Rock and roll musician Leon Frear, based in Chicago, has released his captivating single โSecret Second Moon,โ the lead track from his debut album โWild Rice.โ Although he is an experienced musician, this record is his debut release under this name. Check out the exclusive interview below:
1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?
LEON FREAR: We moved around a lot when I was a kid. My Mom was a former Air Force brat and I donโt think she ever got it out of her system. So every year or two we would pick up sticks and move. Because of that I never got to make any lasting friendships or feel like any place was really my home. But I was born in this small town called Americus, GA, and while I donโt have any memories of the place, I guess technically thatโs where Iโm from. I saved up a few hundred dollars and once I was old enough I headed for the college town upstate. I didnโt actually attend any classes, we were too poor for that and my grades werenโt good enough, but I wanted to be somewhere where things were happening. Parties were happening, music was happening, bands were happening and people were making records. I wanted to do that more than anything. Play music and make records. So I moved up there and got lost in that lifestyle for a little while.
2. Did you have any formal music training or are you self-taught?
LEON FREAR: No, I donโt have any formal training. Everything I play is self taught. I played every instrument on this new album. That was a first for me. But I donโt consider myself to be very good at any of them. (laughs) At least, Iโm not going to impress anyone with my virtuosity. But I donโt think thatโs really needed to write good songs. Of course, Iโve picked up things along the way. So Iโm not a total outsider. But sometimes I wonder if I had a deeper understanding of theory, or a stronger commitment to learning scales, would it make me a better songwriter? But then, when I actually try to do that stuff, I tend to end up feeling bored and frustrated. So now I try not to worry about it too much and just write whatever I think sounds good in the moment.
3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name โLEON FREAR?
LEON FREAR: The first album I ever got to know intimately, you know what I mean, an album you heard on repeat, back-to-back-to-back, was Easter by Patti Smith. I couldnโt have been more than 3 or 4 when my Mom went through a phase where she just listened to that record on repeat. She was pretty young back then and I think it represented something important to her as a woman and something important to her as someone who wanted a different life. But for me, this loud, brash, outsider, feminist, interesting music was the very first music I ever heard in my life. And since I was just a kid I didnโt know that there was anything unique about that. To me it was normal. Itโs just what music was. While most of the world was listening to Michael Jackson my Mom was rocking out to Patti Smith. That laid the foundation for everything thatโs been built on top of it since. Whatโs behind the name? I get asked that pretty often by my friends. They tell me Iโd sell more records using my old name. And for a long time I was really struggling to answer this question. All I knew was that it was something I needed to do. But I was talking to my friend Christopher recently and the true answer finally came to me. Itโs really because, you know, under my old name, my life was out of control. I was having wild affairs. I had a bad substance abuse problem and I was struggling with my mental health. I did some time in a mental health facility. I almost diedโฆ It was this whole dramatic thing. And while all of that was going on I lost control of my own narrative. The story wasnโt my story anymore and I was no longer the person telling it. The story was being told by other people, some of them were concerned, some of them just enjoyed the gossip, and Iโm sure some were glad to see me falter. So I changed my name, and thatโs how I started to get my story back. Iโm back in control of the narrative now. Even if I had to start over to accomplish it. And anyway, I made bigger sacrifices than just giving up my name, in order to get myself reconciled.
4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
LEON FREAR: I think that even though my story feels very personal and unique only to me, the truth is that there is a universality to human experience. By which I mean that my experiences are probably not all that unique after all. Chances are, there are millions of other people on this planet who have struggled and suffered with the same problems, the same issues, and the same feelings just as much, or even worse, than I have. And when I write about my experiences, and especially my feelings about my experiences, Iโm really writing about these things that we all experience. If anything I do resonates with anyone I want it to be because of this.
5. What would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
LEON FREAR: Itโs difficult to answer that without talking about the past. So instead of talking about any past successes, what I will say is that I consider it a great personal accomplishment that I was able to write, play and record this record entirely by myself. When I started making Wild Rice I was still very much in the process of putting my life back together. And my first attempt at recording music alone didnโt go very well. I didnโt know how I was going to approach things like recording the drum tracks. I didnโt know how to handle writing every part and inventing interesting arrangements when the only ideas I had to work with were my own. I really almost gave up. So that first moment where I was driving down the Kennedy expressway with the windows down, in the summer here in Chicago, listening to a song I had made by myselfโฆ that tasted pretty sweet.
6. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?
LEON FREAR: I try not to think about it in that way. The truth is I think about dying a little bit more often than I should. And because of that constant existential drumbeat going on in my head I feel this drive, or you could call it a compulsion, to try and create something that will last longer than I do. For that reason I want to make the best record I can make. But I also get a lot of joy when I start working on a new song and think, โyeah, Iโm onto a good one this timeโ. There arenโt many things that feel better than creating something new.
7. With social media having a heavy impact on our lives and the music business in general, how do you handle criticism, haters, and/or naysayers in general? Is it something you pay attention to, or simply ignore?
LEON FREAR: I donโt spend a whole lot of time on social media, so maybe I havenโt encountered too much of this yet. Although Iโve had my share of critics I suppose. But I donโt put any stock in what a stranger on the internet tells me about how to approach my music or how to run my career. I donโt give it any more attention than I would to a guy on the street corner talking to himself. I donโt think anyone else should either.
8. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as POP?
LEON FREAR: (Asking for clarification โ is POP the correct genre you mean to ask about? I would consider my music on this album to be Indie Rock, College Rock, Alternative Rock etcโฆ) I think all young musicians go through this to some extent. I remember back in HIgh School my bandmates and I all really loved this local band made up of these cool older guys. And we tried our best to emulate everything they did. We were like their younger, worse sounding clones. But after a while I think young artists get bored of imitation and want to carve out a sound of their own. I started to really experiment in my 20โs. My bands from that time are pretty weird. But we did make some original sounding records. I think some of that weirdness is still present in my music, probably in ways I donโt even realize. But eventually I got bored with that and now Iโm mostly focused on trying to improve my craft. I want to write better lyrics and make music that can reach more people. But even then, I never want to make the same record twice. So while Wild Rice is largely this dark, gothic sounding rock record with big drums and generous amounts of guitar, my next record is likely to be something very different.
9. Whatโs your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles โ and do you try to affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?
LEON FREAR: Well, I believe all music is political to some degree because art doesnโt exist in a vacuum. Every piece of art is a product of its time and its culture. Every songwriter is a member of their society. Dance songs, love songs, pop songs, and my songs are built on politics that you donโt even necessarily notice right away. There are elements of social politics, economic politics, relationship politics, sexual politicsโฆ Itโs impossible to escape writing songs without considering the politics. And I think there are plenty of examples of politics existing that way in my music. And it is carefully considered. But on this album, Wild Rice, Iโm trying to tell the stories of things that have happened and Iโm much more concerned with the emotion of it all. For example, one of the themes that runs through the record is that of nourishment. Bodily nourishment, but also emotional nourishment, and romantic nourishment. If you read the lyrics to a song like She Fed Me Water or look at the albumโs title and artwork that theme is present. Itโs about all of the things that make us feel fulfilled, or maybe itโs about the wanting of, or the lack of those things. So through a lot of these songs on the record Iโm exploring how all of that feels. But you know, even if Iโm thinking about emotions or feelings when Iโm writing these songs, the topics are inherently political.
10. Could you describe your creative processes? How do you usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?
LEON FREAR: I donโt consider myself a very technical player. I do just enough musically to get by. I do think that Iโm a pretty good lyric writer though, and I think that I can craft some memorable hooks. So I tend to start my songs with the words. Often itโs just a clever phrase that I like that will become a hook or a melody. And once you have that initial idea you kind of twist and pull and mash on it until more ideas follow and you fold those ideas some more and eventually you get a song. But other times I write whole song lyrics from start to finish, without any music or melody in mind, like a poem on a piece of paper. And for those songs I let the lyrics guide the temperament and atmosphere of the music that follows. I try to keep the meaning of the words close to my heart and remember how I felt while I was writing the words while I am composing the music. Itโs less efficient to write that way but when I really get it right, those are my favorite tracks.
11. What has been the most difficult thing youโve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
LEON FREAR: Well, as I alluded to earlier, Iโve encountered some challenges in my life. I donโt know how to rank them. I could tell you stories about being robbed, about getting into alcohol fueled fights with my best friend, about getting evicted, about being in the hospital, about being in jailโฆ I swear Iโm not really that much of a bad boy. (Laughs). But maybe the worst thing was something that affected my professional career and my personal career both. It was when my song writing partner, who was also my life partner, looked me in the eyes and said โI donโt want to write songs with you anymore.โ Looking back, that was the moment everything changed.
12. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?
LEON FREAR: I think the answer is somewhere in the middle. A good songwriter is always going to leave room for the listener to interject their own experiences. You want to allow them to place their own template over the canvas, so to speak. Thatโs how you commiserate together through song. By sharing that. But at the same time every song on this record has a deliberate, and thought out meaning. And I want the listener to get that, eventually. The goal is to provoke their thought and their emotion and lead them to understanding your meaning through the language of those things. Hopefully theyโll listen, and if they listen they think about it, and if they think about it maybe theyโll have that moment of discovery. And thatโs very satisfying, for the listener and for the author I think. You donโt want to tell it too directly, or obscure it to the point where all meaning is lost either. It takes a light touch.
13. Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excites you most, and why?
LEON FREAR: So far, this has been a studio project. There are a couple of ways it could become a live project one day though. One way would be if I happen to meet the right people, people I want to play music with. Playing in a band is much more fulfilling when you have real camaraderie and enjoy playing together. The other would be if this album does well and there is a demand for it. I would probably be pretty nervous at first, getting back on that stage. But itโs pretty fun to think about.
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