Will the forecast of frontman Eden James come true – “one day music will be distributed like water – you will pay your license fee, in order to use it”? Eden James’ hit “Never Setting Sun” became number one in the Greek TOP 40 after replacing Robbie Williams. The band came to Athens, in order to perform at the biggest Rock Wave Festival in Malakasa park but at the performance day, a pouring rain destroyed all plans. The three members of the band – Eden James, Nathan Newman, and Simon Hall, answered to the questions of Marina Nikolova about their unexpected success in Greece. Today, one day after the memorial concert for Michael Jackson in Los Angeles, we asked “Eden James” to tell us about the influence of his music on them.

Unfortunately, the weather didn’t help and two days from the festival had to be canceled. One of those days you had to be on stage together with Tricky, Duffy and The Killers. What exactly happened?

E.J.: We were at our hotel watching the storm come in. We thought we might have to play in the rain – that’s OK, it rains every year at Glastonbury. Then we got the call that flash flooding occurred on the festival site and the day was canceled. Needless to say we were all quite disappointed.

S.H.: We’re used to rain in England (obviously) and it was surprising a festival of this size didn’t have any contingency. They told us to wait in the hotel. It was very weird, because the rain never reached the hotel and we didn’t even see it. When we understood we will not perform, I broke a bottle! It happened again the next day and although the rain was heavy, it did only last for about 30 minutes, so we expected the day to carry on, again it was cancelled.

N.N: We’re really disappointed about not playing the show but we’re working on coming back to Greece soon to make up for it…

How did the other artists react?

E.J.: I think most of us took it quite well. We saw Lauren Harris Band get dressed in their stage clothes and were all ready to go on when the second downpour hit on the Monday. That must have been disappointing. Tommy Lee wasn’t too happy about not playing either. I think he was really charged.

S.H.: Most of the artists were on tours so they had shows to play over the next couple of days so they will have been able to get it out of their systems.

N.N.: Overall people just accepted the cancellation. What can you do about the weather? We drowned our sorrows in drink with Lauren and the band back at our hotel.

Is this your first time in Greece?

E.J.: A few of us have been here before and I think it’s the first time for a couple. I played a solo show here last summer for European Music Day.

S.H.: I came over last year for a holiday, I went to Athens and Santorini and it was stunning.

Do you know anything about the Greek music landscape? Are there any musicians that you like?

E.J.: We don’t hear much of Greek artists in London unfortunately. I played with a couple acts last year in Athens and met Monika at my gig. I like her music.

S.H.: I know the singer of Foals is Greek, they’re good musicians, strong drummer.

N.N.: Living in England you rarely hear about music from abroad unless it’s from the US so not really.

Tell me more about the band – how did you meet and stick together? As far as I understood Eden James is Australian and has a big fan club there…

N.N.: Well Eden and Simon were the first in the band. Kris and I joined a year ago and Tom is brand new! The other guys are from around the UK and I come from New Zealand…

S.H.: Eden and I have played together for a few years now, the rest of the guys have been recruited due to wanting to put together a world-beating unit rather than just playing with guys we knew.

E.J.: We formed just after the making of the second album ‘Electric Charge’. It had more of a band sound than a solo artist as I was before. The current line-up of band members agreed that we should be a band but not lose the established name of Eden James. We’ve had a few line-up changes but that’s bound to happen with something like this. Yes it’s true I first started as a solo artist in Australia. My debut album ‘Never Setting Sun’ was first released there, and then shortly after in Greece. I had just moved to London then and it was at that time that Cutty Sark Scotch Whisky and Otenent used my songs on their advertisements. I think that’s how Greece first came to know about Eden James. 

(to Eden) How did you find London? Did it live up to your expectations?

E.J.: London is awesome. I love the history London has with great music. It’s a primary node for the global music industry and even more so, the European music industry. It has lived up to my expectations. A lot of business is done here. Plus it’s a fantastic city to live in.

How do you define your style? Tell me something more about the sound of your albums.

S.H.: The albums are changing as the band progresses. The first two have been more reflective of Eden as a singer/songwriter while the stuff we’re putting together now still has that quality songwriting but with a new punchier sound reflecting the varied influences of the rest of the band.

E.J.: Indie/Rock/Pop. The first album was way more alt-pop, soft-rock and even folk-pop. The second, ‘Electric Charge’ has more indie elements and has a lot more bang! It’s still pop at heart, but classic rock influences are more obvious as well as tastes of  brit-pop and contemporary modern rock sounds.

N.N.: We’re an indie rock band basically. Our sound has more of a classic feel I think, which stems from our influences which tend to be older bands.

Tell me about the contemporary music streams, are there any?

E.J.: There probably are, but I don’t take much notice. Certainly not enough to comment on. I like to make the music that I want to make and need to make. I have to like it first. I listen to current artists as well as the classics but I’m not an expert on the current scene.

Artists have different opinions about the music industry and its effect on originality. What do you think about it? (Do you think that the artist has to compromise?)

N.N.: The artist doesn’t have to compromise but I think most of us realize that we need an audience and we want others to enjoy what we do so there is always an element of compromise. I do think the industry does tend to stifle creativity.

E.J.: Ah compromise. I think everybody has to compromise at some point in their life – artists, everyone. We all make different choices; they’re not right or wrong – different people just make different choices to others. As far as originality goes, I think there is a lack of it in today’s music. The business heads at the top are too caught up in thinking how to make money with sound-a-likes and copycats that they forget about credibility and originality. Some artists think like that too I guess. Although I think it may soon improve, with the large labels getting smaller and independent labels becoming more prominent.

S.H.: I think it’s been sad there’s a shift away from ‘album bands’. It seems to be all about one big hit now that you can travel with then people want the next one. Bands aren’t getting the time to cultivate their sound and really express themselves. I also don’t like the idea people can just buy one song from your catalogue now, it means it’s less likely for them to find further stuff of yours they like going through the album.

On a positive note it is great that bands can do more than ever in terms of self-promotion and it leads to a situation where the fans can do all the talking. Artic Monkeys are a great example of the DIY approach.

Do you think that downloading from the internet has to be legalized? There is a Pirate party from Sweden which already has a representative in the European Parliament?

E.J.: Well we can’t afford to give our music away for free. There should be greater value put on music, but people don’t see it. Perhaps some day, music will be like water - You pay an annual license fee to use it, as much or as little as you like.

N.N.: As a musician I don’t support illegal downloading. Musicians make music and deserve to be paid for what they create.

S.H.: There certainly needs to be some regulation, fans have realized they’re paying way too much for the albums and most of the money isn’t going to the artist. I think people are generally honest and want to pay and support artists through purchasing their music. I also think that the idea of every download as a ‘lost sale’ is nonsense so the figures about the industry losing billions is exaggerated.

What is your definition for creativity, what helps you compose and write lyrics? What do you want to write about?

E.J.: The lyrics come from things I need to say. Whether they be to the world or a girlfriend or just to myself. It’s self-expression isn’t it? Humans need to communicate. Lyric writing provides a channel for that but it’s poetry and art, so it also pleases your soul.

Do you prefer to close the doors of the studio and create or to be on stage and feel the contact with people?

E.J.: When writing a song I prefer isolation. Close the doors to the studio – absolutely.

S.H.: They’re totally different disciplines and both are vitally important to a musician. There’s nothing like a live show when everything goes well and the crowd are well into the music. The next day though it’s memories whereas recording gives you something you can keep forever and revisit whenever you like.

Do you want to share your strongest related memory with Michael Jackson? What did he mean to you?

E.J.: I am a fan and always have been. I got ‘Thriller’ one Christmas, and have been a big fan ever since. Thriller is one of my Top Five favorite albums of all time. I remember hearing ‘Rockin’ Robin’ as a kid. I played that song to death, learned all the words and sang to my friends at school. I loved it.

S.H.: I remember having Bad on tape as a kid and thinking what a spectacular performer he was. As I got older I did think his songs declined and his career was overtaken by the crazy stories in the media. Even though I’m sure a lot of it wasn’t true he didn’t help himself much.

N.N.: Listening to Billie Jean is one of my first memories, hearing that song always takes me back to my childhood.

Which bands and performers influenced you?

S.H.: My main influences as a guitarist are Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins), Adam Jones (Tool), The Edge (U2), Dominic Braithwaite (Mogwai) to name but a few. I’m also greatly influenced by the attitude to music and work of Henry Rollins, he’s a hero to me.

E.J.: How about I give you my Top Five albums of all time – Achtung Baby- U2, Thriller – Michael Jackson, Transformer – Lou Reed, Changes – David Bowie, The Bends – Radiohead.

Are you planning anything for the rest of the summer – appearances, fests, recordings?

E.J.: Yeah, we hope to get in the studio and start work on our third album. We’re pretty excited about it. We’d like to come back to Greece before the year is out because we didn’t get to play this trip. Our album ‘Electric Charge’ is being released by EMI in Greece this month so it would be great if we can come out to promote it.

S.H.: We will hopefully be back in Greece this year doing a few shows, we’ll keep gigging in and around London and we’re also working on new material for an album to be recorded by the end of the year. No time to sit back and relax!

“Eden James” are Eden James, Simon Hall, Stu Duffy, Nathan Neumann and  Kristian Lousley. You can find more information about them at http://www.edenjames.com