First I must congratulate you for the awesome “The Great Momentum” powerful and energetic… Let’s start by introducing the band…
Edenbridge were formed in 1998. Sabine, Kurt Bednarsky (our former bass player) and myself played together in another project before and when drummer Roland entered the band the line-up for our first CD-production was complete. We recorded “Sunrise in Eden” in 1999 on self-finance basis and sent it to about 30 labels around the world. Two weeks later Massacre records offered us a deal. The album was licensed to all important markets of the world (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, South and North America) and was a great success. In late 2000 we were on European tour with our labelmates Pink Cream 69 and Axxis. In 2001 we recorded our second CD “Arcana” which marked a big step forward. Then we went on tour with Metalium here in Europe which led us from Spain to Scandinavia. Right after we went to Korea to play a show on the International Busan Rock Festival in front of 20.000 people and a double-headliner show with Sinergy in Seoul. In January 2003 our third album “Aphelion” saw the light of day followed by a triple-headliner tour with Trail of Tears and Sirenia through Europe. A show on the famous German “Summer Breeze Festival” in front of 12.000 people followed. In April 2004 we played our first shows in Russia, Moscow and 2 shows in England on the Bloodstock festival which were a huge success. Then our first live-album/DVD “A Livetime in eden” came out. In October 2004 our 4th studio album “Shine” was released followed by a tour through Europe supporting Angra. In 2006 the first cover version saw the light of day, the release of a single with the famous James Bond title song “For your eyes only” (originally sung by Sheena Easton). The single was followed by the 5th full length studio album “The Grand Design”. In 2006/2007 Edenbridge toured in Europe and Asia (China, Taiwan, Hong Kong). Right after we had to split with drummer Roland. He was replaced by Max Pointner. We signed with Napalm Records world wide. In 2008 “MyEarthDream” saw the light of day, featuring the Czech Film Orchestra followed by a big European tour with Rage followed by our 2nd visit to Korea where we headlined the Jump Guro Open Air in Seoul. In 2009 we did a European headliner tour. In 2010 our 7th studio album “Solitaire” was released and entered #95 in the German charts. Followed by a promotional tour through Indonesia, the song “Solitaire” was 3 weeks #1 in the Indonesian Rock Charts. In october the same year Sabine and Lanvall played an acoustic show case in Hanoi/Vietnam. In 2013 Edenbridge signed a new worldwide record deal with SPV/Steamhammer. “The Bonding” was released in the same year followed by a European headliner tour in 2014. In 2015 the band released the 6DVD history documentary “A Decade And A Half… The History So Far”.
Why Symphonic Metal?
Why not… haha! Simply because it´s the style we wanna play. As I started as a songwriter my main goal was always to combine classical music with heavy metal.
What are the main differences from 1998?
19 years? If you listen to our first album “Sunrise in Eden” and compare it to “The Great Momentum” you can hear the differences.
Why the name Edenbridge?
I heard the name from a town in England, which is called Edenbridge. Right when I heard the name I knew it was the perfect name for us and the style we are playing.
How it was Edenbridge on European triple headliner tour together with Trail of Tears and Sirenia?
Hey, this tour is about 14 years ago now!!! It was nice but also extremely chaotic haha.
What are your biggest dreams?
I am living the dream day by day, being able to do what I love to do, making music!
Can you tell us about your visual and artistic inspiration, regarding this record, “The Great Momentum “?
“The Great Momentum” is a very powerful title, therefore it needed an equivalent artwork. “The Great Momentum” is the “timeless, absolute NOW”. People often tend to live in the future or in the past and forget about this very moment, where life is happening. The stone lady in her meditation pose and the energy flowing through her body, reflects this very well.
I think it is important to develop as a composer and musician as well as you have to as a human being. Making one step further with every new album. Exploring new territories, trying new things, I think this is what music should be about. We are speaking about that in the song “A Turnaround in Art”. So many bands just don´t take the time anymore to work hard on their albums. It´s just about the stage and the merchandise, cause this is the only thing they ear money nowadays. Albums are just a necessary evil to be back on stage as soon as possible. This is totally different in our case. When an album is finished is not dependent of already booked tours or anything else. We are doing this for the sake of music!
Easy to live from music?
Sometimes it is, sometimes it is not. It´s a 24/7 job but also passion and cannot be compared to a normal job. The market constantly changes, so you have to find new methods. Crowdfunding is a very popular tool nowadays, which we are using since 2012.
How it is to work with Steamhammer / SPV?
The cooperation is absolutely perfect so far. As we wanna deliver the most perfect album possible, they want to promote it as perfect as possible. We are collaborating with nice people and they always have an open ear, and the discussions about various topics are always productive. I think what is essentially nowadays and always was, is the term “Live and let live”!
Now, what’s next on the Edenbridge’s agenda?
We were just confirmed for the 70.000 Tons of Metal Cruise in February, which is awesome, as this is our first appearance in America. Then we have 2 home shows after that and then there are plans to go to Vietnam for a tour which is still not confirmed yet. Of course we are working on more shows after that.
What do you normally listen to?
To a lot of different music. Most of the time I work on my own music anyway, so that leaves little time to listen to something else. But my favorite bands are still the same. Dream Theater, Threshold, Marillion.
Leave a message for your fellow musicians who are trying to carve their own spot on the music scene and also for our readers and your followers…
Folow your dreams, never give up and work hard on it.
Thanks for the interview, Lanvall
www.edenbirdge.org
www.edenbridgefanclub.org
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