interview with the band Liva

Symphonic power metal opera band Liva is the first Canadian band to mix classical music with metal music since 1997.

Alan – For those who don't know you, get a little closer to us.
Pier - We are the first band in Canada to mix metal music with classical music, we have been around since 1997!
From the beginning, I have always wanted to be myself and find my artistic way in all the aspects of a project, even if it could lead to a longer process. I like to touch all the aspects of the creation of an album: music, texts, language, artwork, instrumentation and musicianship of each member. As to what makes Liva different, we are two lead singers, one working with a soprano voice, the other with a tenor voice and a death metal voice. We sing in Latin. I also play on a nine-string guitar and we have marvelous symphonic orchestrations. Nadine, the soprano, has a strong leading role as a frontwoman, Martin, the bass player, reminds me very much of Steve Harris in his playing and Claude, the drummer, is uniquely musical in his approach with the drum kit.
Liva came together as a band in Sherbrooke, Québec (Canada) in 1997 and recorded its eponymous four-track demo in 2001. These pieces also appeared on the group’s first album, Requiem (2002). This heavy metal version of a requiem, in Latin, was a hit with many music lovers. Then, in the spring of 2007, Liva released its second album, De Insulis, putting music to the Latin texts of French poet and theologian Alain de Lille, said De Insulis (from the twelfth century). In the fall of 2013, Liva’s long-awaited third album, Human Abstract, is launched with texts in Shakespeare’s language.
Since the beginning, Liva has shown their talent when playing opening acts for international bands such as Voivod, Gorguts, Nightwish, Kataklysm, Therion and Leaves’ Eyes/Kamelot, to name a few. Liva also featured in a show dedicated to the future of metal music in the province of Québec, at the “Week-end extreme” held in 2002.
Liva has been the subject of various reports and articles, one among others in the fall of 2001 on the television program Bande-à-part on ARTV, Radio-Canada’s specialized art channel. Then, on March 8, 2002, Liva performed with a chamber orchestra consisting of 13 musicians and chorus members during a radio concert that was recorded in front of a live audience for
Bande-à-part and broadcast in April of 2002. This memorable event gave the audience a taste of the band’s wide-ranging and innovative musical talent.

Alan – As you said, you've been around since 1997. Still the same line-up? Or have you had any changes? is there currently anyone in Liva also active in other bands, projects, and opera companies?
Pier - If we're talking about the band's initial formation in 1997, it was a group of musician friends (including Céline Dion's current bassman, Yves Labonté), then it was more of a family affair for the Requiem album in 2002, with my wife our brother-in-law. But if we're talking about the line-up for the latest album, Ecce mundus, it's more friends I've known for a long time who were in my circle of musician friends. Outside Liva, I play in classical duet with my wife(me on a ten-string classical guitar and her who sing). I have also a classical music serie as producer since 2014. Nadine, the soprano, sing in the Montréal Opera compagnie, Martin, the bassman, plays in a cover band and Claude the drummer plays in two other original pop bands.

Alan – You've released several albums. Can you break them down for us a bit? Describe them. And describe the development of Liva's music.
Pier - The sound of the band came from our first album. The choice of singing in Latin came from the fact that I’m a classically trained guitarist and I was enjoying working with this language in my classical singing classes during my musical formation; we would practice sacred music and I liked the ring of it. Also, my partner in life, Catherine Elvira, was our other lead singer back then, she is a phenomenal soprano and I wanted to live my music with her; she is also very talented in sacred music, thus singing in Latin was an easy choice. Of course, she is also a great violist. The sound I sought for the band would have a wide range, from the high soprano notes to the death metal voice, and there was a mid-range of sound where Catherine Elvira’s viola fit right in. Everything fell into place. She then had an electric viola made especially for her work with the band. That’s how the mix between classical music and metal music with the viola, the guitar, the bass and the drums was born.
For “Ecce mundus”I returned to the original sound, or the trademark of the band, which is to sing in Latin. We are also a totally new line-up, Nadine Guertin on vocals, Martin Tremblay on bass and, at the time of the recording, Claude Lacroix on drums. In 2015, when the former soprano and violist, Catherine Elvira Chartier, left the band to concentrate on her classical career, I tried to work differently up until 2020. I was the only singer, so I worked a lot on the high register of my voice. I also started working more with keyboards in live performances to experiment with orchestrations in order to replace the soprano melodic lines. The viola lines would also be found in these orchestrations, and we find traces of this work in our latest album. I then wanted to work again with a soprano, because it was a strong part of the band’s identity and I already had the Samson & Dalila project in mind. Then we found Nadine Guertin, a great addition to the band! She brings her own colours and ideas.

Alan – The last album that you are still performing with. Can you briefly describe both the music and the lyrics?
De avaritia et luxuria mundi : this is the longest song of all the album songs, with 9 minutes 30 seconds. All the ability of the band is in this song. I gave a lot of space to our new soprano Nadine to improvise. The song is about the search of power, linked to human greed, an insatiable thirst. As with a tumor, the more it swells, the more violently the disease grows.
Materiae summa : for this one, the riffs of the intro, the verse and the chorus are very heavy but in three different ways for each section. I wanted a half beat song with double bass drum feel in it. I’m very proud of it. The text says : Nothing happens without a cause; everything that is, is the consequence of what was and the cause of what it will be.
Ecce mundus demundatur : this is my power ballad but not like many bands used to do them. I wanted it to suggest sensuality and wanted to build a progressive intensity.The text says : The world is nothing but filth, the only thing it abounds in is vices galore.
Sunt : this my power metal song of the album. This song was created in one night! I love the final section. It talks about corruption, dishonest lawyers and hypocrite people.
Samson & Dalila I : This is the emblematic song of the album. This song has allelements that are to be found in the Liva style.It’s about the old story of Samson and Dalila. To avenge her people, Dalila cuts off the hair of Samson, thus weakening him.
Samson & Dalila II : With the same story of Samson & Dalila, I wanted to have a Hard Rock feel to sing over. I’m very proud of what I found for Nadine’s chorus and of how I use all the register of my voice.
Obscura : I wanted to use a “gallop” kind of riff. This was an old idea that I worked on very much to build the structure. The lead section is one of my favourite of the album. The text is about happiness: a suggestion to making up for what it lacks in length with its intensity—the amount in which it impacts an individual is long-lasting, even if happiness itself is not.
O Roma nobilis : this is the heaviest sounding song that I have ever written. It talks about the glory of Rome: Queen of the earth, O thou Rome of nobility, Thou the most   excellent City of cities, Red with the rubrical blood of the Martyrs, White with the Virginal garments and lilies: Thee we hail as we come to thy portal Guard us, govern us, City immortal!
Silence : this one was my toughest song to build. It took me a lot of time to build that song with a mix of very good old ideas. But it was only last year that I was inspired to finish it. The lead guitar section is one of my best ever.The text: Even when man is gone and human sound ceases, the green ruins, desolate walls and antique palaces continue to exist with the solidity of their ‘silence’ – or rather the subtle sound and paralleled peace of nature.

Alan – What are you preparing for 2025? Not only musically, but maybe a tour of Europe?
Pier - We just released our very first video clip as a band, “Samson & Dalila I,” that was an important part of our plans this year. I would like to make a concert with a full symphonic orchestra, maybe next year, to enjoy all this work on orchestrations with live musicians and instruments. I would like to release Ecce mundus in vinyl edition.

Alan – My favorite question. Funny experiences from playing, traveling, and recording albums. Do you have any spicy experiences?
Pier - In 2005, after a soundcheck at the Club Soda in Montréal, we were walking on the sidewalk, heading for dinner and suddenly, a guy threw himself at my feet, on his knees, saying “thank you for saving the future of Metal in Québec!”

Alan – Thanks for the interview, and maybe we'll see each other at a concert or festival in the Czech Republic, Slovakia or Germany.
Pier - Many thanks to support us and talking about Liva. We hope to see you my friend in Czech Republic, Slovakia or Germany. Long live to your webzine. Best, Liva.

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