Eden Swan chats to theaussieword.com
Give us an introduction. How did it all begin? What had you first interested in music?
Haha, well I didn’t grow up in a musical household at all unfortunately so my first real introduction to music (and I guess when I realised music was something I wanted to do) was when I got a fake ID when I was 16 and snuck into all of the underground clubs in Melbourne. I got to see acts like Crystal Castles play long before they were big and at that time I kind’ve had an epiphany that live music was something I really wanted to do.
What motivates or influences you in your quest to make great music?
Probably great sound production and then human experience. I’ve just started producing my own records and it has been a huge learning curve but listening to music I love by other artists and experimenting with the possibility of sounds and music makes me wanna keep trying and learning new things and hopefully one day write a song that really connects with people.
What are your biggest goals you hope to accomplish as an artist?
Biggest goals? Holy shit… umm well I heard that Bjork just got a whole retrospective exhibition at MoMA next year so that would be pretty insane, being in a museum some how. #lifegoals
What can we expect from you in the coming months? Any plans to tour?
In the coming months I will be gigging / releasing then I’m heading to Japan in November so most likely gigs and maybe a music video there too! I put out a promo video for my project as called “Eden Swan: Symb10s1s 1” which you can see here…. pretty creepy, and the score is by me too ^_^. I filmed it at The Liberty Social, inspired by a huge ‘Alien Rave’ party hosted there by Post Percy… it was a really wild night but that video is just Part 1, I’m working on Part 2 promo video right now so that will be out soon as well.
Tell us a bit about your latest album and how would you best describe your music?
So far I have released my debut single “Ph1l0ph0b1a” and it’s probably more ‘poppier’ than the rest music I am going to put out as it’s super lyric heavy, but my sound is definitely Indie- Synthpop like The Knife / Robyn meets Darkwave/Industrial like Prodigy so I’m calling it ‘Dark- Synthpop’ for now and aesthetically im drawing on sci-fi so it’s ‘Austr-alien Dark Synthpop’. Haha. I’ve had some interesting / alarming feedback on my sound e.g my friend Andy Kidd said one of my songs was very “David Lynch” and Dan Watt from Beat TV said it was “Anime meets 1000 corpses” … It appears I am really good at creeping people out? Ye I will take that.
Success, what is the secret to it?
When I know- I will call you haha.
What has been your biggest career highlight?
My biggest career highlight has actually been starting this brand new project under my real name ‘Eden Swan’ before that I had been singing in bands or under an alter- egos / personas. Finding balls and the right time to just do me (finally) has been pretty fucken liberating, I’m like “oh hey its me” and its great!
Which stars of the music industry do you find inspiring?
Lynda Perry- I’m watching her new show “Lynda Perry: Make Or Break” and its awesome she just really says it how it is. I also like Courtney Love, Peaches, Annie Lennox, Alice Glass… I guess I basically feel inspired by any female who I consider to be a legitimate rockstar.
Any new projects in the pipeline?
No, just like I said above – more new music and gigs. I also work as a vocalist / writer for a few labels here and overseas so there will projects and collaborations happening with that as well. I’ve got plenty on my plate but if someone thinks I’d be great for something they are welcome to contact me. I also do a bit of alt modelling and will appear in a spread for NYC Mag ‘Dark Beauty’ this month, its my first publication so that’s pretty cool.
The music industry is huge, where do you see yourself a few years from now?
Overseas.
Name a few of your favourite Aussie artists.
Reptiles, Spazzys, Mensrea, Divorced, Nun, Vaccum, The Night Terrors, I also like the sound of Halt Evers new record and of course my fave… Jessica Mauboy.
The shape of the music industry has changed significantly over the years, including the use of social media, how do you feel about the industry as a whole and what does it mean to you in getting your records out into the public eye?
It obviously means everything to me to get my records out into the public eye. I want to get everyone’s eyes and medically graft a copy of my CD to their corneas making my records inescapable….haha, too far? I don’t really pay too much attention or let the overwhelming nature of ‘the industry’ get to me too much, what is important to me is to make great music and create an awesome live show that people will talk about and remember and it means something…the time I bit off a teddy’s head and ate the stuffing while covered in fake blood and had only tape on my boobs has been hard for people to forget but actually not sure if that is a good thing… haha. I think the music industry has a lot of great singers and dancers but not many real artists unfortunatley. I think myself and many others are real artists- those who write their own music and really think about their work as a concept and I hope that the music industry supports and opens up for more of this kind of stuff within the next 10 years.
Thanks for the interview! What final message do you have for us today?
RIP ROBIN WILLIAMS
Website: http://iamedenswan.com
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