Interview with Leaving Eden co-Founder Eric Gynan

June 01, 2020

Interview with Leaving Eden co-Founder Eric Gynan

By Mick Michaels

The Cosmick View: Hello, Eric and welcome to The Cosmick View/MBM Ten Pounder! Thanks for taking some time to chat with us!

Eric Gynan: Right on! It’s my pleasure. Doing the best we can here during lock down. Normally we start recording our next album in August but seeing that we’re stuck here, we’ve been recording it now.

CV: Describe your definition of the band’s sound and style and how does that definition uniquely describe the music?

EG: I consider Leaving Eden a multi genre band branded in Rock/Metal...we also have Folk, Pop, Alternative, Progressive music that really tends to blend paired with lots of energy and a connection to the crowd. I always say Leaving Eden is best seen and heard live. Eve (vocalist) has a connection with people that is intriguing...lots of melody/harmony/energy with hooks and lyrics that are based on reality to a certain extent.

CV: Today, everyone talks about artist and audience connection. Is such a level of connection actually achievable for an artist and if so, how have you made the connection to your fans?

EG: I like to think of them as friends. We love seeing old friends and meeting new ones. Some of my best friends are in fact people whom I met on the road. Music is truly the universal language...breaks down barriers. So because of how important my friends are to me, it’s pretty simple to have a strong level of connection. We’ve always made it a point to go out and hang with everyone before and after shows. During the shows as I said, Eve has this connection with the crowd that’s second to none. I saw this early on. That paired with the energy, charisma and confidence leads way as well as lyrics that people connect with.

CV: Is fan interaction an important part of the band’s inner culture?

EG: Yes and for all the reasons above and we have been very fortunate to have made friends in so many places. 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.

CV: Can a band truly interact with its fans and still maintain a level of personal privacy without crossing the line and giving up their “personal space” in your opinion?

EG: Great question. I think like anybody, people need their space...especially now with this Corona virus. I really see the personal space thing continuing to a certain extent. It’s going to take a while before people get comfortable. I think it’s shocking to some people. With that said I do keep my private life private and strongly believe in that. I think most people feel that way. I’ve had people show up unannounced. I casually let them know to please call or text me if you're thinking about popping in. I’ve always liked to know in advance if I’m having visitors. When I’m out and about, I encourage friends to come say hi, come hang out and party. If not for my friends I’d surely have nothing. I value friends more than any of my possessions.

CV: Is music, and its value, viewed differently around the world in your opinion? If so, what do you see as the biggest difference in such multiple views among various cultures?

EG: Another great question. Yes and no. I think as I said, music is the universal language, so all in all, and all over the world, music is so important to every individual...good, bad or indifferent. Does one culture view another culture’s music differently? Absolutely. I think that we are naturally obliged to what we’ve been turned onto. So a Metal listener typically isn’t going to listen to Japanese music. Does that mean Japanese music sucks? Of course not. But that doesn’t mean they're going to like it. I’ve said for instance, I can’t play Middle Eastern music but that doesn’t mean I’m not a good musician. You can hear some really technical Acid Jazz music and simply not be able to grasp what’s going on but that doesn’t make you any less a musician. So long as you focus on your own craft and master that, you’re just as good as they are in their particular genre.

CV: Do you feel that a band that has an international appeal, will tend to connect more so to American audiences? Would they be more enticed or intrigued to see the band over indigenous acts because of the foreign flavor?

EG: Well it’s happened for years like the British Invasion...when Jimmy Hendrix went over to the U.K. I’d even go as far to say within a country like the USA, where we are from Boston, we’ve seen 47 of the 50 states and when we come to town, people seem to love the out-of-towners. When we went over to Europe, I gotta say, there were some of the nicest people I’d ever met. Here in Boston you look at someone and they could say “What the fuck are you looking at?” And in Europe they could say “Hey Mate”.

CV: Has modern-day digital technology made everyone an artist on some level in your opinion? Have the actual lines of what really is an artist been blurred?

EG: Mediocrity is definitely here to stay, led by the onslaught of technology. Not just in music but all aspects of production for instance, whether it be video, recording, writing, etc. It definitely saturates the system in a way that you’ve really gotta dig to find the gem. But is it really bad? No. It gives people the opportunity to do something creative that they never possibly could have done so 30 years ago. I’m sure there are some real talents that came out of this mediocrity. I can appreciate the art even if it’s not great because it’s still unique. The cream of the crop always rises to the top.

CV: How would you describe the difference between an artist who follows trends and one who sets them?

EG: As I’ve said over and over again, because an artist who writes their own material is so unique that no one else in the entire universe is playing that music unless you're a superstar and people cover your material, just by default, you’re unique. However, it doesn’t automatically make you a trendsetter. I love artists who do not follow the crowd and start something that’s new and fresh. Now, there are so many very successful bands that have followed trends and they are doing just fine. It’s always been that the trendsetter’s have always been the most noticed in terms of success. I’m amazed that in Rock/Metal there hasn’t been much change in 20 years. And the radio with its aging population plays that population's music. Down on tour in Florida, only a few years ago, all you heard was 70s music on the radio. Now, we were just down there on tour having to come back through this Corona Virus scare, we heard nothing but 80s music. I feel they need to make way for the newer artists or else they will have issues with touring when all of the older artists are gone. They need to plan for the future. Also on a side note, these radio stations have such an opportunity to make stars overnight. They earn their living from the locals so why not do something with the power you have to make new stars...doesn’t make sense.

Photo by Mark Weiss

CV: Has music overall been splintered into too many sub-genres in an effort to appease fan tastes in your opinion? And has such fan appeasements, in actuality, weakened music’s impact as a whole by dividing audiences?

EG: Very thought provoking questions, love it! I guess when you look at it that way, you could say yes, no doubt. However, they were always three sides to the coin, two sides being the obvious and the third side, very thin that joins the two. For us, we really do have different genres of music not because it’s what people want to hear so to speak, but it’s because of what comes to me through my writing process. I simply listen to the universe...get into some kind of meditative state and I can hear. So I write whatever comes my way and some of that stuff is not heavy at all so I write it. I remember we went to this very famous recording studio which I will not name, and the woman drew a picture of a box and said to us you’re out here and here but this is where you need to be. Honestly, I raised my hand and said excuse me, are you telling me I need to be in that box? She said, “well yes, I guess I am.” I said OK thank you have a good day and I got up and walked out. I know that they want you to be in that box, I know that the labels believe the album should completely be copacetic so that people know what to expect when they’re buying an album. I get it...I really do. As a songwriter, I write what I feel and if you like it that’s great, it makes it all worth it. If you don’t, that’s OK too because I am going to write what I feel and nobody’s going to change that. I’ve had people come and try and manage, and try and change things and I say have a good day man, all the power to ya. That’s why even till this day I manage the affairs of Leaving Eden. I’ve tried to have other people take care of the management end, but every one of them failed miserably.

CV: What can fans expect to see coming next from you?

EG: We have seven albums released worldwide. You can find those albums on all the normal platforms such as Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, Amazon. Our new album “Dream With Me” to be released in May, 2020, we were told it was the best pre-order for the label. 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.”

"Dream With Me" is Leaving Eden’s 7th Album to be released world wide and distributed by Dark Star Records/Sony/Universal. 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!

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 for the song has a connection to the Coronavirus.

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.

CV: Thanks again for taking some time and talking. It is greatly appreciated.

EG: And Thank you!! Great questions and great chatting with you here, peace and safety man!

Check out Leaving Eden at:
Official: https://leavingeden.com

House of the Rising Sun Official Video: https://youtu.be/4DC_GkXSQr0

Dream With Me Official Video: https://youtu.be/8zDgQQPXgRA

A teaser trailer For THE NITWIT MOVIE:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=g6uIkgZvVJI

Website: https://thenitwitmovie.com

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My name is Mick Michaels...I'm an artist, music fan, songwriter, producer, dreamer and guitarist for the traditional Heavy Metal band Corners of Sanctuary. Writing has always been a creative outlet for me; what I couldn't say in speech, I was able to do with the written word. Writing has given me a voice and a way for me to create on a multitude of platforms including music and song, articles, independent screenplays, books and now, artist interviews. The Cosmick View is an opportunity to raise the bar and showcase artists in a positive and inspirational light. For me, it's another out-of-this-world adventure.