Stefan Lessard Discusses Grand Canyon Adventure Film
As we reported back on February 4th, Stefan Lessard has composed and arranged an original score for the outdoor adventure film MacGillivray Freeman’s Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk, a new 3D IMAX film about a father-daughter rafting trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. The film is produced by the people behind Everest and The Living Sea and is narrated by Robert Redford.
The DMB bassist recently sat down with Jambands.com to discuss his involvement with the movie, from what initially attracted him to the project to writing the music and recruiting band mate Carter Beauford and longtime DMB friend Tim Reynolds to collaborate with him on the score. There’s even a hint or two in the interview about progress DMB is making in the studio.
According to Stefan, several things about the project drew him into it. Apart from the excitement of working on a 3D IMAX picture with “incredible film makers,” the devoted father, outdoor sportsman and environmentalist says that a journey down the Colorado River is something he’d love to do, especially right now, considering that the state of the Colorado River as well as that of the world’s fresh water are both in crisis.
He expresses his admiration for the film maker’s desire to convey a strong environmental “message inside this film” over just wanting to create a visually sensational picture, which it certainly is.
Last, but certainly not least, is the fact that several DMB songs are featured on the film’s soundtrack, like “Lie In Our Graves,” “Two Step,” “Steady As We Go,” “The Space Between” and the rarely played live “Mother Father.” All that combined, plus the opportunity to help write the rest of the film’s music, convinced Lessard that this was a worthwhile project to join.
In talking about his decision to invite Carter Beauford and Tim Reynolds to team up with him on the project, Stefan admits that for him, having them on board “really was the glue that put it all together” and that their commitment to the project stemmed from their genuine love and respect for one another as musicians and friends. Slide guitarist Greg Leisz, who has played with everyone from Joni Mitchell to the Smashing Pumpkins, also helped Lessard interpret the score.
As DMB fans, we are used to watching Stefan jam out on his bass, but for this project he also played a small 12-string guitar called a Veillette that helped him create the tone for the surrounding environmental music of the film. Throughout the film, we can expect to hear everything from “pulsating and fun” music to complement the exciting rapid-like scenes to more serene, melodic sounds on the more introspective segments.
When asked about bringing ideas from his score to DMB, Stefan doesn’t leak out much, but hints that there are opportunities for some of the pieces, or even parts of them, to come out on the new album. One possibility would be adding Dave’s more haunting vocal sounds, not necessarily actual lyrics, to the instrumentals, something Lessard says he would have loved to do on the score but wasn’t able to due to conflicting schedules with Dave.
MacGillivray Freeman’s Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk is currently in select IMAX theaters and IMAX 3D theaters worldwide.
You can watch a trailer for the film on YouTube.