Eden is no stranger to touring and his live performances are equal to the task of delivering the epic yet intimate qualities of his songs. A gifted multi-instrumentalist, digital artist and vocals freedom fighter, he is known for his generous and uninhibited delivery, whether performing solo or with his bands. Eden recently released his third album Hunted Haunted and he answered the following questions for muzic.net.nz.
Which one of your songs are you most proud of, and why?
Cardboard Cutouts from Hunted Haunted. It’s taken a few years to finally get it sounding how I imagined it could. Originally it was part of a contemporary dance score, complete with horse clip clop samples and whinnying. LOL. In the Hunted Haunted writing sessions I finally came up with a chorus that suited the weirdness of the verses and I look forward to playing each time I perform. The chorus seems to explode into life – I like music that surprises and goes in unusual directions, or is completely over the top, epic, anthemic? When you least expect it. I tried to do that with this song.
Do you have any plans for future collaborations with other musicians? Who would they be?
I recently did some writing with an Australian artist Mt Warning at the Mushroom event called writers bloc in Melbourne. We got on very well and I’m hoping we can continue to explore the partnership.
Where is your favourite place to relax in NZ?
I relax up north in Warkworth, my parents both live up there on a farm and it’s the most peaceful place I can imagine.
What can we expect to see from you over the next year?
You can expect another solo record, the second Music For Dance record and at least two national tours. I’m also coming home to work on a handful of theatre productions and travelling to USA to release Hunted Haunted there and tour. It’s going to be a big year I think.
What can you never leave home without
My Kindle. It’s the best gift I’ve ever received. I’m an avid sci-fi reader and devour books on tour. I feel naked without it.
What is your most embarrassing on tour/gig moment?
I played a show at CMJ in New York where we blew up the PA halfway through the set. Heaps of people had come to see us and in the middle of a song everything just stopped. The engineer had been shouting shots (to himself too) all night and was in no condition to get the power working again so we had to cancel the rest of the show. It was pretty hilarious really, but devastating – considering how far we’d come to play. LOL
When reviewing Eden Mulholland's music a certain peculiarity of composition stands out, and that is his refusal or inability to be restrained by genre. Whether writing an anthemic lullaby such as The Big Empty for his band Motocade (2010) or the hauntingly aggressive The Virus for the dance work Body Fight Time (2012), or the tender yet manic Body Fight Time on his aptly named EP, Jesus Don't You Get My Jokes, the juxtaposition of disparate entities seems to come naturally to him. This makes for a filmic quality to much of his music and it comes as no surprise that he is equally at home composing for dance or film as he is for his band and solo work.
In his music, as in life, anything goes. Sadness can be uplifting, desire be as impassive as a rock and memories be as suddenly vivid as the monitor lizards he occasionally sees on his runs up the hill behind his house. If all this sounds poetic then the cap fits. Even his take on pop music involves unexpected arrivals and departures, conventional and operatic voices, ripped apart rhythms and ethereal bridges, solidly resounding hooks and moody ascents.
It's a compositional approach that is enough, as one reviewer said in reference to his Jesus Don't You Get My Jokes EP, "to give you major goosebumps". But this goosebump inducing element, similar to 'duende' in flamenco music or or 'wairua' in Maori composition, also yields pop's signature 'earworms' as evidenced in songs such as I will Echo from his Feed the Beast album (2013), or Holy Moly from his Motocade album Tightrope Highway (2009), songs that enjoyed radio and video impact and longevity. Consequently his artistic reach embraces both a longstanding loyal niche following as well as commercial recognition.