Musicians in Lockdown: Leaving Eden Interview

With an album released back in May and another new one already on the horizon, New England rock band Leaving Eden have barely taken a break from writing this year. Their endless flow of creativity results in a stream of uplifting vocal harmonies driven by fiery yet serene undertones. This amalgamation of energies guides you under a radiant moonlight to emit a gleam of hope and will power above. With a sound like this, it’s no wonder they are being featured in movies.

Guitarist and vocalist Eric Gynan sat down with The Outer Void to discuss the band’s recent activity and future plans:

What have you been up to during the pandemic? Has the lockdown impacted your songwriting this year in any way?

Normally we don’t even start recording our album until August. We already had our previous album done and ready to be released in May 2020. With the time down we recorded our newest album titled Fable.

What’s your favorite show you’ve ever played?

That’s always a hard question. 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.

So maybe Black Sabbath? Just because.

Our motto has always been that we will play anywhere, anyway, anyhow so long as we can and that has really proven to open doors, meeting new friends and creating opportunities. There’s gigs that were half way across the country for instance with no monetary gain, in fact the expenses put us in debt. For example this one gig on Arizona from Boston USA (long trip) led us to Hollywood and a movie.

If you could tour with any band/artist, who would it be?

I would say Fleetwood Mac with Lindsey Buckingham of course. They are not my favorite band but I really like their harmonies, melodies and Lindsey Buckingham’s fingerpicking.

What 2020 album would you recommend to someone who believes there’s no good new music?

Well, is this my opportunity to pedal Leaving Eden’s latest release?

What are your plans for 2021?

We have songs in a lot of movies and that continues. With the epidemic however certain things get put on hold. We also have a movie called The Nitwit that we’ve been working on but that also had to be put on hold. No problem, we’ve always been pretty resilient. I think with the hope of things opening up sooner than later, we can expect touring as we do every year. Tracks from this album and other 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.

Check out Leaving Eden’s lyric music video for their song “Detached” below, and stream their new album Dream With Me on Spotify!