Pleased To Meet Me: The fleeting Light Of Love & Grief
Introduce yourself… (Where are you from, what band do you play in etc.)
LW: Hi! My name is Lydia Wener. I've been living in Montreal since I was 19 years old. I grew up in the suburbs of North shore, mostly in Sainte-Thérèse. I play synths, theremin, saxophone, bass, and stylophone and percussions in The Fleeting Light of Love and Grief.
RV: Roy Vucino, I am from Montreal but born in Istanbul. I play guitar and sing in PyPy, Dog Driver and Black Leather Rose and I play guitar and bağlama in The Fleeting Light of Love and Grief.
Why do you play music?
LW: I play music because I've been music lover ever since I was a kid. When I was 4, my parents got me a cassette player; I would spend an insane amount of time just dancing and lipsyncing. I asked for my first electric guitar on my 9th birthday, ‘’played’’ with it for a couple years, then stopped playing music for a while — except for saxophone when I was in high school, which I really enjoyed. One of the main things that pushed me to give music another try is that I’ve been working in the local music scene for over a decade now; seeing all the talent and creativity (and seeing it up close) truly inspired me. I picked up bass in my mid twenties, and jammed with my friend Eli Del — who did the logo for TFLOLAG — in a brief but dear experimental project called Soleil Morte. I started playing music more seriously with Roy, a few months after we've started dating, in October 2022. Thanks to all his advice, ideas, resources, gear, and, most importantly, support, I’m now playing in my first ‘’real’’ band. It’s fun!
RV: I like writing and recording because I get restless if I'm not working on some type of art form. Helps to keep me sane-ish and it's good way to spend some time with my partner and friends.
What was a major influence on you as an Artist/Band?
LW: So many! I think the influence you can hear the most in TFLOLAG is probably Air. Some of my other inspirations (for this band or just in general) would be Sonic Youth, Can, Beck, Alice Coltrane, Brian Eno, Massive Attack, Cluster, Beak>, Erkin Koray, Cheveu, Broadcast, Suicide, Kraftwerk, Stereolab, Ty Segall, Yellow Magic Orchestra, DEVO, The Fall, Nick Cave, Portishead, Fat White Family, M.I.A, Aphex Twin, Mike Patton, and Psychic TV.
RV: John Coltrane, Can, Sonny Sharrock, Velvet Underground, Chrome, Joy Division.
What’s a favourite book or film?
LW: I guess my favorite book would be A Clockwork Orange. I really enjoyed Kubrick's film adaptation as well. Being of Ukrainian descent, I really enjoyed Nadsat, the fictional argot that they use, which is strongly inspired by the Russian language. I love that the further along you get in the book, the more you learn the dialect and the less you need to refer to the glossary.
RV: Ikiru by Akira Kurosawa and Coin Lock Babies by Ryū Murakami.
LW: Favorite film? I can’t pick a single one, that's torture. I can name a few of my favorite directors, though: David Lynch, Jim Jarmusch, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Wong Kar-Wai, Kenneth Anger, Luis Buñuel, Stan Brakhage, Marie Menken, David Cronenberg… I could go on and on!
Do you prefer the recording process or performing live?
LW: I prefer recording, especially composing. I do enjoy performing live, but it makes me quite nervous. I don’t like to be perceived in general.
RV: Recording by a long shot.
What would be a dream collaboration?
LW: Literally any of the musicians and directors mentioned above. If I had to choose one single artist, I’d probably go with Kim Gordon.
RV: Living: Brian Eno
Having passed: David Lynch
Describe a favourite album.
LW: It’s hard to pick just one, but an album that really changed my life is Death Grips’ Exmilitary (No Love Deep Web being a close second). It is so incredibly raw and intense. It helped me channel a lot of the anger I was feeling at the time I discovered it. The lyrics are clever, provocative, deep, political, and ridiculous all at the same time. It’s packed with brilliant samples from all kinds of artists (Bad Brains, Pet Shop Boys, Magma, Pink Floyd, Black Flag, The Castaways, Beastie Boys, Link Wray, David Bowie, Jane’s Addiction), films (Sun Ra’s Space is the Place, Quest: A Long Ray's Journey Into Light) as well as Charles Manson’s infamous ‘’I Make the Money Man’’ interview. My favorite track is Known For It; I still get the same feeling as I did the first time I listened to it.
RV: Sonny Sharrock 'Black Woman'. Interesting, soulful and innovative mix of free jazz, americana and gospel. Very spiritual and free. It's a beautiful soul stirring piece of music.
What's your favourite local haunt?
LW: I may be biased, but definitely l’Esco. I dig Casa Del Popolo and la SAT quite a lot, too.
RV: Here are a few: La SAT, Casa, Escogriffe, not much of drinker so I'm more into food. I like Fleurs et Cadeaux for the food and downstairs bar. Système if I wanna dance.
What's your strangest experience while performing live?
LW: I’ve only played 5 shows so far, so nothing quite odd has happened to me yet. I must say that opening for Vieux Farka Touré in a sold out Club Soda as my second show ever was quite surreal in itself.
RV: Someone rubbing a dead pigeon on me or people turning a show room into a wrestling ring and destroying all the furniture while launching mannequins into the ceiling fan.
If I were pursuing anything other than music it would be…
LW: Cinema, without a doubt — although I am currently pursuing that as well… If I have to pick a field in which I’ve never worked in, it would be something related to geography and/or languages.
RV: Being screenwriter, playwright or author.
What are some of your favourite aspects of being a musician in Montreal?
LW: I feel very grateful to be a part of such a cool and diverse local scene, especially since I get to be in it both as a musician and as a booker; it’s interesting to see the two sides of it. Also, the people in Montreal are so sweet, talented, open-minded, and supportive.
RV: I like jamming with new people and I have a good network of friends that I can play music and travel with.
If you weren’t playing music in Montreal where would you be?
LW: In Japan! There is so much to love about it: the culture, the cinema, the music, the food, the landscapes, the architecture… And the Shibas! I have one myself, my love Katori.
RV: South of France, Japan or South of Turkey.
Any sage advice for young musicians?
LW: I am a young musician myself, so there isn’t much advice I can give. Being unskilled/untrained and still doing the thing, all I can say is that one should never be stopped by lack of skill or technique — creativity, boldness, vision, taste, and uniqueness are the elements that truly matter, in my opinion.
RV: It's good to take your art seriously but don't take yourself too seriously. Never forget to enjoy yourself, be respectful and loving to those around you and having fun is the most important thing.