other well known songs you’d like to give the Llexi Leon touch?
Llexi: I’ll have to keep them to myself for now, otherwise it won't be a surprise when I get round to my album of covers! Oh damn, let that one slip out.
What does your tie up with ESP guitars mean for you? It must be the coolest thing ever getting your artwork on a guitar made by one of the big companies!
Llexi: Oh it's awesome for sure. They actually made 3 prototypes for the NAMM show, one was an Eclipse model with artwork printed straight from the comic, and the other two actually had the artwork inked and airbrushed by hand! I got to keep one of the painted ones, a custom built M-series, just like Kirk Hammett from Metallica. He has a few with graphics from horror movies like The Mummy, and Dracula. Now I have one with a gorgeous graphic of Lyra, from the front cover of Eternal Descent No.1. It feels great to be given the same level of instrument as iconic musicians like that!
How did the tie up come about?
Llexi: I’ve been using ESP guitars for nearly a decade anyway, so they were my obvious choice for performance and recording. When it came to the visual side of things, it all just fell into place... They have models like the EX and the F-series, guitars which already look demonic and aggressive, what better instrument to bestow to a hellish pit lord or a possessed succubus! I approached ESP directly to deal with the legal issues of reproducing their instruments likeness and logos in my comic book, because I wanted them to be realistic as possible, as a nod to the instruments I actually use. Turned out plenty of guys at ESP USA who love comic books, and were real keen on the project. We worked together very closely since then.
Does the music industry reinforce or destroy your faith in humanity?
Llexi: As an independent in this industry, I’m grateful that I’ve been able to come as far as I have, without relying on the typical industry machine of labels and management, etc. I’m not sure I approve of the typical music industry business models, which definitely don’t instill me with much faith! I wont rant about that here though ;) On the flip side, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and working with many fantastic people in the music industry, both artists and business/corporate guys. I think the important thing is to be very careful who you work with, and how you go about your work!
Which song are you most proud of working on/writing... so far?
Llexi: The new album is like 1 giant symphonic track. I guess we’ll break it down into multiple tracks eventually, but until then, its got to to be ‘Album 2 – Full Arrangement’ as the score is titled on my workstation!
What are you up to once you’ve finished being interrogated?
Llexi: It's about midnight now, so I’ll probably make a couple calls to the USA since they’re 8 hours behind. Then it's last minute e-mail check, and a couple of Aqua Teen Hunger Force episodes before I get some sleep.
Thank you for your time, you are free to go...
Llexi: Cheers Jon, Take it easy!
The new Eternal Descent album will be out... when it's finished. Rest assured you'll hear all about it here! Check out Llexi's instructional guitar videos on YouTube. For more information, have a look at their main website or their MySpace site.
