Your Favorite Enemies guitarist is constantly pushing the comfort zone

By Jon Liebman
April 11, 2017

Growing up in Montreal, Stephane “Sef” Lemelin developed a passion for music as he took a liking to Testament, Iron Maiden, Metallica and other metal bands of the day. “I was so amazed by the intensity of the music at that time,” he says. “It was so raw and pure and it was a way for me to express myself.”

Sef is best known for his guitar work in Your Favorite Enemies, an alternative rock band he co-formed in 2006 with vocalist Alex Foster, guitarist Jeff Beaulieu, keyboardist Miss Isabel, drummer Charles “Moose” Allicie and Sef’s brother, bassist Ben Lemelin.

Since day one, the band members have made a priority of managing every aspect of YFE’s career to reflect their own values and beliefs, among which are human rights activities, Amnesty International efforts and using music to help children.

The band’s self-produced albums and EPs, including Between Illness and Migration and If I Was to Die in the Morning… Would I Still Be Sleeping with You, were released on the band’s own label, Hopeful Tragedy Records.

In 2009, the band acquired a former Catholic church in Drummondville, about an hour-and-a-half outside Montreal, and converted it into a full-service recording studio. They launched their own talk show, Bla Bla Bla: The Live Show in 2010, which covers band news, tour and merchandise information and other relevant YFE goings on.

Your Favorite Enemies has been cited by Billboard magazine as a band “to watch.” They have delighted audiences throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia and were a part of the 2015 Juno Awards when Between Illness And Migrationwas nominated for “Rock Album of the Year.”

FGPO’s Jon Liebman caught up with Sef at the Tech 21 booth at the 2017 winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA.

Watch our interview with Sef!