Eden's Curse

After the release of their higly praised, self titled debut, Eden's Curse went almost instantly back into the studio to record the follow up, "The Second Coming". Compared to the debut, the new record is bigger and better all round. Better hooks, guitars, drums, vocals, production, keys, lyrics, songs, artwork and even photos! They've upped the ante big time! We caught up once again with Paul Logue to see how things are getting on.

Metal Mayhem: Hi Paul, thanks for talking to us again. How's things?
Paul Logue: Hey Chris, you’re more than welcome mate. Things have been super busy but extremely fruitful and positive!

MM: Before we get onto the new album, let’s talk briefly about the debut and how it was received? Were you happy with how everything went press and tour wise in support of the album?
PL: The debut was received fantastically the world over and the press and fans seemed to lap it up. That was a big surprise for us, because you never know how the launch of a new band and new music is going to be received. Many people forecasted what would happen and they were wrong. Tell me we can’t and I’ll find five reasons to tell you we can. We had belief in our product and we knew we weren’t just your typical this or that. Nothing in rock music is unique but you can create your own style with a lot of hard work. Touring was a disappointment, but that will come. In the end all of the decisions that we made at the time that were hard worked in our favour. I mean losing the Firefest gig put an extra $6k in our pocket and we went out and got Tony Harnell and Pamela Moore, so it was meant to be.

MM: Having dealt with AFM ourselves for quite a while, they do seem a pretty decent label. Did you get much feedback from them regarding the release/sales etc of the debut album?
PL: The relationship with the A&R and Press units is fantastic, although the sales figures seemed to differ from everyone that we spoke to – isn’t that always the way with labels ? I think in the main they were extremely pleased about how it did, I mean they couldn’t be anything but! We did OK on the royalty cheques that went in one hand and straight into Dennis Ward’

MM: In my review of “Eden’s Curse”, whilst it didn’t blow me away, I did say that I wasn’t going to write you off just yet and you would return next time with a hell of an album. Did you do anything different in the preparation and writing for “The Second Coming” as everything sounds bigger and better? It even got you album of the month here at Metal Mayhem scoring an impressive 9/10.
PL: Yes I read both your reviews – your name is now off our hit list ha ha! Some get it, some don’t, that’s cool, I can handle that. If it’s art then not everyone will like it and if everyone likes it then it’s not art. I think I stole that from Tony Harnell – but it is priceless! Your review made me smile even more, because we converted you and it didn’t take a bible and a glass of holy water!!
As far as routines go, we didn’t change any of our working methods at all. In fact, if we could have got away with it, we would have stuck to exactly the same blueprint as the debut, in fact we almost did! I love the debut, and just set about writing the same style, as it’s me at my most honest and sincere. It’s what I want to hear as a Hard Rock / Metal enthusiast. If it doesn’t float my boat then it won’t get Mikey’s vote is my motto! Everything I write goes to Mike to get the stamp of approval, so if I’m not happy he won’t hear it. I wrote some forty songs for the new record and the hardest thing was whittling it done to the 13 or 14 ideas we recorded.
The main differences I think are mainly production based, although I do think this batch of songs just have more hooks! We improved the drum and guitar sounds, brought Ferdy out to stamp his style more on the songs, individual performances were better and Dennis did one hell of a mix. It just worked a treat.

MM: Do you feel that the new album has been received better amongst the press than your debut?
PL: At this stage I’d say it’s close but the new one edges it. There are some things that are going to happen soon that will have the collective clueless scratching their hairy asses and falling off their tyre swings. Watch this space!

MM: What’s your opinion of The Second Coming, and how would you compare the two of them?
PL: It’s the best record we’ve done yet. It’s an intense set of songs that look at the deeper darker side of life and offer a glimmer of a better future here and there.

There is stuff we can all relate to on this CD. Everyone has been through what we’ve been through, albeit in different guises. We’re living proof that dreams can come true. If you think you can or if you think you can’t, either way you are right! When the voice inside becomes louder than the opinions on the outside you’ve mastered your life.
I’d just say, compared to the debut, the new record is bigger and better all round. Better hooks, guitars, drums, vocals, production, keys, lyrics, songs, artwork and even photos! We upped the ante big time!

MM: There are also some impressive guests on there, how did all this come about?
PL: Doogie and Carsten are part of the furniture now – they’ll always be with us in the Curse Choir! When we discovered David Readman (Pink Cream 69) couldn’t do the record we started looking for a name who could fill his boots and then some. We contacted several people and suddenly Tony’s name popped into my head. I wrote him a letter on Myspace and he replied. We then followed that up with phone calls and a deal was done. He was a joy to work with, loved the music and put in a performance that you would expect from a man of his caliber. The other ace up our sleeve was Pamela Moore. Again, the story is exactly like Tony’s – contact was made and a deal was done. She again performed wonderfully and that song seems to be turning a lot of heads for us.

MM: If you had the chance to go back and change anything, or add anything to the album, is there anything you would do?
PL: Sometimes people don’t get my vision. People play it safe. The biggest success stories in the world were major risk takers. I tried to get the label to stick their neck out and let us do a video for “Angels & Demons” but it was deemed too expensive and many excuses were put forward in support against us doing so. 121,000 plays and still climbing on Myspace has me thinking “What if …”. I don’t like thinking “What if …”. That’s the only thing I would have added as a bonus feature.

MM: You made the fantastic “Angels & Demons” available to download and stream on your MySpace page. What were the reasons for doing this, and why that track in particular?
PL: The reason was basically to promote the new album and give people a full song to hear. We picked that track because it’s a shitkicker and Pamela is well known the world over because of her exploits in Queensryche. It made perfect sense.

MM: Last week or so I read that it reached over 118,000 unique plays, what is it up to now?
PL: 121,000 it’s up about just now – but it would be way over 130,000 if I hadn’t deleted it off myspace by mistake. I wasn’t a popular boy last week I can tell you that!

MM: I also read that there is a tasty little Angels & Demons related package coming our way via MySpace very soon. Can you tell us a bit more on what this is all about?
PL: OK, you get the exclusive – due to the fact that unfortunately Myspace changed their music player the week we launched the single people were unable to download the track from our player. We did not expect the hits that it got, and anyway we’ve decided to release a Digital Single of the track. It will be available in a bundle format with a different version, another song from the new record and an exclusive interview with Michael, Pamela and myself. It should be available to purchase at a low price come 1st Dec.

MM: How about tours/gigs in support of The Second Coming?
PL: Everyone wants to know this, me included! We are working with a booking agent in Europe now and we are desperately trying to hook up a tour that Eden’s Curse fits on. Until we find the right package I can’t add anymore than that. I can say for sure that in 2009 the band will play live.

MM: So what does 2009 hold for you guys? Is there anything you’d like to achieve over the next year?
PL: Live is the priority. It’s time to establish the band on the live circuit.

MM: Thanks again, and all the best. We’ll hopefully catch up with you again and see how things are going in the Eden Curse Camp.
PL: Thanks for your time, it’s very much appreciated!

Chris Rogers