The original concept for Eden Maine was conceived in school back in 1997, with Adam Symonds(vocals) playing guitar and Nick Brown on bass. Continually disillusioned with most of the music being made around them they decided the only way to hear the music they wanted to, was to write it for themselves. Influenced by bands like Breach and Orange 9mm, the goal was to create music that was not only heavy, and atmospheric but also accessible.
However it wasn’t until 1999 that their sound began to transform into what it is now, with Adam changing from guitar to vocals and Kieren Ilse joining on drums in 2000. For the next two years various guitarists came and went, coming to audition from all over the U.K and even as far away as the U.S, but it took until 2001 when the final lineup started to take shape.
In October of 2001 Simon Davis joined Eden Maine, a noisecore crazed guitarist who brought new aggression to the bands sound. Two months later on the eve of recording their debut EP, longtime member Neil left the band because of “musical differences”. This left the band in an awkward position, so the EP was recorded as a four piece. To record the EP the band scraped all the money they could find (and borrow) and flew in Converge’s Kurt Ballou to produce the EP at Southern Studios in Wood Green.
They were all great admirers of Kurt’s music and his production work, and felt he would be ideally suited to record their EP. The recording went well, but the vocals had to be left to a later date, as Adam’s voice was in poor shape after illness.
While they waited for Adam’s voice to heal, Phil Buch joined the band, a hardcore and emo obsessed guitarist who brought a new melodic counterpoint to Simon’s more noisy and aggressive guitar. The vocals were polished off in April, and the reels were send to Kurt Ballou’s Godcity studios for mixing, and then mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music. It was about this time where Engineer Records showed an interest in releasing the EP, and Eden Maine quickly signed up to this up and coming UK indie labels roster, joining other great bands like Planes Mistaken For Stars, xCanaanx, Rydell, Urotsukidoji, Winter in June, and Hunter Gatherer.
Most of 2002 was spent working hard to build up a reputation as a live unit, playing as many shows as possible, especially following the release of the EP on Sept 9th. On it’s release the cd received widespread critical acclaim, with positive reviews coming in from around the world. These included rave reviews from all the major UK alternative press, even being voted as one of the top 50 albums of 2002 by Rock Sound magazine. At the end of 2002, Eden Maine set out on their first UK tour, in support of Swiss band ‘Knut’, and US band ‘5ive’s Continuum Research Project’. This was a huge eye opening experience for the band, and having now got the taste for touring, Eden Maine have plans for much more touring in the UK, and Europe in 2003.
September of 2003 will see Eden Maine head out to Boston, US, to be reunited with producer Kurt Ballou, to record the bands debut album (and slay orcs) in Kurts own ‘Godcity Studios’. Much of 2003 will be spent working in preparation for the recording, with pre-production expected to begin in about July. The album is scheduled for a release in early 2004.