Edenbridge
New Album Was Therapeutic For Us

19.08.2013

In the past few years Edenbridge seemed to have left the musical arena. We didn’t hear from them at all for a while: no concerts, no new records, no updates on the web-site. The most pessimistic listeners have already declared that one more female-fronted symphonic metal band disappeared. Yet the rumors of their demise proved greatly exaggerated. Edenbridge did come back this year with a new line-up and ready to release their eight studio album, “The Bonding”. We talked about the  latest developments in the Edenbridge camp with Lanvall, the band’s guitarist, songwriter and driving force, and beautiful Sabine Edelsbacher, who’s been responsible for the vocals from the very beginning.

Hello, how are you?

Lanvall: We’re fine, thanks.

Before we start, which name do you prefer? Should I call you Arne or Lanvall?

Lanvall: I don’t mind any of them. But as it’s about the music, I prefer my stage name. Lanvall would be nicer, of course.

Does it mean anything?

Lanvall: Yeah, Lanvall is a novel figure from medieval times by a medieval author called Marie De France. He’s a hero of Irish and English mythology. I was searching for a name when I started my solo project in the 90s because I didn’t want to release it under my real name. As the solo album created a bit of interest, I continued with my art name when Edenbridge was starting, so… No big deal about it.

Talking about the names, what does the band’s name mean?

Lanvall: The band’s name actually comes from a town in Kent in England. When I first heard this name, Edenbridge, it was pretty clear that it has to be the name of the band because we had a different name at that time. In 1998 we started to make our break through with our first album (which we were recording) and it was really the time to change the name of the band. It was pretty clear that with the vibes that we were spreading with our music at that time…
Sabine: (interrupting) Edenbridge is connecting different cultures in our music. From the beginning on we used different instruments from Asia and all over the world.

Does it have something to do with religion?

Lanvall: No, absolutely not. Edenbridge has nothing to do with religion. Our lyrics have always been influenced by spiritual things but Edenbridge has nothing to do with the church or any kind of religion, absolutely not.

You know, Austria is more famous for extreme kinds of music, black, death metal and like. How come you started a symphonic metal band?

Lanvall: Well, it’s because this is the music we like. I’ve never been into death or black metal or anything because I grew up with classical music. When I was a child I started with piano at the age of 7 and took classes for over 12 years and then came the guitar, I studied rock guitar, and… I discovered metal when I was a teenager and started to write songs; I always wanted to combine classical music with metal because those are the two styles that mean a lot to me. Therefore this was the only way to go, and I ended up in the symphonic metal music.

Many people believe metal and classical music are totally different things, almost opposite styles. How do you combine them together?

Lanvall: Combining in a good way is not the easiest thing because you have to make them verge together. If you’re having both in your heart, then it’s pretty easy to let both styles ring together. In fact, classical music and metal have many things in common. It’s the virtuosity of the musicians, the power which the music has, great melodies and of course great choir structures and things like that. I think those structures are the ones that can be combined best, because they have so much in common. Maybe for some real metal maniacs classical music is not the real thing and vice versa, but if combined in an interesting way it perfectly works.

Do you think all the instruments could be used for heavy metal music or are there some that don’t fit this style?

Lanvall: We have a real orchestra on the record, so of course all the classical instruments are perfectly matching with drums, bass and heavy guitars. The only question is how you can bring them together. This is a question of arranging them and arranging them well. I mean, there are other bands for whom, in my opinion, it didn’t work. If you listen to Metallica’s “S&M” ([1999), this was the band against the orchestra, I think. But when you let them flow together in a perfect way, it’s beautiful.

We didn’t hear from you and your band for quite a while. No concerts, no new records, no news on your web-site. What happened to you?

Lanvall: Yes, you’re absolutely right. We’ve gone through very hard times because my father committed suicide in 2011 which was a very hard process for us all. Especially for me of course. Other things happened in the band. Some of the band members changed their residence, moved to other places and ended up with new studies and new jobs. It was some kind of a big change for us in the last years. I mean, anyway I normally need a year for songwriting and another year for the whole production of an album so it’s normally two years when you don’t do anything. This time there were some delays, of course, because of all the things I told you about. Therefore this album was also a very good therapy to work off all the emotions that surrounded us in the last few years.

Do you mean, you put all the emotions into the music?

Lanvall: Absolutely. On the one hand, most of the music was written before it happened to my father, though all the lyrics were written afterwards and it was a very creative but also a very painful process to work this emotions off. And a very necessary process as well.

Does it mean that the songs will be somehow dark?

Lanvall: No, absolutely not, I wouldn’t say the songs are dark. As I said the music was written before and… Of course, it’s a kind of a moaning process…
Sabine: …but it’s not a negative process. You have to open your heart and if your heart is open there won’t be dark emotions. It’s normal for our life, everybody has to go through this experience.

Does this album have any theme that is common for all the songs?

Lanvall: Yeah. First of all, it’s the title track, “The Bonding”. It deals with this universal energy that is surrounding us, where we all are coming from and where we are going back to. As this song is a duet between Sabine and Erik Martensson, I tried to bring this together in a story. Sabine is singing the part of the one universal energy and Erik, the disbeliever who can only understand what he can see or touch. I think this is a very nice duet. Of course the death of my father was a big thing and there are four songs on this album where I try to work off all these feelings. These are “Death is not the End”, “Star-Crossed Dreamer”, “Shadows of My Memory” and “Into a Sea of Souls”. And of course nature was a very good inspiration for this album, and you can hear it in “Far out of Reach”.
Sabine: The bonding is also the energy existing between a mother and her child. I think you can see how strong this energy is.

Is it what we can see on the cover of the album?

Sabine: Oh, no, it’s just a metaphor.
Lanvall: There is a spiral and a river on the cover which have this kind of suction effect. It represents this transition and such.

You mentioned you used an orchestra for recording the album. How was it?

Lanvall: We used the Czech Film Orchestra for the “MyEarthDream” album in 2008 and this time we invited an orchestra from Vienna which I got to know last year and which was perfect for the recording. This time we did everything a bit differently because last time all the orchestra was put together while this time we had a different studio and we recorded all the parts separately. We had the string section recorded separately, then brass together with woodwinds, and then the percussion extra. This is very good because this leaves you much more space for mixing process. It is much clearer so you can integrate the orchestra much better. It was a big advantage this time.

Did you visit them during the recording?

Lanvall: Yes, of course, I was in the studio. I didn’t conduct them because I’m not so good in conducting but I wrote all the scores and I had to tell them how to play this or that. So of course I was present during all the recording process.

As far as I know, you used several different studios for the recording of the album. Why did you need them all?

Lanvall: That’s right. The main studio is our own, where we are recording vocal, bass, guitars and keyboards but for drums we need an extra studio because mine is not equipped for it. Of course for bigger things like the orchestra we have to go abroad, too. Also for the mixing process we go to England to Karl Groom, it’s the fourth album we already did with him. We understand each other without words so it’s always a great process to work with Karl. You always search for the best options when it comes to studios. When I’m searching for a studio for drums I always make sure that they have the knowledge of recording drums as well as all the necessary gear, the microphones and everything. It’s very important, of course.

Do you have any other guest musicians this time?

Lanvall: We have Robby Valentine again who is doing all the backing vocals and choirs. He is a constant singer in our songs because his choiring is blending so well with Sabine’s lead vocals. His choirs are not that prominent, not that loud on the new album but I think it’s just the right amount of mixture in comparison to Sabine’s vocals. Then as I said before, there’s Erik Martensson from Swedish bands Eclipse and W.E.T doing this duet with Sabine on the title track. He’s a great musician, producer and vocalist of course.

What about Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69, Unisonic, - ed.)?

Lanvall: I have to say, the songs didn’t cry for Dennis’s voice this time because they are all very bombastic, I would say. I always focus on what the songs need instead of just getting the names and then writing the guys “Hey, can you do this or that?” This time all the songs needed Robby’s backings, so Dennis was not on the list. Though it doesn’t mean he cannot be a part of it in the future, of course.

Are there any other musicians that you’d love to work with but there hasn’t been an opportunity as yet?

Lanvall: Oh, that would be a long list, of course. (laughs) But I have to admit most of the instrumentalists that I really wanted to work with have collaborated already on some of our albums. But of course there are many great vocalists to do some duets in the future. So there are a couple of names, sure.

So your album will be released in a few days. Are you a bit nervous?

Lanvall: I’m looking forward to the release. The reactions have been great so far which is phenomenal. As far as I heard, the pre-sales are running great, too. It’s good to be back after three years and see people still waiting for us, longing for the album. We have so wonderful fans, you know. They are really looking forward for the album and we are very happy to hear that.

Talking about your fans. You used your web-site to raise money for inviting the orchestra, didn’t you?

Lanvall: Yes, it was a great idea to let the fans be part of this orchestra thing because, as you can imagine, an orchestra is very hard to finance. You need a lot of money for the studio, all the musicians and organization. The point was in the beginning we had some private sponsors to start the project and when everything was recorded we went to the fans and told them, “Now we have recorded the orchestra and you can be a part of it by donating some money. But you can also donate more and get the new album signed or get the new album signed with a personal dedication and things like that”. The response was overwhelming. We could have funded the whole project with help of fans and sponsors. I can only say thank you to all of them.

So you have to sign a lot of copies now, right?

Lanvall: Exactly! We have to sign a couple of hundred copies. (everybody laughs) When I’m looking around myself I see big bags already pre-written with all the addresses.
Sabina: (laughs) It’s like a post office at the moment.
Lanvall: It will be great. I mean coming together with the band for the signing. We’ll have a couple of beers, everybody will take a pen in his hand and of course it’s fun! A couple of hundred CDs!

Do you communicate with your fans via your forum and web site?

Lanvall: Of course. I’m checking the guest book and our forum every day because I’m taking care of these things, it’s important of course. Facebook is great to get in contact with fans, it’s so fast. I mean, when we posted our cover artwork, I think, about 10,000 people saw it in the first four or five hours. It’s amazing. We have our newsletter with a couple of thousand people on the list. So we have very direct contact with our fans, which is great.

Do you have any touring plans already?

Lanvall: Well, at the moment we are discussing things concerning a tour, setting up some shows. But of course it’s too early to say something concrete. This year is too late for the festivals, they are booked already, but next year they are on the list, sure. We’ll have to see if we can do countries far away, like Asia, but the main thing will be shows in Europe, of course. Also it would be great to return to Russia. We had a show in Moscow in 2004 which is nearly 10 years ago now and I still remember it as one of the three my best shows. The audience was so great, a lot of wonderful people waiting for us. So we’d be happy to return to Russia.

I read on your Facebook that you were supposed to play in Argentina this March, but you didn’t. What happened?

Lanvall: Yes, it’s a big pity. We were supposed to play there but the promoter turned up to be a total fuck-up. He never fulfilled any of the agreements. He didn’t pay for the flights. Of course we had to set him a deadline at least 1.5 months before because we knew that South America is very critical when it comes to the fulfillment of the contractual things and therefore… Well, I have to say that in South America the flight is to be paid in advance. Otherwise it’s never conserved.

How do you play your music live?

Lanvall: Well, we have to use our computer, of course, for the orchestra and also some keyboards are on it. But we’ve never cheated in such a situation, what you can see is what you can hear. All the band members on stage are playing live. We don’t cheat with keyboards that don’t play or anything else. So if you don’t see a keyboard it means it comes from the computer. But the music has always a different feeling when played live anyway because we are concentrating more on the guitar and therefore it isn’t a big problem.

Have you ever considered inviting a keyboardist for the tour?

Lanvall: Not really. I mean, we searched for a fixed keyboard player in the beginning, 15 years ago, but we couldn’t find the right one. So we set up our system and it works perfectly. In the meantime our music becomes more guitar oriented anyway while the keyboard is going more and more to the background, the orchestra is taking its place. You can’t replace an orchestra with some keyboards, that wouldn’t make sense. We’ll have to see, maybe I would do some piano playing myself in the future tours. Sabine and myself did an acoustic song some years ago in Vietnam, which was great, just playing piano and vocals. And we’re doing a live radio show in two weeks, also just piano and vocals. So maybe I will go back on stage and integrate some piano, too, playing it myself. This might be a good idea.

The title track of the new album is about 15 minutes long. Are you going to play it live?

Lanvall: This will be hard to play anyway. Maybe we’ll play some pieces, we did the same with the song "MyEarthDream", played a shorter version of it. But to do it with "The Bonding" will be more difficult because the song is divided into three parts and there are so many instruments playing... But we'll have to see if we can integrate parts of it into our setlist.

Are you disappointed that some of your really great songs cannot be played live?

Lanvall: Yeah, of course. If we had a real orchestra on stage, we'd definitely play "The Bonding". But playing live is a different situation. Of course, a 15-minute-long song would be great to play live, but there always is the arrangement which obviously can't be brought to the stage. On the other hand, I never make up my mind in advance if I can play this song live or not. I mean, an album is an album, it's important for me to realize everything I have in mind. Whether it can be brought on stage or not is another point.

Thank you, Lanvall. Can I ask a question to Sabine? You know, touring is quite a tough time for all musicians. I mean, with all these buses and hotels, and no having time, and everything. It must be even more difficult for a woman. How do you deal with it?

Sabine: (laughs) I think it's the music itself and the contact with the fans. All this good energy, it's very important. So if everything works well, it's really fun to be on tour. It's a bit of adventure.
Lanvall: Also Sabine doesn't really drink and doesn't smoke at all, that helps, I think.
Sabine: I like to sleep long in the morning and be up long, so it's not a problem for me.
Lanvall: Sabine's lucky 'cause I can't sleep that long. Even when I go to bed in the morning, I'll be up at 9 or 9:30 a.m. (laughs)

It’s pretty normal when the guys have a lot of fan girls. What about you, Sabine? Do you have personal fans?

Sabine: Yes, I get a lot of e-mails. And during the concerts, when you come to a different country… It’s great when somebody knows your name, you don’t know them but they know you, it’s a great feeling. They like the voice and the music. And of course there are a lot of guys in the audience, ‘cause metal music is more male-oriented, especially the one with female vocals. In Europe, especially Spain or Italy they all want to get a photo with you. That’s really funny, but after two hours of taking photos you have pain in your face because you are smiling for too long. (laughs)
Lanvall: (laughs) No one buys your album or t-shirt, everyone just wants to take a photo.

Edenbridge on the Internet: http://www.edenbridge.org

Special thanks to Maxim Bylkin (Soyuz Music) for arranging this interview

Ekaterina Akopova
May 17, 2013
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