An exclusive Interview with Allie Jorgen of Le Reverie on her career, her music and what lies ahead for her band.
In the world of music, there are many talented artists that bring us songs of the deepest sorrows to the highest feelings of joy and excitement. It has been my luck to meet and know many of these talented artists, but, in truth, none excite me more than the Ladies of Rock. In a world dominated by men since it started, the Heavy Metal world is full of long haired Adonis types that would make you believe that the Vikings have landed or the devil walks the brightly lit stages of Hollywood. But in recent years, women have been talking the stage, not just because of gimmicks or revealing outfits, but because of their true talents and their courage to perceiver.
One such artists is Allie Jorgen of Le Reverie, her angelic voice masters the emotion and the microphone with a sublime vocal range and the music of a band that emanates mastery of the art.
In the following interview, I had the pleasure of collecting her thoughts on her life, her career and the future of a group that has lived a dream that so many pursue, yet so few obtain, and the fact is that what she has done is apparently only the beginning. Allie Jorgen is not just a leading lady, but proof of a woman’s power to succeed both on and off the stage.
Q: When did it all start for you, the desire to sing and perform, and when did you know that you would create a sound that is uniquely your own?
Allie: I have been singing for as long as I can remember. My mother was a singer and we always had music around the house. My mother and father also wrote music for TV Commercials and when I was around 5 years old they recorded me singing in the background for a candy commercial and that was how it all started. My mother used to sit at the piano and I would sing simple melodies to her and she would show me how to play them on the piano, from there I began writing my first songs.
Q: Would you say that the hard rock and metal scene has opened up to women in the music world, or is it still only a place where few women with great courage, like yourself, can only thrive?
Allie: The music industry has definitely embraced women in Hard Rock and Metal recently, as there are many great female vocalists and musicians on the scene right now. But it was a rough road in the beginning and the door was opened by a few strong and innovative Hard Rock and Metal Females, Ann Boleyn of Hellion, Lita Ford and Joan Jett of The Runaways, Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart and Doro of Warlock, just to name a few. The world of music was controlled and dominated by men back then and these females were told that Hard Rock and Metal were not for women. But these female artists proved that they could rock the world stages and the crowds accepted them as they accepted all their male idols.
Q: Thinking of your band, how long until you came upon artists that sought the same in music and shared your vision of creativity?
Allie: It is always difficult to find other musicians and artists that share your same vision. We were extremely fortunate that we found a keyboard player (The Mysterious “O”) who was looking to start a “Gothic Rock” band at the same time we were looking to start one. His vision and songwriting style is a huge part of the Le Reverie sound. We were also extremely lucky to find such a unique guitar player that was able to write songs in our unusual writing method (the songs start on the drums) and create such great riffs and song structure that they inspired me to write the stories, melodies and vocal lines that created the songs on the “Dark Symphony” CD.
Q: As well as being a fabulous singer, you also write and cover the LA Music scene. How is it seeing the nighttime world from both sides of the stage?
Allie: Thank you. I have to admit that I had no idea how different the world would look from the business side of music. I am the Sr. Journalist and one of the Editors of the Online Magazine, LA Metal Media, as well as a Video Journalist and Artist Interviewer. It has been a really interesting journey. I understand the passion and frustration of the Artist, as well as the chaos and constant changing environment that the business side of the music industry is going through.
Q: Among your many triumphs, you have recently been instrumental in the creation of a movie soundtrack, what was it like to pen Le Reverie's Song "The Dream" that would lead off the movie Lake Eerie?
Allie: Well, the interesting thing about our song, “The Dream” is that it was written well before we even knew about the movie, Lake Eerie. It was created in our unique writing style with Roc, laying out the entire song on a drum track and sending it over to our guitar player. Jeff was then inspired by the song structure and wrote the chords and changes, the ‘Mysterious O” helped with some of the structure and put down the keyboard parts.
When they had a structure they all agreed with they gave the copy to me to come up with a story, melody and vocals. I remember that I was just getting over a really aggressive flu and I still had a fever, so everything seemed really surreal. So the song took on that type of a theme. “Is this real or is this a dream?” Le Reverie was the original name of the song (it is French for “The Dream”). The lyrics of the song started off with “Ghostly Figures In The Night” you see all kinds of things when you have a fever.
Almost a year later, we were performing at the Viper Room in Los Angeles, and had our photographer shooting live photos of the show. After the show she mentioned a movie that was currently being filmed that was looking for music, it was a gothic horror film, and she thought our music would be perfect for the movie. She gave them our “Dark Symphony” CD and when the Director heard the lyrics for “The Dream” he said, that we had written the words of the movie and he had to have the song. Maybe there was some kind of connection to him without either of us knowing about it.
Anyway the contracts were signed and the “The Dream” became the theme song for “Lake Eerie.” Le Reverie played at the Cast and Crew Wrap Party at the House of Blues on Sunset, with a huge Red Carpet event and all the stars in attendance. The star of the Lake Eerie Movie is Lance Henrikson who also starred in Aliens, Terminator and Pumpkin Head. Also in attendance was Henry Manfredini, the film music supervisor, who did all the music for Friday the 13th. It was really an honor to meet all the Cast and Crew of Lake Eerie and become part of “Team Lake Eerie” family.
Incredible thanks go out to the Director, Christopher Majors and Writer and Star of the movie, Meredith Majors for choosing our song and welcoming Le Reverie into their Lake Eerie family.
We are excited to announce the release of the film later this year, with our song “The Dream” over the back credits and they are planning a huge movie premiere in Los Angeles. Stay tuned to http://www.lereverie.com .
Q: Recently there have been many social media posts with you, your band and the legendary group Hellion, will your bands ever perform a double threat on the same stage?
Allie: I met Ann Boleyn at a charity event called Rockers Against Trafficking, and I was actually there as a journalist to interview her regarding the event and her recent release “To Hellion and Back.” I was also there to find out about her new music release which would become the new CD “Karma’s a Bitch”. We talked about the event, which was a great event to raise awareness for all the young women who are kidnapped every year and sold. Ann also talked about the new band and the tour that would support the new CD. Ann is the original ‘Queen of Metal” and it was a privilege to talk to her and find out how it was to be a female in Hard Rock, back before it had ever been done. She is one of the true female leaders in the music industry and LA Metal Media is glad to be a big supporter of Hellion. We invited Ann Boleyn and her guitarist Maxxxwell Carlisle to the Lake Eerie Wrap Party at the House of Blues and Le Reverie was asked to open their Halloween show last October at Paladinos, the show was called “Halloween with Hellion”, and it was great to be able to share the stage with such a great band!
Q: What would you say is your most precious moment in music so far, and what can we expect from Le Reverie in the future?
Allie: There have been so many great moments, but we are really excited to have our song “The Dream” as the theme song for the film Lake Eerie. We were also honored to be part of the Hellion Halloween Party last year, and we were fortunate to be able to play the Grove in Anaheim and open the show for Prong. We were also able to reach people worldwide with our music, and to receive emails from people saying that our music helped them on some level is really extra special.
There are some interesting things going on with Le Reverie at the moment. We were asked to create some Heavy Blues Rock songs, which are a little different from our CD “Dark Symphony”, but we all have heavy blues rock roots, so it has been an interesting project.
We will also continue to write our Gothic Rock songs, as they seem to be the perfect fit for the Horror Film Genre, and we were actually told one of our songs would be a fit for a James Bond Film.
Q: If you could tell our readers anything at the moment, what would it be, please let us know what you are thinking.
Allie: There are so many people that I would like to thank, all of our friends and people that follow the band, people that we have met and work with LA Metal Media Magazine. Xombiewoof Magazine for all that you do to keep the music scene alive with the great features and interviews on Artists, I have learned a lot about other Artists from your magazine.
Our publicist, Doug Deutsch, who has been with us through all the highs and lows, one of the most important things I have learned is not to fear change. I used to never want to deal with change, but it is inevitable, you cannot stop it or ignore it, so I had to learn how to embrace it. Everything is changing, the Music Industry on the business side and the face of music in general. Do what you love, what is in your heart, and don’t be afraid to be different. Send your message out to everyone, because you never know who might be listening.
I would entreat you to check out the music of Le Reverie at http://www.lereverie.com , I am thrilled to be a supporter of Allie Jorgen, her music and the future of all great music everywhere. Special thanks to the band and their management, Doug Deutsch and everyone that made this article possible.
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