10Q’s with PAUL LOGUE of EDEN’S CURSE
Eden’s Curse are back with a new album, ‘Symphony Of Sin’ on AFM Records and two new members. Here Paul Logue fills us in on what has been happening in the Eden’s Curse universe in the past year and what they have planned…
What are you currently up to. The new album is out and you’ve played Firefest of course…?
“Hi Jason, We are very much in the process of promoting the new record; it actually came out in North America just the other day, and with our new deal with AFM being worldwide they have been working me like a dog in terms of interviews. It’s been really great and the reactions have been superb across the board.”
“Firefest was fantastic, and we could have gone on to play another ten shows to be honest; but that will come probably around Spring 2014. We have held initial discussions with our Management team and booking agents and they are off to do their jobs. We ideally want to do a club headline tour in the UK for sure and will be reaching out to the major summer festivals. We can’t wait to get back out on the road with the new material and that is really the big aim this year to get out and play. We want to make an impact on the live scene, and now we are all based in Europe there is no excuse now.”
Could you take us through the new album ‘Symphony Of Sin’ e.g. writing process, stories behind the songs…?
“All the songs were written by myself, Pete and Thorsten. “Trinity” was such a big album for us, so we had to make sure that this one too was a complete knock out and we deliberately pushed ourselves and each other harder during the writing sessions. Thorsten, myself and Pete wouldn’t accept the first idea that came forward if any one of us thought that the idea could be bettered in any way. We went back to the drawing board multiple times on each of these songs and it really shows in my opinion. This also demonstrates how comfortable we are working with each other, because we would not let personal gain get in the way of “the song”. We would only say “done” when everyone was truly happy with every part, thus enabling us to write the best batch of songs that we could.”
“There are too many concepts to cover here, but a few that spring to mind – firstly the title track “Symphony Of Sin”, which is about the decline in moral standards. When writing the song the news was peppered with stories of child murders, riots in London, terrorist attacks, and this was a major influence. It got me asking questions. Is this what we have become? I’m a peaceful person as many people are – I would not say a utopist as such, but one who longs for good to triumph over evil and faith being restored in humanity….”
“Secondly, “Unbreakable”; it’s a song that came from the heart and spoke of our brotherly bond together. As King Robert The Bruce of Scotland was alleged to have said, “If at first you don’t succeed try and try again”. It’s that fighting spirit and bond that holds Eden’s Curse together when lesser bands would have walked away. We believe in what we do and we were set against rising again better than ever before. I made this point at Firefest and I was choked when the crowd erupted into applause. A very humbling moment!”
Dennis Ward is involved again. What does he bring to the band’s sound and production nowadays?
“Dennis has been with us since the beginning and he knows what works for our music. Sonically his productions just kick you hard in the face and that’s what I love so much. I think he is the number one guy out there for this type of music.”
How did you hook-up with new members Nikola Mijic and Steve Williams? Were they actively involved in the recording of the new album?
“When we parted company with Marco Sandron we decided to hold some public online auditions, similar to what Dragonforce did, and even though the quality received was very high indeed, we were looking for that certain “je ne sais quoi”. I was researching on the internet through various media streams and I happened to be browsing on the website of Lion Music, who have some killer bands. I came across a Hungarian Prog band called Dreyelands and liked what I heard from their singer. I jumped to Facebook to see if he had a profile and low and behold he did. I reached out to Nikola and invited him to audition, which he did, and the rest, as they say is history.“
“Steve actually auditioned for the band when Ferdy Doernberg left, after the second album, and was only beaten by Alessandro and his magnificent voice. We have remained good friends since and it was a very natural decision to ask him to join as he is a great player, songwriter and person.“
“Both really joined too late to be involved in the writing process, although Nikola contributed some ideas to “Evil & Divine” on his audition, which actually made the final album cut. However, both guys really stamped their own personalities all over the material, which is the free licence that everyone is given as a part of Eden’s Curse.”
What was it like to finally appear and play at Firefest? Did you manage to see any other bands over the weekend?
“It was great! We had a few sound issues on the day, which took a little of the shine off, but the reaction was great, especially to the new material and we performed well. I didn’t see as many bands as I would have liked on Friday but I stayed for Saturday and to see Eclipse on Sunday. My personal highlights Treat, Eclipse, Hardline, Von Groove and the band of the weekend by a country mile …. H.E.A.T!!!”
You’ve done videos for YouTube including ‘Evil & Divine’. Is YouTube providing the exposure for bands like Eden’s Curse that MTV and ‘Headbanger’s Ball’ did back in the 80′s and early 90′s?
“Haha! Are you kidding? It’s an essential marketing and promotional tool for sure today, but I’m driving a Mitsubishi as opposed to a Ferrari ;-)”
How important to you is other social media like Facebook, Twitter etc, in getting your music out there and communicating with your fans?
“It’s vital! We have some outstanding tools at our disposal and the ones who embrace these and utilise them to promote their music properly will always reap the rewards. We try and keep our Facebook and Twitter ticking over every one to two days. Interaction is everything.”
Paul – how did LaValle come about? You must be pleased with the reviews to date?
“Eddie emailed me and asked me would I check one of his songs out; and I did and really liked it. We then started some writing and I encouraged him to pull together an album’s worth of material and introduced him to John Kivel and he took it on from there. Absolutely, they have been very positive indeed.”
Will Eden’s Curse be able to tour more regularly now, as the band members are a bit closer geographically these days? Ideally who would the band like to tour with over the next year or so?
“I probably answered this in my first question, but absolutely! This is what we really want to do. Ourselves mainly, but there are many cool bands out there we’d love to open for – a full tour with our friends in Dream Theater would be nice, or Edguy – I love those guys! Anyone who compliments what we do would be great.”
Anything else to add and a message for your fans…
“Thanks to all our fans who stuck by us knowing that one day we would rise again. It has been a difficult couple of years for Eden’s Curse but I can assure you that we are back bigger and better than ever before. We stand here united, together as one, and we are UNBREAKABLE! See you all on the road in 2014!!!“
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