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Le Voir looks forward to CD-release concert in Salt Lake City

Le Voir, from left, Rob Leo, Clifford Moon and Gillian Chase, will play a CD-release party at The Complex in Salt Lake City on Friday. (Scott Iwasaki/Park Record)
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The last two years have been a winding trip for Le Voir founder and lead vocalist Gillian Chase.

Not only did the Salt Lake-based songwriter finish recording the new Le Voir album "Dualities," she teamed up with two Summit County musicians — Park City-based guitarist Rob Leo and Oakley-based drummer Clifford Moon — to bring these electronic compositions to life and to redefine the project’s name.

"The concept of Le Voir means to see, and to me it means to see deeper into things," Chase told The Park Record during a group interview with Leo and Moon at their rehearsal space in Salt Lake City. "This is a concept we want to portray with the live band, and as things grow, we would like to incorporate interesting and theatrical aspects that will be like a vehicle that will take audiences on an experience that is more than just music."

The first step will be the group’s CD-release headlining performance at the Complex this Friday.

Doors will open at 7 p.m. and the music, which will include rock bands Red Dog Revival and Hotel Le Motel as well as electronic act Rare Facture, will begin at 8 p.m.

Tickets are available by visiting LeVoirMusic.com, The Complex box office or any SmithsTix or Graywhale location.

In addition to band merchandise that will be available for purchase at the event, a free copy of the CD will be included with every ticket purchase and is redeemable at the event by showing the ticket stub at the merchandise stand.

Event sponsors, including Skullcandy, will host product giveaways throughout the night.

"It will be a night of electronic and rock music," Chase said.

Although Leo and Clifford do not appear on the album, they will play live with Chase on Friday.

"We’re performers that will help move the album forward," Moon said.

The songs on the album were originally written by Chase, who mainly sketched them out on acoustic guitar.

"As I started getting into electronic music, I knew that I wanted to do an electronic album," she said. "While I wrote, performed and produced most of the songs, my mentor Derek Beck and I produced two of them and we mixed the album together."

Chase was inspired by the layered mixes of Porter Robinson’s "Worlds" and the stripped-down acoustic folksy compositions of Ben Howard while making "Dualities."

"I think Ben is a fantastic songwriter and he writes extremely personal songs in a creative and sometimes vague way that allows listeners to insert themselves in the song," she said. "Those two polarities is what came together to make ‘Dualities.’"

Once she finished the album, Chase teamed with Leo, with whom she has played before as the duo Chasing Lions. Leo, in turn, introduced Chase to Moon.

"I had worked with Clifford for about a year and wanted to show him this project, but I was kind of self-conscious and actually tried to hide this project from him," Leo said. "The reason was that I didn’t want to show him what we were doing and then have him tell me he didn’t want to be a part of it."

As fate would have it, Clifford asked Leo about Le Voir.

"I didn’t know what to expect to be honest, because they had me play bass with them for a couple of shows during the Sundance Film Festival," said Moon, whose musical influences range from metal and industrial music to the crooning of Bobby Darin. "I’ve been itching to play the drums so badly but since I have recently been in production mode with other acts I haven’t been able to play."

Another reason Leo was hesitant about bringing Moon into the fold was the differences in their musical tastes.

"We come from very different backgrounds," Leo said. "I went to school in Colorado and a ton of jam bands were a part of my life. Clifford, not so much."

Although the two worked through some awkward moments at the beginning of the collaboration, Chase knew it would work out.

"Ever since I first saw him, I knew I wanted Clifford to play drums for me," she said.

Leo said it felt good to play Chase again.

"What I like about Gillian’s compositions is that it sounds great in the CD, but she told me we need to be able to play these songs live and it’s given us a lot of freedom to figure out the best way to give that energetic and visceral feeling to the audience," said Leo, who cited Sound Tribe Sector Nine, Neil Young and Oingo Boingo as some of his diverse influences.

"Some songs have grown, and other songs have [shrunk] in some ways when we play them live," Chase said. "So, they all have become new and improved different creatures. So, in a sense the album has become a foundation for us to build on."

Le Voir will celebrate the release of its debut album "Dualities" at the Complex, 536 W. 100 South, in Salt Lake City, on Friday, March 25. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are available by visiting levoirmusic.com , SmithsTix.com or http://www.thecomplexslc.com .

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