Early arrivers will become early adopters at the Luyas record release at the Garrison on Wednesday, as you will be rewarded for your punctuality with a rare Toronto appearance by long-running London, Ontario ambient post-rock quintet, The Riderless. We chatted with core member and multi-instrumentalist Ian Doig-Phaneuf about improvisation, the London scene and multiple hat-wearing.

Who is The Riderless? If you were a league of superheroes, what would your origin story be?

The Riderless is a mostly improvising quintet formerly based in London, ON. We five have been a constant since 2001, with other peripheral members floating in and around from 1999 through to 2007. If we had to relate to a particular superhero aesthetic, I suppose we’d role with The Voltron Force. Too obvious?

You guys are from London, and a lot of people here in Toronto sadly don't know much about the Forest City's long history of underground music going back to the Nihilist Spasm Band in the '60s. How would you describe the London scene to an outsider?

The Nihilist Spasm Band, The Forest City Gallery, Call The Office, The Embassy, The Wick (R.I.P. to both... - ed.), Andy Magoffin (The House Of Miracles), 94.9 CHRW and other lesser known institutions were a huge part of our embryonic stage in London. Some of them still even exist! Aside from that, we’ve managed to remain on the fringes of any particular scene, collective or indie movement within the city. Without intention, we’ve sort of appropriated the trajectory of the NSB in that we just sort of do our thing, and maybe someone takes notice. If not, that’s fine too.

How do you guys compose your music? Is it all improvised or does anyone ever bring pre-written pieces to the jam space? Do you have a plan before you hit the stage when you play live?

While recording, which we’ve done exclusively with Andy Magoffin since 2002, there are specific themes and structures, both acoustic and electric, which are used and explored, albeit briefly. Even then, we keep the tweaking to an absolute minimum so as to keep the element of surprise and intrigue paramount. Live, we’re completely improvised, bringing a fully electric and ramped-up sound (hopefully) free of extraneous noodling, but with a very distinct rhythmic and melodic intensity.

 I was surprised to find out you guys have been together for over 10 years. This is your first time playing Wavelength. Have you played in Toronto before, and if so, how was your experience?

We haven’t performed in Toronto in some time. We’re accustomed to (and adore) the Tranzac, have enjoyed our experiences at the Drake, Rancho Relaxo, The Rivoli, Sneaky Dee’s and a number of events with Keith Hamilton. Our homeboy Sandro Perri was a big part of our 2009 album Auction. He and Keith have probably been our go-to team over the past decade.

You wear a lot of hats in addition to your role in The Riderless. Do you want to let us know a bit about your other activities in the musical community?

I’ve been relatively quiet as of late, mostly settling in to a hermetic piano-induced stasis. Previously though, I was music co-ordinator for the now wayward LOLA Festival and the Alex P. Keaton (now APK Live - ed.), respectively. I’ve released a couple of solo albums, make music with the trio Cladda, and I am the host of a show an electronic music program as A Person Disguised As People on 94.9 CHRW. I’ve really enjoyed just selecting (erm, DJing) at parties as of late. I’d like to be busier, but I suppose things come in waves.

What can we expect on Wednesday night at the Garrison? Are you guys bringing lots of merch to sell?

I’ve a feeling that things are going to get quite heavy. The last few sets have been wildly potent, and with this being our first T.O. show in a while (whilst surrounded by old friends we may or may not have seen in a while), we could get fairly ramped. I hope so, anyway! By way of merch, despite the fact that we’re 10 albums in, we’ve very little music for sale. Everything we’ve released is available for free online. Again, our Forest City ancestry has gotten the better of us!