P.L. : Thank you. It's nice to be here guys ;-)
heavy paradise: Firstly, I would like to give you my congratulations for the "Trinity" album. It's really a great album. The reviews from the net are all great! How do you feel about that?
P.L. : It is a good feeling and it makes all the blood, sweat and tears that we pour into making the record all the worthwhile. Although the press reaction is important, the most important opinion is that of our fans, and I am glad to say that they are loving it too.
P.L. : We always have guests on each EC album, so Trinity was no different. Last record we had Tony Harnell (TNT) and Pamela Moore (Queensryche) and we wanted to try and "top" those with bigger names. I remember sitting with Michael during the planning stages of "Trinity" and we threw a bunch of names at each other and started from there.
We then began to try and make contact. Tracking James down was the hardest part, or so we thought, and within three hours of first discussing the idea I received an email from him on my Blackberry. That was freaky!! James was and is an absolute Gentleman. We hit it off from the word go, and he absolutely adores the music. It was simply a case of aligning our schedules and working out a deal with him. He was brilliant to work with - the consummate professional - and continues to keep in touch with us on a fortnightly basis.
Andi couldn't have been more different. I had done some work for Kosta Zafiriou, drummer of Pink Cream 69, and Helloween Tour Manager, and he said "If you ever need any help ...". So I asked could he hook it up. He did, and I never spoke to Andi once. I just got his vocals in one day and I was like "WOW"! That was a real special moment for me. Anyone who knows me, knows I adore Pink Cream 69's music since I've been listening to them since the late 80's. I love his voice!
heavy paradise: I read that the song "Children Of The Tide" is written for the victims of the Tsunami in the Indian Ocean, which happened several years back. How so and you wrote a song about that issue?
P.L. : I watched a documentary with my Wife on the Indian Ocean Tsunami last Christmas and the part that shocked me, was a woman saying that here, her husband and three year old daughter were gripped onto a pillar and the wave tore the child from their arms and there was nothing they could about it. Hearing that story, as a Father, or even just a human being effected me greatly and moved me to write the song. “Where did they go, the children of the tide” as the lyric goes. Obviously the song has taken on a whole new meaning with events in Japan.
heavy paradise: How do you feel after 5 years since the creation of Eden's Curse ? I want to say, are you proud of what this band has achieved till' now?
P.L. : It has been 5 years, but I am very proud of what we achieved from such humble begginnings. Michael and I put this down on paper and started from there. In theory it should never had worked, but this band has a will and desire like no other I have been involved in. We set targets and we continuously reach them. We keep striving to do things bigger and better. We aim very highly and this is what keeps us going.
P.L. : Absolutely! Not only on a musical level but a personal one as well. The main reason Ferdy was fired is that we could not bond with him. His talent as a musician was never in doubt but there was a deep personal issue there that was never going to disappear no matter how hard we worked at it. You can't be a team and have one person solely interested in themselves. It simply isn't going to work. Alessandro arrived and like a breath of fresh air lifted the morale and the music with little ease. We should have had him in the band from day one.
heavy paradise: If you had to pick your favorite album, from all three, which would that be and why?
P.L. : You are asking me to pick which of my children is my favourites ha ha! That isn't going to happen. All three are extremely important, and pivotal, in the short career of the band and if truth be told, I love everyone of them dearly. The first is crucial because it set the "ball rolling". If that record wasn't well received there would not have been a second. I personally believe that "The Second Coming" was a step up in class from the debut, and "Trinity" is the extension of that - but with an added je nes sais quoi.
heavy paradise: How do you see today's music scene?
P.L. : Tough with little or no investment in up and coming bands. Everyone wants a fantastic sounding album as cheap as possible. It's diffiuclt to do this, but with todays social habits - like stealing music for free - it's immensley difficult for bands to make records and labels to invest. Touring has never been more expensive.
P.L. : I'm heavily influenced by the sounds of bands such as Queensryche, Dokken, Edguy, Scorpions, TNT, Pink Cream 69, Dio, Whitesnake, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Malmsteen and some old school AOR like Journey, Foreigner, Giant and today's crop of Melodic and Power Metal bands.
heavy paradise: How do you describe the Eden's Curse sound? Is it a hard rock band or melodic metal? Do you accept the labels?
P.L. : I hate labels, but personally I believe Melodic Metal is the best description. It's not quite Heavy Metal - It can be in places. but we have so much melody, but too much crunch to be described Melodic Rock and most certainly NOT AOR.
heavy paradise: To cover a DIO song is a difficult thing, if you ask me, but you guys did an excellent job with "Rock N Roll Children". Whose idea was to cover a DIO tune?
P.L. : We knew that going into record it - I mean you CANNOT top Ronnie ... ever, so you don't even try! What we tried to do was pay homage to his legacy, and I think we did that. It was Michael's idea to record it. Ronnie meant everything to him - they had met many many times and his passing affected him dearly.
heavy paradise: Once again, Dennis Ward did an excellent job as it concerns with the production and mastering of "Trinity". How do you feel about your collaboration with Dennis Ward?
P.L. : Dennis is the best in the business. That's why we keep bringing him back time and time again. Each time we work together his productions seem to get bigger and better.
heavy paradise: What are your personal future plans Paul?
P.L. : There are many things that we want to achieve. We want to Tour with Trinity and we want to try and make a big step up to the next level by supporting a bigger band. We are working on all these things. I'd like to get the band out to Europe, and in time Japan and also I think it's time we looked at a recording a Live DVD. Plenty left to achieve still ;-)
heavy paradise: Are you going to perform live to support the new album?
P.L. : We are planning to. We are discussions with our agents in UK & Europe. Time will tell.
heavy paradise: I want to thank you once again for accepting my invitation for this interview and to wish you all the best...
P.L. : Thank you! Take care, Paul
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