Experimental pop merchant, Eden Mulholland, is set to release his debut solo album Feed the Beast. Inspired by his compositions for theatre and dance, Feed the Beast is Mulholland’s follow up to the EP “Jesus You Don’t Get My Jokes.”You may have heard of him from his previous work as a singer and writer with the band Motorcade. Renae Brown caught up with him to talk about the new album and touring with David Bridie.
Your roots in contemporary dance really come through in the”Blueprint” video, can you tell us a bit about the making of the video?
I had the opportunity to use two of NZ School of Dance’s best student ballet dancers so I designed the video around them and the colour blue. My idea was simply to create a clip that was very visually dramatic, tableau and staged poses, simple colour contrast between dark blue and white. A lyric in the song is about floating on ice so I thought it would be funny to try and depict that. We hired an Ice Skating rink and turned up with the crew at 4am to shoot. It was absolutely freezing and then there was torrential rain which made the ice treacherous, picture me completely soaked through being pulled along the wet ice, totally numb trying to sing in to a light bulb I think is going to electrocute me…. I wanted the dancers performing in contrasting locations, one where they were the masters of their environment (the studio), the other where they seemed out of place, more fragile (on the ice). Heaps of the ideas came to us as we went along. I like winging it like that.
How involved were you in the choreography?
I wasn’t directly involved with the choreography in this video. We gave the two dancers instruction to devise 3 short classical ballet phrases of movement that they could perform and improvise around for the shoot. They came up with their own movement and we kept the camera rolling when they jammed out new ideas on the spot.
How has your dancing impacted on other elements of your music?
It’s made my music dramatic I think. I always want to write songs that have big dynamic shifts/unexpected variations. I still struggle with it, part of me is obsessed with trying to write the ultimate pop song, while the other is raging to be completely abandoned.
What led you to choose this track for your new single?
On the record the song is split into two parts, “I Read All of the Books” and “Blueprint”, but they run together as a single track. I never imagined the second half could be a single until my project manager Asho said it was his favourite song on the record. So I took the song and reworked it with my engineer to be a single.
What else inspired the music on your debut solo album Feed the Beast?
This album is directly inspired by working with my
amazing friends who make dance, theatre and film.
Your music has been described as very experimental, is that how you would describe it?
I guess I would. In the sense that the experimental part is taking music that was written for theatre/dance and converting it to music to be performed and recorded by a band.
You are busy at the moment with two tours, what’s it been like touring with David Bridie?
It has been great fun! I am very honoured to be playing in his band. I’m learning some cool things about restraint, subtlety and abandon. He is a master of songwriting and storytelling, I am trying to soak it all in!
How do these shows compare to your headline shows for your debut album Feed the Beast
My show’s are much smaller….Our audience demographics are probably different in age, but I am hoping we get to share some new fans from both camps!
Tell me about your work with Motocade, is there anything planned for the future with them?
Yep, we have a new record called Science Fiction to be released in 2014.
What else is the rest of 2013 is holding for Eden Mulholland?
I am scoring 3 dance works and a play. Heading to the USA to release and play a few shows later in the year.
—–
Feed the Beast is in stores now. You can catch Eden Mulholland at the following shows.
20th July – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne supporting David Bridie
25th July – Clarendon Guesthouse, Katoomba supporting David Bridie
26th July – The Basement, Sydney supporting David Bridie
28th July – Lizottes, Newcastle supporting David Bridie
17th August – The Republic Bar, Hobart supporting David Bridie
