NYC band Ghosts of Eden are finally starting to materialize

(L to R) Benny (drums, keys, backing vocals), Tom (lead vocals, guitar),  Rich (lead guitars),  Miles (bass, backing vocals)

"Lead singer, Tom’s voice is absolutely strong and spine tingling." 

- Tim Louie, The Aquarian Weekly (Mar 16, 2011)

"Ghosts of Eden, a hard rocking combo...slicker than an oil spill..."
- Michael Musto, Sundance Channel (Jan 11, 2011)

"As of now Ghosts of Eden are unsigned, but I predict that it won't be long at all before the record label bidding wars begin."
- A Geek Girl, Blog Critics (Jun 19, 2010)

"Unable to suppress its taste for melody, Ghosts of Eden blends elements of hard-core punk with commercially minded heavy rock. The band hits hard as its songs build to anthemic crescendos..."
- JIM FUSILLI, Wall Street Journal (Oct 13, 2010)  

That is just some of the press Ghosts of Eden has been pumping out over the last year or so, and deservedly so. GoE exudes passion and seriousness through every one of their tracks. The quality of the recording, the catchiness of the songs, and the level of musicianship is fantastic and greatly appreciated.

Ghosts of Eden have been making the rounds throughout NYC playing bigger and bigger shows as the year has gone by. Now with their release of a new ep this July around the corner, they are looking to gain new fans in whatever way possible. So go ahead, take a listen, read what they have to say, because I guarantee you won't be disappointed!

Where'd the name Ghosts of Eden come from?

It comes from a presence we felt at our very first rehearsal studio. We weren't really sure if it was a good band name or not, but we needed one badly at the time and this worked. A lot of people seem to dig it though, so I guess it's not too bad after all!

Where do you draw your sound from? Describe "Velvet Grunge".

"Velvet Grunge" is a term one of our crew members came up with. We define it as "Grunge/Alternative Rock laced with a little bit of sexy, hints of hardcore, punk and metal." Many of our fans tell us we have a unique sound which is really flattering. We're really not trying to sound like anything nor are we trying to reinvent the wheel but it's nice to be recognized as having an original sound. We just try to write songs that we'd want to hear ourselves. We're definitely children of the 90s so we're pretty heavily influenced by the Alternative and Grunge scenes. However, there are a ton of other bands that we draw from too, like: The Cure, Dream Theater, Incubus, Genesis, Pixies, The Cars, Metallica, etc.

How did you all get together?

Well we were all in our own bands to begin with, but one day Rich and Dean, our old drummer got together and started this new project called The Ghost is Lost. Originally it was post-hardcore influenced with melodic vocals. They invited me [Tom] to come jam with them since they were both tone deaf and we eventually evolved into this "Dark Pop" sorta thing, like mellow Brand New. It definitely took a while to nail down our own sound and vision but in time we had it. We didn't think it would become anything serious until we started recording demos and sharing them with people. Everyone would tell us "Damn guys, this is really good." We knew it was good but didn't know what to do. Eventually we just decided to get a bass player and make it a real band. Dean knew Miles from playing in bands together in high school so he invited him over one day and eventually we stole him away from his metal band. After a year, we were in need of a new drummer and since Benny was good friends with Miles and familiar with our music, he stepped in as a stand-in because he was already playing guitar in No Change for Machines. Eventually he came on as full time and the rest was history! It's been true love ever since!

Describe the NYC music scene, and how do you fit in it?

It's a melting pot of sound. There are theatrical bands, pop bands, metal bands, bands with violins, emo bands, etc. You wouldn't think any of those would go together, but we're all pretty supportive of each other. I think Facebook also keeps everyone in tune with the goings on of each other. There is definitely a sense of community thanks to social media and people like Gotham Rocks and No Mercy Metal. How do we fit in? Good question. We definitely have a great rapport with the people in the scene. We try our best to support everyone and help build the community. We also try to pull in other bands who aren't a part of it yet. It's a great feeling knowing that you don't have to look far to find a group of like minded artists who you can just grab a beer with, catch a show or talk music.

What are the long term goals for the band, and what have you accomplished thus far?

I think the long term goal is to play in front of as many people as humanly possible. We want our music heard by everyone. We are very proud of the songs we have written and we want to grow our family of fans who feel the same way. When we play to 100 to 200 people, we can always hear everyone singing along to our songs. I think it would be amazing to hear 10 or 20,000 people singing along. I think we've accomplished a lot considering we have only been playing live for a year and a half. We've played sold out crowds at Gramercy Theatre and Highline Ballroom. We've also played Six Flags Great Adventure which was a blast. We also sold out of the first 1,000 copies of our first record, Ignorance and Lies. I think our fans can relate to our music and that's what we want to keep conveying moving forward.

Biggest rockstar moment/biggest failure?

Biggest rockstar moment was definitely playing for a sold out crowd at Gramercy Theatre. There were so many damn people. The adrenaline was insane and 30 minutes seemed to go by in 30 seconds. We can't wait to experience that again. I really don't think there are any failures if you're doing what you love. I think you can make mistakes but you should learn from them. We've played some horrible shows though where there were 5 people there. That kinda sucks, but we still go up there and play like it's the Garden regardless.

What's the coolest fan story you have?

Our fans are awesome, but hearing one of our fans say that our music saved her life has definitely got to be on top of the list. You do this stuff because it's your passion and you love to create and you love to hear back what it is that you made, but when you see someone's life actually moved by it, it's overwhelming. At first you shrug it off because you think "Seriously?" but then you think about the music that changed your life and the songs that you hung on to during tough times and you realize that it is possible. I think no matter what our future holds, we'll always be grateful for at least touching that one person's life.


Tell me a little about the new EP coming this summer?
In short: it's badass! We went in knowing what songs we wanted on it, and then we wrote a new song specifically for it and now that we're done recording we're pretty blown away hearing it all back and we haven't even began mixing or mastering yet. We knew the songs were good, but I think our fans are going to be very happy and I think we're going to make new fans because of it as well. It's definitely a bit heavier and more rocking than the first record. Also, I think there is more of a theme and the songwriting has more focus. People will definitely be able to relate more. However, you can still sing a long to all of the songs. That part of us will never go away. We like to write songs that we would want to hear. The choruses and guitars are bigger than the first record and I think that's going to stand out.

Are there any touring plans with this album?

Absolutely! We are in the middle of planning and scheduling our tour right now. We're probably only going to plan out July, August and September along the East coast, and then we have a few out of the box ideas for the fall which we hope work out the way we have planned. We're coming to a city near you though!

The EP is called, Ignorance and Lies, any story behind that?

We called our first record Ignorance and Lies for several reasons. First off, it comes from the lyrics in the song "Eliot Ness" but it certainly has its own meaning. It especially has its own personal meaning to each of us, but in short, we went into making this record after a short dark period with some people who thought they knew what was in our best interest as far as our career and our music goes. We didn't see eye to eye and we felt like they were misleading us and taking advantage of us. We felt that it was best to start from scratch and make our first record on our own; the way we wanted it to be; the way we knew it could sound. It was a risk and we lost quite a bit of money but the product we got far surpassed our expectations. To me Ignorance and Lies represents what we fought our way out of in order to get to where we are today.

Where do you guys hope to be in 5 years?

On a beach in Fiji, sipping Mojitos brainstorming the next record (laughs). But seriously, we just want to be able to be playing for more people. We want GoE to be a household name, relatively speaking. We want to be able to say we busted our ass to make our dreams come true and do what we love for a living.

Anything else you want to add?

We just want to thank you for taking the time to put this interview together with us. We appreciate the support. Stay tuned for our new record which comes out in July 2011!

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