We take a lockdown chat with guitarist and co-founder of rock band Leaving Eden
HI THERE THANKS FOR ANSWERING SOME QUESTIONS FOR US. PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF FOR US WHO ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH YOU AND YOUR MUSIC AND TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF.
Hi, I’m Eric Gynan, cofounder of the rock band Leaving Eden from New England USA. Doing the best we can here during lockdown. Normally we start recording our next album in August but seeing that we’re stuck here, we’ve been recording it now.
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR NEW ALBUM OR SINGLE? Our new album “Dream With Me” and title track to be released in May, 2020, we were told it was the best pre-order for the label. Dream With Me is Leaving Eden’s 7th Album to be released world wide and distributed by Dark Star Records/Sony/Universal. WHAT INSPIRED THE ALBUM OR SINGLE? Alyssa and I wrote the title track “Dream with me“. We loved the song when it was finished. We felt it was a great title for the Album. The video has a connection to the coronavirus. CAN YOU SUM UP THE ALBUM IN A FEW WORDS? In this album we got the best of both worlds, where again like our last 2 Albums, we were able to take all the time necessary to record and produce “Dream With Me” in Leaving Eden’s Studio. But then, to have One of the best Rock Engineers in the world as far as I’m concerned, Grammy Award Winning Engineer Johnny K. (Disturbed, Staind, Finger Eleven, 3 Doors Down, Megadeath, Sevendust, Plain White T’s, POP Evil, Trapt, Drowning Pool, Alien Ant Farm, and many more) for Final Mix and Mastering is my dream scenario! I love working With Johnny, he’s a genuine connoisseur of great music with so much talent, it’s such a pleasure to call him my friend. We’ve worked together on other albums but this one, to have the freedom to dig deep and experiment with my own unique recording techniques and then to have Johnny put his final touches on it was a real treat!” WHAT RECORD CHANGED YOUR LIFE AND WHY? Black Sabbath, Sabbath bloody Sabbath. When I was a kid I would just lay with my head right up against the speakers and crank it as loud as I could. Pretty stupid man but nobody told me not to. I just loved the vocal melody, the drums, the guitars and the bass. DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE MUSIC VIDEO FILMED BY YOUR BAND OR ANOTHER ARTIST? From New Album “Dream With Me” Dream With Me Official Video (in a time of the CoronaVirus) By Leaving Eden https://youtu.be/8zDgQQPXgRA
House of the Rising Sun Official Video By Leaving Eden https://youtu.be/4DC_GkXSQr0
WHAT WOULD WE FIND YOU DOING WHEN YOU'RE NOT MAKING MUSIC? Just chillaxing. I do work a lot so there’s not a lot of time for that but it’s nice to kick back and have a drink, smoke. Like right now, we usually don’t start recording our next album till August but since we’re all in lockdown here in Massachusetts, no better time than to start recording now. DO YOU GET NERVOUS PERFORMING LIVE, IF SO HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THAT? Well, we’ve been doing this for a long time however you always get a little anxiety. If you don’t then you’re not human. But it’s actually a good feeling to take on and stare it down, utilize it and forge through it. The biggest thing when performing live is to have confidence because if you are confident, the crowd is confident in your abilities. Like a pack of animals, they can sense if you're scared or not, humans are no different. HOW DID YOU FORM THE BAND? Leaving Eden has been around for well over a decade. Co-founded by myself and Eve. Rick was in a previous band to Leaving Eden. Alyssa was at a gig and she wanted to play keys for us. The drum slot also became available and Jake asked for it. I think every member of Leaving Eden are really top-notch musicians. HOW DO YOU WRITE? - DO YOU HAVE A KEY SONGWRITER, OR DO YOU ALL WORK TOGETHER? It’s both. Like I said above, Alyssa co-wrote the song Dream With Me. But the process is, I pretty much write the songs by connecting with the universe and just listening and everything seems to come. I end up having to shut it off because there’s not enough time to write everything that I’m hearing. On that note, the rest of the band pretty much has the freedom to utilize their own interpretation of how they are feeling the vibe. There are some specific things that they need to do but all in all, they get to utilize their creative talents in the songwriting process as well. It’s a pretty good fit. WHAT INSPIRES YOU? Touring is great, you really get to meet some great people and see some awesome places that you could have never possibly found. It’s very inspiring to share the stage with some of your favorite all-time bands. It’s almost surreal. Leaving Eden has toured the USA, UK & Canada sharing the stage with hundreds of the biggest national bands in the world including; 10 Years, 10 Years After (Woodstock Reunion), Adelitas Way, Alice Cooper, Alice In Chains, Anthrax, Apocalyptic Review (featuring members of Godsmack), Avenged Sevenfold, Big Brother and The Holding Company (Woodstock Reunion), Black Sabbath (Heaven & Hell), Blackstone Cherry, Bret Michaels, Buckcherry, Chevelle, Collective Soul, Country Joe (Woodstock Reunion), Damage Plan, (Featuring Dimebag & Vinnie Paul) Days Of The New, Disturbed, Dope, Dropkick Murphy's, Drowning Pool, Five Finger Death Punch, Fuel, Gemini Syndrome, Gin Blossoms, Godsmack, Halestorm, HELLYEAH, Herman Rarebell (The Scorpions), Hinder, Hookers & Blow (featuring members of Guns ‘N' Roses, Quiet Riot, W.A.S.P.), In This Moment, Jefferson Starship (Woodstock Reunion), Killswitch Engage, Kittie, Korn, Lacuna Coil, LA Guns, Lamb Of God, Lita Ford, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marilyn Manson, Michael Schenker (UFO, MSG & The Scorpions) Motorhead, Mudvayne, Mushroomhead, Napalm Death, Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden), Nonpoint, One Eyed Doll, Papa Roach, Pop Evil, Powerman 5000, Puddle Of Mudd, Queensryche, Ratt, Rob Zombie, Ronnie James Dio, Saliva, Saving Abel, Scott Stapp (the voice of Creed), Sebastian Bach, Seether, Sevendust, Shinedown, Slayer, Soil, Soulfly, Steven Tyler, Stone Sour, Taproot, Ted Nugent, Testament, The Butcher Babies, The Misfits, Theory Of A Deadman, Trapt, Tremonti (Creed/Alterbridge), Trixter, Uncle Kracker, Warrant, ZZ Top, Nickelback, Skillet & many more. WHAT IS NEXT? Tracks from Leaving Eden albums will be featured in Massimiliano Cerchi’s movies: Painkiller, Mayday, Lockdown and Penthouse starring Michael Pare (The Philadelphia Experiment, Eddie and the Cruisers). And Bloodthirst. “We are excited about this new album also because the entire album and lots of tunes from our previous albums will also be featured in a new fake reality comedy movie titled “The Nitwit” Watch the teaser trailer For THE NITWIT MOVIE
Originally I had written The Nitwit movie script loosely based on real life events with the intention of having Leaving Eden’s music throughout the movie and procuring other pros to make the movie. Where Leaving Eden has been involved with having our music placed in different movies and TV series this simply made sense. While in Iowa after wrapping up on a shoot I sat down with Nitwit Movie Producer, Ray Van Blarcom and Actor, Matt Moody over a scotch and threw the script down on the table. They started reading it, thought it was hilarious so we decided let’s make the movie. For me being the director of several music videos it was a very simple transition to direct The Nitwit Movie. Finally, I was intrigued by Matt Moody’s experience not only in production but as an actor. Ironically Matt fit the leading role as The Nitwit perfectly. He then brought in Jordan Smith as his costar and Nitwit Movie Producer, Fran Huges, the rest is history. We expect the movie to be released in 2020 by SGL Entertainment. Being isolated during the coronavirus is a very tough thing for most people so we definitely do wish for everyone’s safety
There you will find everything you need to know about Leaving Eden. Thanks much man it was a pleasure chatting with you here and I wish you peace and safety.
Leaving Eden Lineup: Eve Lead Vocals, Alyssa Bailey White Keys and Vocals, Jake Gynan Drums, Eric Gynan Guitars and Vocals, Rich Chouinard Bass and Vocals https://leavingeden.com
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