Éric Speed

Story by Gabriel Bélanger | Friday March 16th, 2012

Translations prior to Fall 2013 are currently unavailable. 

Virtuose du violon, Éric Bérard, mieux connu sous son pseudonyme d’Éric Speed, détient le record Guinness du violoniste le plus rapide du monde avec son interprétation du Vol du bourdon de Rimski-Korsakov en moins d’une minute. Cette grande maîtrise de son instrument s’explique entre autres par ses débuts très précoces à l’âge de trois ans. En effet, c’est dès sa plus tendre enfance qu’Éric se découvre une passion pour la musique : « j’ai appris à lire les notes avant même les mots. Ma première langue, c’est la musique ».

C’est donc très jeune qu’il commence à favoriser ce mode d’expression : « Pendant que mes amis jouaient dehors, je pratiquais jusqu’à quatre heures par jour. » Il explique par ailleurs avoir dû malgré tout réapprendre beaucoup des techniques de base lors de son entrée au cours préparatoire du Conservatoire de musique vers l’âge de huit ans, car il avait développé certains mauvais réflexes.
Il reste au Conservatoire jusqu’à compléter un baccalauréat et acquiert ainsi un solide bagage technique et classique. Il sait très tôt qu’il consacrera sa vie à la musique : « Professionnellement, je n’ai jamais été capable de faire autre chose que de la musique. » Des formations estivales à Orford le mettent en contact avec le jazz, auquel il se consacre au début de la vingtaine. Il forme alors un trio « à la Grappelli » et interprétera d’ailleurs par la suite le rôle du célèbre violoniste dans le long métrage hollywoodien Head in the Clouds (2004).

« j’ai appris à lire les notes avant même les mots. Ma première langue, c’est la musique »

C’est en 2003 qu’il découvre le violon électrique chez Archambault. Il se souvient : « Au début, ça ne me plaisait pas du tout, ce n’est pas arrangé comme un violon professionnel, le manche, la touche, tout était mal ajusté pour moi. » Il acquiert malgré tout l’instrument et l’amène à son luthier pour qu’il l’adapte à son jeu. Après quelques spectacles couronnés de succès avec ce nouvel outil, on lui demande d’autres compositions et il décide de s’engager dans cette nouvelle avenue, qui deviendra importante dans le développement de sa personnalité artistique : « Le violon électrique, c’est beaucoup le monde du jazz, en pop-électro il n’y en a pas beaucoup. Ça ne s’adapte peut-être pas à tout mais il y a une rareté, et j’ai quelque chose à apporter. »

Par la suite il remporte le concours de talent de « On n’a pas toute la soirée » puis le « Que feriez-vous pour 1000$ » de Guy Jodoin, ce qui lui donne sur le coup une meilleure visibilité et le met sur la voie de l’album studio. Il fait la rencontre de John Nathaniel, avec qui il a réalisé son récent deuxième album Starland (le premier, autoproduit à 1000 exemplaires, s’était envolé en 2008). Il participe à de nombreux albums d’artistes québécois (Marie-Mai, Patrick Groulx, Anodajay, Sir Pathetik, Bad News Brown, Dubmatique, Annie Villeneuve, entre autres) et internationaux, et il est d’ailleurs reconnu pour sa précision et sa grande rapidité d’exécution. Éric Speed, c’est jouer vite mais c’est aussi réussir du premier coup.

À propos d’Éric Speed, Éric Bérard explique : « Le plus dur c’est de se trouver un style, quelque chose à soi. Moi, c’est toujours rapide, je suis quelqu’un de nerveux. Éric Speed est un alter ego, je mets mes lunettes fumées et je deviens Éric Speed. Le compositeur, c’est Éric Bérard, mais le performer Éric Speed l’influence en ajoutant des difficultés techniques, des passes impressionnantes. » Pour ce personnage scénique, la performance est donc très importante et Éric explique devoir composer avec cette dimension, car le côté spectaculaire et difficile de ses performances demeure toujours important pour lui.

Important pour lui d’avoir son propre répertoire « électro speed »? Évidemment. À propos de son processus de création, il explique : « Je compose juste la nuit, l’inspiration me vient la nuit. Je ne compose jamais le violon en premier, j’ai une mélodie en tête mais je commence toujours par écrire la basse puis la section rythmique. J’écris une première version, puis je la laisse reposer une semaine ou deux et je termine rapidement; si ça ne fonctionne pas aisément, c’est que la toune ne sera pas bonne. » Il ajoute : « Je n’écris jamais sous pression, c’est plate, parce que des fois ça prend du temps avant que je compose et d’autres fois je suis en train de conduire et je dois m’enregistrer pour ne pas oublier ».

Éric a une grosse année en perspective : déjà plusieurs spectacles sont à l’agenda, il projette un nouveau vidéoclip, et aimerait finir un scénario de film entamé en 2011 en plus de sortir un nouvel album. Ce fanatique des super-héros aura besoin de tous ses pouvoirs pour mener à bien tous ces projets !

Photo by Chantal-Andrée Samson

Robert Rival, resident composer of the ESO

Story by Colin Eatock | Saturday March 17th, 2012

“For a composer writing concert music, there’s nothing more exciting than being the resident composer of a professional orchestra.”

These are the words of Robert Rival, who’s been the resident composer of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra since last September.

“For one thing,” the 36-year-old composer continues, “the fact that you’re on-site for all the rehearsals and performances gives these events more weight.”

Rival is the third person to serve as resident composer of the ESO, succeeding Allan Gilliland and John Estacio. And his move from Toronto to Edmonton last year, following the completion of a doctorate in music composition at the University of Toronto, was something of a homecoming for him. Rival is a native Albertan, born in Calgary – although he doesn’t think that helped him land his job.

” There’s nothing more exciting than being the resident composer of a professional orchestra.”

“When I applied, I don’t think they knew where I was from,” he points out. “There was an open call for applications, and about 50 composers applied. It was a thorough process, involving many organizational layers of the orchestra.”

Already, Rival has a promising compositional résumé: his music has been played by Toronto’s Gryphon Trio, it’s been broadcast on CBC radio, and he was a featured composer last year at the Windsor Symphony Orchestra’s Canadian Music Festival. But one of the things that gave him an edge with the ESO, he believes, was his commitment to music education.

“I feel strongly about the educational components of the job,” Rival explains. “Every year we select one or two young composers from high schools to write a piece, and it gets performed at an outdoor festival. A background in education and teaching is something that I brought to the table.”

Of course, central to Rival’s two-year residency appointment is composing for the ESO: his job requires him to write two pieces a year for the orchestra. His commitment to the orchestra doesn’t currently allow him much time for other projects. Just before he took up his new position in September, he finished a string sextet that was commissioned by the CBC. Then he plunged into the world of orchestral composition.

Since then he’s finished a tone-poem called Achilles and Scamander, to be premiered at Edmonton’s Winspear Centre by the ESO on March 31. That will be closely followed by his Lullaby – which will first be heard in New York on May 8, when the ESO appears at Carnegie Hall’s Spring For Music Festival.

“The first half of the program will be all-Canadian: pieces by John Estacio, Allan Gilliland and me,” says Rival, with a justifiable touch of pride in his voice. “I think it’s heartening that we’re devoting half of the program to living Canadian composers.”

Photo by Pat Moore

Cancer Bats take flight

Story by Nick Krewen | Friday March 16th, 2012

Eight years into its existence, the fermentation process of Toronto hardcore heroes Cancer Bats may finally be complete.

At least that’s the opinion of lead singer/shouter/screamer Liam Cormier, who says the comfort level between himself and guitarist Scott Middleton, drummer Mike Peters and bassist Jaye Schwarzer has never been better.

If you need more proof, turn your ears toward his band’s latest opus, Dead Set On Living. “This being our fourth record, we’re really trying to step up our game as a band,” says Cormier. “We’ve figured out what we want to be musically, so at this point it’s less experimentation, and more just really driving home those ideas.”

“Writing lyrics, I always want to be as honest as possible. ” – Cancer Bats singer Liam Cormier

If Dead Set On Living, replete with Middleton’s thundering fretwork and balls-to-the-wall rhythm support from the Schwarzer-Peters tandem, is indeed the breakthrough Cormier is wishing for, the quartet will have certainly earned it.

Since 2006’s introductory Birthing The Giant, the band has shown remarkable evolution with their subsequent album releases Hail Destroyer (2008) and the Juno-nominated Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones (2010), pummeling crowds at home in Canada, in the U.S. and on the U.K. club and festival circuit with their aural aggression.

And the fact that Cancer Bats has generated an international profile without the support of mainstream vehicles affords them the luxury of creative freedom.

“It gives us a confidence,” he admits. “The fact that we actually take a chance and play music that we really want to… and then to see that translate and work out not only in Canada – where we have our friends and peers – but with people we’ve met all around the world indicates that what we’re doing is working. And if this is working so far, let’s do whatever we want.”

While conceding that most of Cancer Bats’ earlier material dwelled on negative content, singer and lyricist Cormier initially had greater aspirations for Dead Set On Living.

“My goal was to write the most positive record that I could,” he explains. “The fans said Bears was really harsh and dark thematically. Some of them mentioned that they missed the positive songs we had on Hail Destroyer and Birthing, and it made me think a lot about that.”

However, at the time the album was written, Cormier’s best friend, at the young age of 29, suffered a heart attack. “That had a huge impact on me,” he admits. “That’s what the song ‘Dead Set On Living’ is about. Life went on and we started making this record, and I realized that it was unfair to write strictly about the positive, because life isn’t always positive.”
The friend has since recovered, but the ordeal gave Cormier plenty of grist for the mill. “You know, with my best friend being in the hospital, there are obvious songs that came around that,” he says, “like ‘R.A.T.S’ and ‘The Void,’ some of these more negative things that you can’t help but deal with. It was really helpful to have this record to work through that.”

The sanctuary where Cormier and the rest of Cancer Bats developed their ideas was a rehearsal space in the Lakeshore/Islington area of Toronto – one close enough to the hospital that the singer could visit his friend every night. The location also allowed them to bicycle to practice, an exercise that helped keep them fresh and contributed to their stamina in writing and demoing a song a day in their rehearsal studio.
“Everyone would ride 14K out of the city, get some fresh air and exercise, and then lock ourselves in a windowless room,” Cormier recalls. “When it came time for me to write lyrics, I found there was nothing better than working on verse ideas while pounding it out on the bike, because it’s all that you’re thinking about. Your mind is clear. You don’t have a lot of distractions.”
When it comes to the songwriting process, Cormier says Cancer Bats takes the communal line of attack.

“There are no egos,” Cormier insists. “And there’s no single person who kind of writes everything in the band. In the practice space, we throw around ideas, and even trade instruments. I had a second drum kit set up so I could write ideas even when we’re making the skeleton parts. Mike’s not worried that I’m going to step on his toes, because I’m not nearly as good a drummer as he is. Jaye can play guitar, and we’re comfortable with that.”

Overall, Cormier said Cancer Bats’ biggest concern is maintaining its integrity, and he feels that Dead Set On Living more than fulfills that mandate. “For me, I always want to be as honest as possible and as specific as possible to my own life. It’s that honesty in the song that people are able to relate to.”