I am always interested when a band I have never heard of contacts me. EDGE OF PARADISE is a band from Hollywood, who on their Facebook site list their influences as diverse as Black Sabbath, Muse, U2, Guns & Roses, Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden and Evanescence. Those bands are right up my alleyway, so I just had to chat with Margarita, who is the front lady of Edge of Paradise.
Edge of Paradise is a new band on the scene. Can you tell us how you guys and gal all met?
Dave Bates, the guitarist previously had a band, Bleed fronted by Robin MCauley (MSG, Survivor), and I was working with producer Paul Drago on a single, i met Dave when i asked him to play on my song, Mystified, and from then on we just joined forces and put a band together, that's how Edge Of Paradise emerged.
And can you tell us where you got the name Edge of Paradise from?
The name, Edge OF Paradise is about living on the edge, the unstable existence that can tip us off the edge and out of existence at any moment. There are very few fortunate people in this life that truly reach paradise. And our title track of the Album Mask kind of accents that because it's about a friend that took an easy way out, but he would wear a happy, joyous mask and found release at the end of a rope.
Can you explain the type of music the listeners to your new record 'MASK' can expect?
When we were creating our album Mask, in it's collective stages, the main goal was to create something different and a bit unique, but at the same time user friendly. All of us really just want to create album that is artistically varied, a work of art that will be around for a long time, have an artistic value and live through generations of listeners.
And how would you describe your music?
Edge OF Paradise music is a mixture of a lot of styles and elements that we thought cool throughout the years, and putting a modern edge that makes our music uniques. There is a lot of care and time that goes into the songs, starting with an idea and then molding it, adding words and molding, adding rhythm section and molding again, in some of the songs jazz elements are incorporated, for example, Thrown It All Away is built around lidian dominant scale, a jazz scale that's not typically used in metal, and it's interesting because some critics say that the songs is a metal classic, and yet it's not built on a classic metal style, and that's what makes our music so unique, is because we are metal, but it's all the different styles of music that are present made into a tasteful and molded sound.
Who is involved in the song writing process within the band?
Dave Bates and Robin MCauley wrote the majority of the songs, Dave Bates, Ryan Jones and me, wrote some of the other songs that are on the album. And some of the songs that are not finished yet are written by Me and Dave.
Considering that the band is very young, some of the original songs have longer history. Can you fill us in?
Some of the songs that had a longer life originated in Dave's band Bleed. Dave and Robin MCauley worked on the songs before i came along and then we rewrote and rerecorded to better fit the sharp and modern sound of the band. And having Gregg Bissonette and Tony Franklin as a rhythm section was a big help in shaping some of the earlier songs.
Is this record going to be self released or do you have label support?
We have label interest but haven't decided who to go with yet, we want to make sure whoever we decide to go with will be the best possible fit for our music.
You are from Hollywood. Many people associate Hollywood with the movie industry obviously. What is the metal scene actually like in that part of America?
We are from Hollywood, and the metal scene is not as good as someone would assume, for music in general, LA is a tough scene, and the value for music is slowly degrading, since it's all about the money and not the value of art, i heard it's falling into the ocean anyway:) But in reality, from the beginning we wanted our music to be global and are planing to get on the road to spread our music worldwide.
Considering that the metal scene can still be seen by some people as a male dominated genre, is there ever a problem with being taken seriously having a lady fronting the band?
We are a metal band and we are a female fronted band and it's the part of our sound, and being a part of the writing process it works well. It hasn't been a problem being taken seriously, people are actually open to it nowadays… i can hold my own:)
I observe from your Facebook page that Evanescence amongst many others (inc Sabbath and Maiden) is listed as an influence. I speak loosely here as I have not heard your new album yet, but do you think that too many female fronted bands get compared to Evanescence, quite simply because they are fronted by a lass?
Actually, we sound closer to Black Sabbath or Metallica than we do Evanescence. But keyboards and female vocals are a similarity to Evanescence. And we like their sound.
When relaxing, what do you do to chill out, and what music do you like to listen to in your spare time?
Now that you asked this question, trying to think of it, we don't really chill out, we kind of always work on the music, and live it, although, we all go to the gym frequently. Me and Dave go out and check out other bands, seeing who's out there in LA, i think Steven and Kevin like to go out picking up girls:) Other music i listen to is usually the music of my favorite bands, including, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Guns&Roses;, Megadeath, Iron Maiden. I also like to listen to Korn and System of A Down sometimes as well. I also listen to classical music, i grew up listening to it so it's always been a part of me.
And what are your fave artists?
Ronnie James Dio, Robert Plant and Freddie Mercury are my favorite artists, I learn a lot from listening to them and i love their music. Dave is a fan of Steve Vai and Randy Rhodes, Eddie Van Halen, Niccolo Paganini.
And if you was given a magic wand and could wave it to produce the ideal band or artist to tour with, who would it be?
I think it would be ideal to tour with Megadeth, Black Label Society, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Nightwish, Symphony X. We would love to tour with any of these bands!
What are your band's plans for the future regards touring, and are there any plans to bring your music to Europe?
Our future plans include putting the album out and promoting it to the world, so coming to Europe is one of our main priorities! We are very excited about the momentum we've been achieving and we look forward to taking the band global!
How important is it do you feel, to perform your music live?
Performing the music live is of paramount importance, that's what we live and love to do. Especially for this type of music, there is an incredible power in the live show.
Well, it would be nice to perhaps catch you in the UK one day. Anyway many thanks for the interview. I can only recommend that our readers check you out. Before I sign off however, is there anything you would like to say to anybody via this website.
We look forward to seeing everybody at our next show, and can't wait to come to the UK! You can always visit us at our website to see what we're up to:)
-Margarita
Edge Of Paradise
www.edgeofparadiseband.com
Dave Smith (May 31, 2011)