In a brand new interview with Ken Dashow of recent York’s Q104.3 radio station, RUSH guitarist Alex Lifeson was requested about his earlier remark that he and RUSH bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee sounded “like a very, actually dangerous RUSH tribute band” after they first began taking part in music collectively once more following drummer Neil Peart‘s loss of life. “That was type of the way in which, that means was the primary few minutes that we received collectively,” Alex defined. “[Geddy‘s] been an writer for the final so a few years. And he is loving it. However he hasn’t been concerned in music instantly, whereas I did — nicely, significantly after Neil‘s passing, with [my new project] ENVY OF NONE coming alongside, and I actually began to get into it after my interval of grief. So, after I go over to his place and we jam, we simply play stuff — we play bluesy stuff, after which we play some RUSH stuff, and we snicker as a result of we understand how arduous RUSH stuff is to play.
“However, truthfully, [Geddy‘s] my greatest pal on the planet and I really like him dearly,” Lifeson continued. “And after we’re collectively, we spend all our time laughing. And we’re pleased with that. And we perceive the curiosity and the will for RUSH followers to see one thing.
“This world is so loopy proper now, and issues change — by no means thoughts day-after-day, each minute issues change. So who is aware of what the longer term will convey?” Alex added. “However so far as music’s involved, whether or not it is the previous or the longer term, I am in an amazing spot.”
Earlier within the month, Lifeson confirmed to Tom Energy, host of “Q” on Canada’s CBC Radio One, that he nonetheless will get collectively Lee “as soon as per week” to hang around and sometimes play music. He mentioned: “Geddy‘s my greatest pal. We achieve this a lot stuff collectively. We play tennis collectively. Typically we drink a little bit an excessive amount of wine collectively. He undoubtedly drinks an excessive amount of espresso typically. So I am going to go over to his place, and we’ll simply grasp round. Invariably we’ll go downstairs into his studio and we’ll play and for enjoyable we play some RUSH songs — simply the 2 of us, simply jamming, actually. The truth is, simply taking part in. And it is a lot enjoyable for the 2 of us to play. We have been writing music collectively for 50 years. And truthfully, he is my greatest pal. Why would not I wanna grasp round with him? In order that’s our relationship. And the rumors fly and all of that stuff — of something, a brand new album and no matter. However we simply actually, actually get pleasure from one another’s firm. I discuss to him nearly day-after-day and have endlessly.”
Lifeson additionally mirrored on RUSH‘s last tour, which ended on August 1, 2015 on the Discussion board in Los Angeles, marking the band’s twenty fifth present on the venue and bringing the trek to a triumphant finish. He mentioned: “We toured for 40 years. There was nothing missing. We received to do every thing. And it is thrilling to listen to that crowd, however to be sincere with you, once you’re strolling up on that stage, you are not eager about them. You do not even discover them. You are eager about, ‘I hope I do not play that flawed word that I performed the opposite evening. And after we get to that transition, what ought to I be doing?’ You are eager about work. And our nature will not be — definitely with Neil — was not concerning the celeb of what we had been doing. That is nice to have it, and all of that stuff, however we had been eager about work and doing the very best job we may. We felt we had a really severe duty. Folks had been paying some huge cash to come back see us play. We have gotta placed on an excellent present. You are not gonna stand up there and get drunk and bounce round such as you’re some type of rock and roll God. We did not [do any drugs]… Properly, perhaps a little bit bit within the early days — a little bit pot right here and there earlier than a present… However definitely after we had been headlining — no drinks. Not even a sip of beer — nothing, simply to maintain your schools in place. So, we at all times took it very, very critically.”
He continued: “Neil was adamant that he was performed. There was a time the place he was pondering that perhaps we may stretch it a bit, however then he had an issue along with his ft and he was performed. Ged and I had been upset. We felt like we had quite a lot of gasoline within the tank nonetheless. That individual tour was nice, ‘trigger that was a retrospective from the final tour proper all the way down to the start the place our amps had been on two little stools on stage in a gymnasium. We did the entire journey in time. And we may have performed that tour for a minimum of one other 20 or 30 reveals. We needed to go to Europe desperately. We had quite a lot of followers there and we by no means received there — within the U.Ok. particularly. So I believe Ged and I had been very upset. I would say we had been, to be sincere with you, perhaps a little bit bitter that it ended that means. However what may we do? Neil did it for 40 years. He completely had the hardest job within the band. And he felt like if he could not play one hundred percent, then he was performed.”
Requested if it was powerful staying at residence after that and never being on the highway, Alex mentioned: “At that time in my life, no, it wasn’t powerful being residence. I had two grandkids. So it meant that I may spend extra time with them, they usually had been rising up. It was a alternative a little bit bit for my children as a result of we had been away for a lot. So that you adapt. You miss it. You would like you possibly can nonetheless do it, however the extra you turn out to be a homebody, the much less you concentrate on the glory of all of that stuff and that there are different issues in life and there are different nice issues that you just wanna do and different paths you wanna observe. So the transition was not that tough, except for the little little bit of resentment we had. Then, in fact, Neil found that he was unwell. And nothing mattered after that.
“When Neil misplaced his daughter in ’97, I did not play guitar for a yr,” Lifeson recalled. “I used to be simply so drained of any want, I assume, to benefit from the magnificence and love of music. And the identical factor occurred when [Neil] handed away. I did not actually wanna play, and it wasn’t the identical.
“I’ve this factor — I grieve for a yr, and I attempt to transcend that then and reset myself. And that is what I did with [my new project] ENVY OF NONE after [Neil] handed.”
Peart died in January 2020 after a three-year battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive type of mind most cancers. He was 67 years outdated.
RUSH waited three days to announce Peart‘s passing, setting off shockwaves and an outpouring of grief from followers and musicians everywhere in the world.
Since Peart‘s loss of life, Lifeson and Lee haven’t recorded any new music or carried out stay below the RUSH identify, though each of them confirmed that a number of drummers reached out to them within the days after the legendary drummer’s passing about the opportunity of stepping in for Neil.
Lifeson made his mark on the music trade over 50 years in the past, redefining the boundaries of progressive rock guitar. His signature riffing, copious use of results processing and unorthodox chord constructions befitted him the title by his RUSH bandmates as “The Musical Scientist.” Whereas the majority of Lifeson‘s work in music has been with RUSH, he has contributed to a physique of labor exterior of the band as a guitarist, producer and with the discharge of his 1996 solo album “Victor”. Lifeson ranks third total within the Guitar World readers’ ballot of “100 Best Guitarists” and can be included in Rolling Stone‘s “100 Best Guitarists Of All Time.”
ENVY OF NONE, the band that includes Lifeson, Andy Curran (CONEY HATCH),Alfio Annibalini and singer Maiah Wynne, launched its second album, “Stygian Wavz”, on March 14 through Kscope.
