The Pressure Drop Checks in With Eddie Paul

Photo credit: Eddie Paul Facebook

Montreal musician Eddie Paul is one of the latest examples of unique local artists to develop a loyal fanbase from near and far, thanks to his unique genre-crossing, layered sound. The multi-instrumentalist recently caught up with CJLO's very own Danny Payne on the Pressure Drop to talk about the reaction to his debut album, his live lineup, and what direction Eddie Paul sees Eddie Paul heading in in the future. Here’s a transcribed excerpt from that interview. 

D: How is it going? I was discussing it before, I played the Warning Song a little bit earlier off the fantastic album [from] last year, Pandemonium. How’s the response been from the release of the album there, mate?

Eddie Paul: Response has been great. Nothing but good response. I didn’t really hear any kind of bad reviews or anything, so so far so good. 

D: [Laughter] It’s a cracking album. 

EP: Thank you. I owe a lot to my good friend Seb Black and all the Emery Street crew there, we all made a great, we all contributed and it turned out great for me at least. Don’t want to toot my own horn, but I like it, it’s good. 

D: This is your opportunity to toot that horn, Eddie. Don’t be shy.

EP: Okay.

D: So what are you up to these days? Are you busy working on the new album?

EP: Yeah, exactly. Wanna do something new. Wanna do some more songs, so just composing, rehearsals, getting the band together, trying to generate some new stuff. Leading to a kind of different direction.

D: Interesting. Can you spill the beans a little bit on this new direction?

EP: Well, I would like to leave a bit for the element of surprise. But I guess I would say, electronic sounds. Synthesizers. More geared in that direction, as opposed to like, playing guitar riffs, and that sort of thing. Like the rock and roll, just maybe, a little more synthetic synthesisation. 

D: For me, you’ve always had the mix of the blues-y roots-y acoustic guitar or electric guitar fill, but always had that electrical vibe, that modern feel. I guess you’re just sort of taking it a little bit further into the…

EP: Yeah, that’s the thing with that album, Pandemonium. You don’t wanna kind of like, straddle the line, between that like, blues/roots thing. We did that a lot. And now, I think I’m just leaning towards that electronic thing, so that’s kind of where my heart’s at these days.

D: That’s fantastic. You know, not settling down on one sound, constantly moving along. 

EP: Yeah, you know, everybody that I admire, that I’ve idolized growing up music-wise and artistically, they’ve always done that stuff. They re-invent themselves each record.

D: Of course.

EP: I don’t necessarily think you have to be pigeon-holed into one sort of style. 

D: Cool. Looking forward to hearing it. And, you’ve got a new live lineup, haven’t you?

EP: Yeah, we’ve got a brand new player, an additional member. We’re six now.

D: Wow.

EP: A girl named Emilie, she’s playing in another band named Barren Acres. I’ll just do a little plug for them. And they’re actually playing tonight at the Bistro à Jojo, I’ll be joining them for that show as well.

D: Cool. Plug away.

EP: So I’ll play tonight a little set, guest appearance type of thing, but I’m also playing there. They have a band and I ended up just recruiting. It was an organic thing, she got recruited.

D: Yup, yeah. Good man. And so, in terms of what you’re working on recording-wise. I mean, we’ve talked about your moving the sound along a little bit. You’ve got a new member. Is the new album in the pipeline? Are you going to be releasing a single any time soon? What’s the plan there?

EP: Really, I’ve been kind of sold on the idea of just doing an EP. You know like, four songs, five songs. And just kind of doing like a soft release on this and seeing what happens, you know. A lot of the songs are, some of them are finished, some of them are just skeletons. It’s still in its infant stages I’d say, for the new record.

Eddie Paul plays Montreal’s Bar de Courcelle on February 22 and Honey Martins on March 16. For more interesting interviews and to hear a curated selection of great music from around the world, tune into CJLO Mondays from 5-6 for the Pressure Drop.