Pete Lesperance is a Canadian guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as the lead guitarist for the Canadian

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Harem Scarem Harem Scarem is a Canadian hard rock/melodic hard rock band from Toronto, Ontario. Harem Scarem initially (the early 1990s) achieved popularity in their native Canada and Japan. The band was active from 1987 to 2008, and again from 2013 after ...

. Lesperance was born October 13, 1968, in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. Lesperance was a guitarist in the

Oshawa Oshawa ( , also ; 2021 population 175,383; CMA 415,311) is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of Downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the G ...

metal band Minotaur before forming Harem Scarem with Blind Vengeance vocalist

Harry Hess Harry Hess (born July 5, 1968) is a Canadian record producer, singer and guitarist best known as the frontman for the Canadian hard rock band Harem Scarem. Hess has used his recording studio (Vespa Music Group) to work with many famous acts, ...

in 1987. Lesperance's solo album, ''Down In It'', was released in 2004 in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

only, where Harem Scarem had their main fanbase. With fellow guitarist

Mike Turner Michael Ray Turner (born January 11, 1960) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. Turner's district, numbered as the 3rd district from 2003 to 2013, is based in Dayt ...

(ex-

Our Lady Peace Our Lady Peace (sometimes shortened to OLP) is a Canadian rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1992. Led by lead vocalist Raine Maida since its formation, the band currently also features Duncan Coutts on bass, Steve Mazur on guitars, and J ...

), they put together the band Fair Ground. Together they released a new version of ''Down In It''. Lesperance's own studio, Hope Songs, is located in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. Lesperance has produced many bands, including the rock band One Short. He is currently finishing up albums for

Canadian Idol ''Canadian Idol'' is a Canadian reality television competition show which aired on CTV, based on the British show ''Pop Idol''. The show was a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada, and was hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Dore ...

contestants

Aaron Walpole Aaron John Walpole (born March 7, 1979) is a Canadian actor and singer, who placed third on the third season of ''Canadian Idol''. He is best known for playing the role of Lonnie in the 2010 Toronto run of ''Rock of Ages'' and Annas in the 2012 Br ...

and Suzi Rawn. His influences include

Eddie Van Halen Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he co-founded along ...

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Fredd ...

Nuno Bettencourt Nuno Duarte Gil Mendes Bettencourt (born September 20, 1966) is a Portuguese-American guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and businessman. He became known as the lead guitarist of the Boston rock band Extreme. He has also recorded ...

and

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist for ...

Discography

With Minotaur

*''83-87 (EP)'' (2004) ''-material was recorded in the early 80s''

With Harem Scarem

*''

'' (1991) *''

Mood Swings A mood swing is an extreme or sudden change of Mood (psychology), mood. Such changes can play a positive part in promoting problem solving and in producing flexible forward planning, or be disruptive. When mood swings are severe, they may be ...

'' (1993) *'' Voice of Reason'' (1995) *''

Karma Cleansing ''Karma Cleansing'' is a 1997 album by the Canadian hard rock band Harem Scarem. The album was released as ''Believe'' in Japan with the songs "Cages" and "The Mirror" being replaced with "Staying Away" and "Baby with a Nail Gun". ''Believe'' was ...

'' (1997) *''

Big Bang Theory The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...

'' (1998) *'' Weight of the World'' (2002) *'' Higher'' (2003) *'' Overload'' (2005) *''

Human Nature Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or ...

'' (2006) *''

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...

'' (2008) *''Mood Swings II'' (2013) *''

Thirteen Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

'' (2014) *''

United United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

'' (2017) *''Change The World'' (2020)

With Rubber

*''

Rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

'' (1999) *''

Ultra Feel ''Ultra Feel'' is an album by the Canadian hard rock band Rubber (formerly known as Harem Scarem). Track listing (Canadian edition) Personnel *Harry Hess - lead vocals, guitar, keyboards *Pete Lesperance Pete Lesperance is a Canadian guitari ...

'' (2001)

Solo

*''Down In It'' (2004) *''Fade Into Stars'' (2012)

Fair Ground

Fair Ground was an

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

collaboration formed by Pete Lesperance and

(

). Originally Turner was to make a guest appearance on Lesperance's solo album, but this developed into Fair Ground's only album, ''Down In It'', which was released on November 6, 2006. Following an

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

poll Poll, polled, or polling may refer to: Figurative head counts * Poll, a formal election ** Election verification exit poll, a survey taken to verify election counts ** Polling, voting to make decisions or determine opinions ** Polling places o ...

the group released the song "Down In It" as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

. This was followed by "Boy Without A Clue". *''Down In It'' (2006). Track listing: # "Down In It" - 3:40 # "Automatic" - 3:25 # "Say You Will" - 3:33 # "Nameless" - 3:33 # "What are you Waiting For?" - 3:20 # "Boy Without a Clue" - 4:03 # "Skeleton Tree" - 3:47 # "No Sign of Life" - 3:45 # "Upside Down" - 3:37 # "Life Goes On" - 3:17 # "Life Goes On" (Acoustic Bonus Track) - 3:31

Guest Appearances/Collaborations

*Doctor Rock & The Wild Bunch - Eye of the Hurricane (1991) - Guitars *Doctor Rock & The Wild Bunch - Stark Raving Mad (1994) - Guitars *

Honeymoon Suite Honeymoon Suite is a Canadian rock band formed in 1981 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The band's name was a nod to the fact that Niagara Falls is the unofficial honeymoon capital of the world. History 1981–1985 The band was originally formed ...

- 13 Live (1994) - Engineer, Mixer *Mystery - Backwards (1995) - Producer (with

) *Lame - Ol' Doctor Bomb (1996) - Producer (With

) *Fall From Grace - Within The Savage Garden (1997) - Guitar Technician *Steve Holliday - Stark Raving Mad (1997) - Guitars *Xntrik - Focus (1997) - Guitar Technician *Fiore - Body Electric (1998) - Producer *Fiore - Today Till' Tomorrow (1998) - Producer (With

) *Rafa Martin - Corazon De Hierro (2000) - Guitars *Stupid Angel - Stupid Angel (2000) - Producer (With

) *John Boswell - Stranger In The Mirror (2002) - Guitars *Ken Tamplin - Wake The Nations (2003) - Guitars *Maureen Leeson - aka MOE (2003) - Guitars *Billy Klippert - Billy Klippert (2004) - Composer, Guitars *Brian Tulk - The Pop Machine (2004) - Guitars *Brian Tulk - Paperweight (2007) - Guitars *John Grolman - Existence (2009) - Guitars, Backing Vocals *LORD - Set in Stone (2009) - Guest guitar solo: Track 11: "New Horizons" * Liberty N' Justice - Light It Up (2010) - Guitars, Backing Vocals: Track 11: "Beautiful Decision"

References

External links

Official Site

Official Harem Scarem Site

Minotaur Myspace
* Down In It
My Remote Producer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lesperance, Pete 1968 births Canadian rock guitarists Canadian male guitarists Living people People from Scarborough, Toronto Musicians from Toronto