Revera releases new single mixed by Foo Fighters mixer

Revera, a hard rock band from St. Albert, recently released a new song, mixed by “Everlong” and “Monkey Wrench” mixer, Chris Sheldon. Of the band’s four members, Matteo Sicolo, did vocals and rhythm, Tristan Fehr plays drums, Cassius Devlin plays lead, while Caelan Alexander plays bass. Sicolo and Fehr sat down with The Gateway to chat about their new releases, and being student musicians.

Since writing the article, Sicolo has left the band and Braden Sollid has replaced him as their guitarist.

Revera has been influenced by ‘90s grunge, post-grunge, 2000s alt rock, and pop-punk. But recently, they’ve shifted towards hard rock and metal.

The band’s new song titled “Waste of Fire” was released on October 24, followed by a self-titled album the next day. The album combines new and old studio-recorded tracks and live tracks from a show at the Blackjacks Roadhouse in Nisku. It “brought together the best of [Revera’s] three-year history,” Sicolo said. He added that the live recordings represent a “unique and memorable time for [the] band,” as they were recorded when Revera toured Alberta in early 2025.

Alongside playing a free show at Edmonton’s B Street Bar, Revera promoted the single and the album by posting videos of themselves hiding CDs on university campuses and other hot spots in Edmonton and St. Albert. Fehr discovered the tactic online and found it was successful in increasing engagement with the band’s content.

“We envisioned having a really pristine sound on it,” Fehr says

Fehr, who also takes on the recording engineer responsibilities for the band, had the opportunity to work with Sheldon on “Waste of Fire.” Sheldon was responsible for mixing The Colour and the Shape by Foo Fighters. “We envisioned having a really pristine sound on it and a really solid mix. And so we wanted to go with somebody who we knew would definitely achieve that,” Fehr said.

And Sicolo mentioned it’s important to work with someone new. “We don’t want to get tunnel vision or rely on the techniques that we know and are comfortable with too much, so it’s good to have that outside perspective,” he said.

The phrase “waste of fire,” as reported by Anna Borowiecki, is also from an outside source. Specifically, it is from the science fiction novel Star Maker, which Sicolo read for university. The line was used out of its original context in the chorus, as it reminded Sicolo of his hopes for a fulfilling romantic relationship.

The process of writing the song, especially the chorus, was “very collaborative,” Sicolo said. He usually does most of the songwriting, but always ensures the other members contribute as well. The result was something that Sicolo found “simple, to the point, and kind of mysterious and cool.” This allowed the song, which Sicolo referred to as “very in your face,” to not be too overwhelming. “It drives the point home,” Fehr agreed.

Members balance being in the band, and being students

Sicolo and Fehr also discussed the challenges that come with managing time while being in a band and being a student. When Fehr was enrolled in a business program at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), he “decided that the band was going to take over things a little bit. And that didn’t go so well,” he said. Fehr is now working towards becoming a pilot, which he is more passionate about, and is making more time for his career goals. “I do need a future,” he acknowledged.

Somewhat contrastingly, Sicolo has a tendency to focus more on school. He said he wished that, initially, he had prioritized the band more. “Not at the expense of school of course but balanced it out a little bit more,” he said. However, he has found more balance recently as the band has been promoting “Waste of Fire.” Sicolo said “there was that passion and thinking outside of the box,” without having to “sacrifice [his] marks” in school.

“It is a tough balance, especially when all of us have multifaceted lives outside of music,” Sicolo recognized. “But I think that as long as we can properly check in with each other and keep each other accountable, then things seem to work out pretty well,” he concluded.