Getting to Know… Leaving Eden | Interview (Interview #44) 🎤

For Interview #44 in the ‘Getting to Know…’ series (for a 2nd time), The Musical Hype gets the scoop from Boston rock band, Leaving Eden.

“I feel Leaving Eden encompasses harmony, melody, is lyric driven, tight, full of energy with a concrete connection to the crowd…” Cool, right? Right! For the second time, The Musical Hype has a repeat interviewee! Back in September 2018, Boston, Massachusetts rock band, Leaving Eden, became the second interview EVER on the site – that’s right, Getting to Know… Interview #2 baby! Now, as the calendar is about to turn to a new decade, for the 44^th interview, once more, we chew the phat with Leaving Eden, specifically co-founder Eric Gynan (guitar/vocals).  Once again, Gynan gives us some juicy facts about the collective.  Without further ado, here is Getting to Know… Leaving Eden | Interview #44!

 Brent Faulkner, The Musical Hype (BF): Let’s get this started off right. For those who may not be familiar with Leaving Eden, what would you say makes the band distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

Eric Gynan: Hi, it’s my pleasure to chat with you here again. For your readers, I’m Eric Gynan co-founder of the rock band Leaving Eden from The Boston Ma Region USA. Current Lineup: Eve (lead vocals), Alyssa White (keys/vocals), Jake Gynan (drums), Rich Chouinard (bass/vocals), and yours truly, (guitar/vocals).

I firmly believe any original band is quite unique in a way that nobody else in the entire universe is playing their songs but them unless of course you’re so big everyone wants to cover your song. With that said, I feel Leaving Eden encompasses harmony, melody, is lyric driven, tight, full of energy with a concrete connection to the crowd. I always say Leaving Eden is best seen and heard live in concert.

BF: Awesome! Of course, it’s great to hear from you once more Eric and of course, Leaving Eden as a collective. Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did the band form and what were some of the goals or the visions you had as a band early on?

Eric Gynan: Myself, Eve, and Rick were all in a band together about a year before Leaving Eden started. The rest is history, so they say. The lineup has changed since then but Jake and Alyssa really add a cool flavor and together, we have a lot of fun! We were thinking this whole planet is considered the Garden of Eden and with all the corruption and deceit wouldn’t it be nice to just go somewhere else?  Thus, Leaving Eden.

It’s funny about visions. We get visions all the time, the task is distinguishing between your own thoughts and potential visions. I clearly saw Leaving Eden on stage in front of 10’s of thousands of people early on. It was after the first 100 people came up to me and said how great Eve was. Not me, her, so I said, I gotta do something here for her. Since then we’ve  toured in the USA, UK & Canada sharing the stage with hundreds of the biggest national bands in the world including: Lacuna Coil, In This Moment, Black Sabbath (Heaven & Hell), Ronnie James Dio, Rob Zombie, Five Finger Death Punch, Disturbed, Marilyn Manson, Alice Cooper, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Puddle Of Mudd, Korn, Killswitch Engage, Buckcherry, Jefferson Starship, Big Brother and The Holding Company, Country Joe, 10 Years After (40th Anniversary of Woodstock), Shinedown, Dropkick Murphy’s, Alice In Chains, Papa Roach, Bret Michaels, Halestorm, Theory Of A Deadman, Avenged Sevenfold, Seether, HELLYEAH, Trapt, Dope, Soil, Fuel, Queensryche, Saving Abel, Hinder, Damage Plan, Sevendust, Sebastian Bach, Soulfly, Days Of The New, Nonpoint, Drowning Pool, The Misfits, The Butcher Babies, Collective Soul, Mushroomhead, Mudvayne, Chevelle, Godsmack, Powerman 5000, 10 Years, Taproot, Gin Blossoms, Michael Schenker (UFO, MSG & The Scorpions) Herman Rarebell (The Scorpions), Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden), Kittie, One Eyed Doll, Uncle Kracker, Tremonti (Creed/Alterbridge) Lamb Of God, Slayer, Stone Sour, Motorhead, Blackstone Cherry, Hookers & Blow (featuring members of Guns ‘N’ Roses, Quiet Riot, W.A.S.P.), Steven Tyler, Ted Nugent, Lita Ford, LA Guns, Trixter, Warrant, Apocalyptic Review (featuring members of Godsmack), Adelitas Way, Scott Stapp (the voice of Creed), Gemini Syndrome, Pop Evil, Ratt, Anthrax, Testament, Napalm Death, Nickleback, Skillet & many more. We will be in and around New England USA. Can check our tour dates here.

BF: Impressive to say the least! Let’s talk more about goals. Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

Eric Gynan: Great question. I think I’ve had to learn, took some time, but if you set those goals too high you end up being disappointed. We are all called for something and only ourselves can figure that out, no one else. With such high aspirations one may question their own destiny. With good comes bad, always has, always will. So, if you set your goals within reason, you find that you can reach them, and just because you may not have set your goals to the top of the line, doesn’t mean you can’t reach it. Our goals are to release an album per year, keep our schedule full, and help other bands along the way. My goal, I’ll play anywhere, anyhow, anyway, so long as I can and basically, we continuously meet our goals.  It’s a matter of perspective that with the exact same circumstances, the lifelong outcome is much better.

BF: Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Who would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?

Eric Gynan: So many old and newer artists from Sabbath, Ritchie Blackmore, Disturbed, POP Evil. And then there’s Simon and Garfunkel, Crosby Stills ànd Nash. I was a kid when I listened to most of these artists and that’s simply embedded.

BF: Ah, the fun stuff. What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance? Feel free to be creative.

Eric Gynan: I love the eerie, dark, dirt roads we’ve ended up on, in the middle of nowhere, at night, pitch black, nowhere to turn around so you keep going. You finally find a spot, get out and you wouldn’t be surprised if leather face comes out, or how about those extreme weather situations that seldom happen for us at home in New England? I remember being in the Badlands (Look it up, it’s worth it) and there were two tornadoes close by. I thought on those small mountainous roads, that for sure our touring vehicle was def going to flip over as we had no choice but to drive into the storm. I remember seeing those clouds man, like a massive ocean wave in the sky. Scary shit for sure.

BF: Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?

Eric Gynan: Our song “Eroding Away” on Leaving Eden album Tied and Bound is one of my favorite recordings. Love the melody, love the lyrics, very deep. “As I’m tied to my senses, buried beneath the waves, hidden from delusion, through the darkest days.”

BF: Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

Eric Gynan: More movies!  Stay tuned cause we just accepted two more movies that our music will be in.

BF: Closing this thing out, what is you/your band currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure.

Eric Gynan: We have just released two albums this year, Pinnacle and our newest album The Agony of Affliction both released by Dark Star Records/Sony/Universal Music Group. The title track will be in Massimiliano Cerchi’s movie Lockdown starring Michael Pare (The Philadelphia Experiment, Eddie and the Cruisers).

We are excited about this new album not only because of the production value but the entire album will also be featured in a new fake reality comedy movie titled The Nitwit.

Originally, I had written this movie script loosely based on real life events with the intention of having Leaving Eden’s music throughout the movie and procuring other pros to make the movie. Where Leaving Eden has been involved with having our music placed in different movies and TV series this simply made sense. While in Iowa after wrapping up on a shoot, I sat down with Ray Van Blarcom and Matt Moody “production crew” over a scotch and threw the script down on the table. They started reading it, thought it was hilarious, so we decided let’s make the movie. For me being the director of several music videos, it was a very simple transition to direct The Nitwit. Finally, I was intrigued by Matt Moody’s experience not only in production but as an actor. Ironically, Matt fit the leading role as The Nitwit perfectly then, he also brought in Jordan Smith as his costar and the rest is history. We expect the movie to be released in 2020 by SGL Entertainment.

BF: Thank you so much for sharing taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward.

Eric Gynan: Yessa! Thanx much to you and look forward to sharing away!  Peace! ~Eric Gynan

Photo Credits: Brent Faulkner, The Musical Hype, Leaving Eden, Dark Star