Envy of Many Goldmine Magazine - Issue #952, Spring 2025 by Patrick Prince

The distinctive electric guitar sound of Alex Lifeson, which is so familiar to Rush fans worldwide, has turned more atmospheric and nuanced with the group Envy of None (EON).

Envy of None are a supergroup of sorts, with the founding guitarist of Rush joining bassist Andy Curran (Coney Hatch), guitarist-keyboardist Alfio Annibalini and vocalist Maiah Wynne. The group’s self-titled debut album, released in 2022, impressed many, but it is the sophomore album, titled Stygian Wavz, that has really opened eyes. With its moody, heavy and melancholic approach, it has a Stygian feel to it, as if the group are virtually crossing the River Styx.

Lifeson, calling from his home in Canada, and back from a health resort in Europe, appears relaxed and optimistic about the latest studio album.

GOLDMINE: Let’s talk about the new studio album, Stygian Wavz. There’s definitely not a sophomore curse here because, in my opinion, it’s better than the first album.
ALEX LIFESON: I totally agree.

GM: And I think that all around, it seems like you’ve grown as a team more.
AL: Absolutely. And that’s exactly how we feel. The first record, we didn’t know each other. I mean, I knew Andy [Curran]; I’ve known Andy for many years, but we never worked together. He was in his own band, and he worked at our office [Anthem Records] as an A&R guy, and Alf [Annibalini] I heard of but I’d never met him. And Maiah [Wynne], of course, was a mystery. So the first record, I think we were kind of feeling each other out, seeing what our boundaries were or what anyone’s specialty was and all of that. And it was a great experience working on that first record. It was great to see, to hear Maiah. She came in very strongly. I mean, the music was quite dark on our first record, and heavy at times, and her voice is so fragile and kind of sits on top of that. And it was a really nice contrast. With the second record, I think we just felt like we knew each other much better. We were no longer just an outfit making some music. We were now a band.

And when I got the finished album back mastered and in sequence, I hadn’t listened to it for four or five days and put it on. I was like, “Wow, we are a band. This is a band. This sounds like a band.” So I think we’ve just matured, developed and progressed in every way possible. Maiah was 19 when we started out with her, and she’s, what, 27 now? And she’s brilliant on this record. She’s bordering on genius at times, so she’s really evolved and matured a lot as a singer, a lyricist and a writer. She’s just amazing.

GM: She has an amazing ethereal voice. It has both this heavenly and melancholic combination to it, which is rare. There’s a standout track on the new album called “The Story,” and your guitar playing and her vocals match perfectly. You have this sort of melancholic dreamscape going on, where your guitars are intertwined, and then in comes a guitar lead that is as sharp as a razor, and it’s as painful as her lyrics, and it just matches it so beautifully. I think that’s one of the best songs on the album, quite frankly.
AL: It’s definitely one of our favorites. Maiah and I, on the first record, we established a relationship, a very close relationship, and we would share files back and forth. The song starts as this seed, and it expands to adding scratch guitars and vocals and things like that. Then it gets to the point where we’re shooting for finals, and then it becomes Maiah and me just going back and forth, back and forth, until we reach the peak and hopefully know that we’ve arrived. We dance together when we write. Really, she is my muse. She’s become such a huge inspiration to me. We just have a really, really special relationship, and there’s a gap of half a century between us, and it’s amazing that when we’re writing, we’re like soulmates. We’re the same. It’s really uncanny. And that song, I really got to stretch out on that song. The bridges have this ethereal high guitar that plays a melody that’s very plaintive. And then, like you pointed out, the solo has grit and emotion.

And I stand away from doing solos because I don’t want it to seem like a showoff. And a lot of people just throw solos in just to do that. But I think the solo should be an integral part of the song. It should echo what’s going on in the song. It should be in the service of the song, and not just a solo moment. So I pick up on what she’s talking about and how she delivers it, and then I try to create the solo in such a way that it rises to this crescendo. And then she comes back in and... I'm getting goosebumps talking about it. She comes back in, and then it’s that post-solo section that is my favorite part of that song, driving. It’s so full of plaintive emotion and trying to drive that point home. And you never always feel successful as a person when you're feeling that way. And this is what it had to show. And I think we were successful with that song. There’s something that’s really balanced about that song. All the parts fit pretty well. I got to play my Rickenbacker 12-string in the choruses, which is a treat. So it gives it that little bit of 60s flavor in a way. But I think structurally that song is the perfect example of how we write.

GM: And the lyrics. Wow. I mean, its lyrics have that Bowie-esque feel to them — of desperation — like the song “Heroes.” I mean, I wrote one line down from it: “If I could be a better version of me, Id step into a mirror and come back clean.”
AL: Yeah. Awesome. She’s way beyond her years. “I could be the hero of the story.” Who doesn’t feel that way? Is there a single person in the world who doesn’t feel that way? And she articulates it in such a way that it just hits home.

GM: Right. And songwriting is different now with collaboration, right? Before, and you know this, you get ina room or you're on tour and you're kind of face-to-face with the person. Now you can Dropbox stuff, and send it over the internet. I mean, how do you find the difference? Did it take you a while to get used to that?
AL: Well, no, not for me. I think in the early days —and when I say the early days, back in the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s — it was much more common to work in the room together. So you set up, you start playing, baffles are up, you’re in the room, with the vibe, there’s the energy in the room while you’re working and all of that. And that was great for the time. But even with Rush, not even in the later years, probably by the mid-’90s, we were working quite differently. We would bring stuff that we were working on independently, and sort it out and create guides, and then start recording.

The first [EON] album we had the pandemic to deal with, so we had to share a file. And, honestly, I love working that way. I can spend hours doing something and if I don’t like it, I can just erase it. No one is there to tell me not to do that, or give me ideas. Why don’t you try this? Why don’t you try that? I can just work away in my own space and create the things that I want to create in the way that I want to create them. And Maiah is the same way. It’s just a much more efficient way of really getting the results that are truer, I think, in the long run.

GM: Right. And it’s interesting because, speaking of Rush, I picked out this quote from you. You said, “It’s not about that guy from Rush anymore.” And a few minutes ago you said you like the fact that there doesn’t need to be the obligatory guitar solo. Like, “OK, I need to hear Alex have his guitar solo.” And that’s what I’m assuming you're talking about. Because the guitar is not the center of attention here, even though you are the guitar guy. But it is also true that the guttar is more inthe fore on this album. Would you agree?
AL: Yeah, it is. And I think, again, the first record was sparser. It was sometimes more driven with keyboards, and very rhythmic and all that stuff. It was just a different kind of sound. And I think with this second record, Stygian Wavz, we started writing more funky stuff. We started writing more rock stuff and less of that dark, trippy, industrial kind of thing. So naturally it all sort of evolved that way, and that, with her vocals juxtaposed against the music, it’s still a very powerful way of getting our music across.

GM: You say “funky.” There was one song in particular on the album that had a no-doubt type funkiness to it — “Handle With Care.”
AL: Oh, there’s lots. “Thrill of the Chase,” “Not Dead Yet,” ’Stygian Waves.” They’re all super-funky songs.

GM: And, ironically, I think the best song might be the title track at the end. That's a unique-sounding song. It’s hard to write a unique song nowadays. The song has all these international sort of flavors in it. It’s very interesting.
AL: It’s very bombastic, that song. That was the last song that we worked on. Our working title for that was “Wham Bam,” because it had that kind of power to it, and it was almost like a dance-y sort of track, so couldn’t have that, right? (laughs) So I started laying heavy guitars on. I played an oud. I’d never played an oud before, so I spent some time on it.

GM: Sorry. What is an oud?
AL: It’s a Middle Eastern instrument. It’s avery common instrument throughout the Middle East from Turkey to Iran. And everybody has their own version of it. The Turks version is different from the Iraqi version, etc., but its history dates back to the lute, and it was an instrument that’s derived from that point. So there’s a little oud solo in the middle section, but there are lots of heavy guitars. There are lots of big drums, and her vocalizations are amazing. She just let loose. She didn’t have to sing lyrics, so she wanted to have fun with her vocals. When she does her vocal, she sends 25 tracks of vocals in, and everything is completely finished. All the effects are the way she wants them, and she has avery clear idea of exactly what she wants the vocals to look like and the kind of impact they want in the delivery. I’m actually surprised about “Stygian Waves” that that’s acommon thing I’m hearing. It’s a favorite of a lot of people I’ve talked to. And we never would’ve expected that.

GM: Maybe it’s good that it bookends the album. You start with a powerful song and end with a powerful song. That kind of makes sense. And “Stygian Waves” is a good title. Better than “Wham Bam.”
AL: Yeah, I agree with you there.

GM: But the title alone, Stygian Wavz for the album, it kind of makes it sound like we're in for some gloomy waters. Right? Like you're crossing the Styx.
AL: That’s it.

GM: But I was surprised the album cover didn’t have the River Styx on it. The first album was, I think you used the word gloomy, but there’s definitely questioning in the lyrics of “What’s it all about?” Existential, maybe, that sort of same feel. Did you help write some of the lyrics yourself, or was it all Maiah?
AL: No, no, no. I don’t write lyrics. Believe me, I’m not writing the lyrics, and I’m not singing.

But we like to think the album cover has nothing to do with anything. It’s just a cool, interesting graphic. And we used a similar graphic style for the first record, so we’re just maintaining that mode. But Stygian Wavz... the world is a crazy place right now. Crazier maybe than it’s ever been. I don’t know. Maybe not. But certainly in our lifetime, it is. Waters are very turbulent. We are approaching the Gates of Hell. But like the song, we believe that there is a way to navigate those waters and to find calmer waters, and that’s the way this song ends. It comes down from that chaos, and it’s soft and it's meditative almost. There’s hope. I guess, there’s always hope, and we all have our fingers crossed.

GM: That’s the nice balance in the lyrics, that there’s concern and then there’s hope. Now, you guys take a lot of pride in your music videos. The music videos are terrific, but you've always taken pride in music videos, going back to Rush. And the music video format is still kind of the same, but how you present it is different, right? I mean, I can remember as a kid watching MTV and waiting for the new Rush video to come on. Now, I could just go to YouTube. It’s that easy. So how do you think these videos work for the listener or watcher?
AL: Yeah. I don’t know. I don’t know if we spent a whole lot of time worrying about that. We provide a video for songs, especially when we are releasing these singles like the record company wanted us to do. I’m not a “singles release” kind of guy. I believe in the album. That’s what I prefer. But I understand it as a marketing tao; it’s important to them. And doing the videos I thought was actually fun this time around. We did those couple of videos in AI with a videographer in Bueno Aires, and I think he did an amazing job, because really for me, what it boils down to is I want to look at something cool. I know what the song is. I probably own the song. I just want to look at something that’s cool, that’s going to grab my attention and make me watch. It doesn’t have to be the story of the song. So those videos are super powerful, [like] “Not Dead Yet.” I must have watched that 150 times because I just see something different every time I watch it. They’re really, really powerful. And I understand there’s areal argument between the crowd that embraces AI and the crowd that doesn't. Fear of robots that are going to kill us is real, maybe. But as farasa technology, it’s amazing.

GM: Yeah, there is a fear. The fear is that popular music is going to be written and produced by AI, and you hear concern from musicians. You hear concern from everyone, really. So do you have a general fear of it, or you're just like, I’m living in the now, I'm not going to be concerned.
AL: I don’t know. I guess maybe a little bit, but what does it matter? It’s not going to change anything.

GM: It’s too much to worry about, right?
AL: I don’t have a voice. No one has a voice anymore in anything. There are just a billion voices screaming all the time now. Lying. Lying has become such an integral part of society now. Don’t get me started.

GM: So, I want to touch on touring now. There was a quote from Andy Curran, who said that he would love to play in 3,000-person venues.
AL: Yeah. Small theaters.

GM: Where there’s a good sound, right? It doesn't have to be an arena. Are there any plans to tour?
AL: I think for us to play these two albums, an evening of this music in a small theater with a nice light show, would be spectacular. It would be such a cool, emotional evening of music. We would love to do it, but we had our agent look into it. He came back with some numbers, and he said, “Yeah, you could do it. And you'll only lose thousands and thousands of dollars.” So I think what we’re going to do is hold off and see what happens with the record. If the record does well and there’s interest, and we can do acouple of nights in a theater, then we would seriously consider it. Because honestly, I’ve already got in mind the musicians I would like to invite to play with us that evening just to fill out that amazing, dense sound. So, we’re open to the idea, and we'll see if there’s an opportunity coming up.

GM: Well, one of the great things about streaming today, you could actually play one gig and then just stream it to the masses, right? Instead of touring
AL: Yeah, you could do that, but you need those masses, first of all. And I think there’s a good chance that we’ll increase our audience. I mean, I think this record is such a great record to listen to, and music is such a wonderful language. I really hope it does well, because I think it deserves it. I’m not talking about royalties and money and all that stuff. Just to have something that sounds beautiful and elicits all kinds of emotions when you listen to it, is a wonderful thing to be a part of.

GM: And it’s not easy for young bands nowadays. It’s so different than... well, I know you could tell the stories about Rush, when first beginning in clubs and having to work your way up, and I’m sure it was hard to also cross the line over to America to get accepted, but I think it’s so much harder nowadays. I don’t know what your opinion on it is, but it seemed like back then, if you made it, it was easier to make money. It was easier to make a living.
AL: It’s very, very different. It’s turned on its head. In the beginning when we toured, when we first got our record deal, I mean, we worked for six years playing high schools and bars and that whole thing. Fun. We were young. We were in our teens. When we got our record deal, we were 20 years old. The prospect of touring America was amazing. We were going to make five records on that record deal. So it was an opportunity, and you took advantage of it. You decided to work hard. We played 250 shows a year. We made two records a year. You work, work, work when you have that opportunity, and back then you did as many dates as you could for the exposure. So you could sell records. It didn’t matter how much money you were making at the gig, so long as people were coming out and were buying your records. Now it’s the total opposite. Records mean nothing. There’s no such thing anymore, really. And it’s all about live performance, and that’s a way harder nut to crack, you know. I guess you could probably do some circuit of small gigs that probably still exist. I would think. But to go beyond that and to crack each stage from those small theaters into 6,000-seat halls, into 9,000 seaters into arenas, that took us 40 years to travel that journey. Now, I don’t know how anyone can make a living.

Of course, unless you have a big hit that gets thousands or millions of hits online. It’s so different.

GM: That’s true. Yeah. I didn’t even bring up the Spotify thing. Right. You're absolutely right.
AL: Even then, millions and millions of hits or downloads, you're still getting a tiny fraction. What is it, 0.03 percent or something that is insane. Insane. Some- thing ridiculous.

GM: Well, you said that you've never been a singles guy. You’ve always been an album guy, so I’m assuming you're into vinyl.
AL: Yeah. I love the idea of vinyl; I think new vinyl, if it’s new vinyl. It’s much different. It’s thicker than it was back in the old days. Its dynamics are much better. We pressed a bunch of vinyl for this record. Everything sold out, so we’re frantically pressing more. We did these metallic-plated records that we’re doing for a contest, and we did one for each of us. It’s beautiful. It looks stunning. It’s amazing. Do I have a turntable? No, I don’t have a turntable. I’m here in my studio. I have big, giant, crazy monitors, and I do all my critical listening in here. I think maybe if I can find a little 18-inch square area I can puta turntable, maybe I'll get one. But right now I’m relying on my friends that have turntables and what their opinions are.

GM: Well, the album is produced so well that it’s perfect for vinyl.
AL: Yes. Yeah, exactly.

GM: It has the sound quality. So it’s almost like you need to get Envy of None on vinyl. I think just for Andy Curran’s thunderous bass and the rhythmic section, which picks up well on vinyl. It just sounds better, I think.
AL: Totally agree with you. Totally agree.

GM: And the weird thing, Alex, is that a lot of the new generation, they'll buy vinyl and maybe not listen to it. They like having the gatefold and the colored record. It’s kind of like going to a concert and getting a program, right? You know what I’m saying?
AL: Yeah. I could see that. Yeah. Well, that was the whole thrill of vinyl. Back in the old days, you'd go to the record store. I mean, you'd hitchhike or take a bus and go to the record store, get that record, get home, pull it on the sleeve, put it on, and just look at that cover, listen to it, read every little thing on that cover, get up, start the record over again and repeat. I mean, it was just such a rite of passage, that first record that you got and became part of that vinyl world. And maybe that’s what they’re trying to get a taste of.

GM: Do you remember the first record you bought?
AL: I remember the first record I bought was Sink the Bismark by Johnny Horton. I think I bought that in 1961. I think it was released in 1960. And then the first album I bought was High Tide and Green Grass by The Rolling Stones. So that compilation of hits. And it was a big deal. I saved my money from mowing lawns and went to the store and bought an album. I was pretty proud of myself.

GM: And the Canadian release on that was pretty much like the American release, not different like the U.K. release, if I can remember correctly. A lot of times the Canadian releases had the same album covers, where early Rolling Stones releases in the U.K. had different album covers.
AL: Yeah, that’s true. And in fact, I think that album does have a different cover in the U.S.

GM: Well, anyway, I amreally hoping you tour, or I get to see the stream, right? We'll see. But, man, congratulations with this new album. Thank you. It is wonderful to hear it on vinyl. I wish I could send you a turntable, or you'll get one.
AL: OK, I promise I’1] get one. I’ll go buy one. (laughs) I'll save my lawn-mowing money now and go get one.