HEART-TO-HEART: Eden Yeigh
“I think it’s important to surround yourself with a variety of creative energies. I find chasing these kinds of endeavours with people in your artistic community inevitably filters back into your own practice.”
Eden Yeigh isn’t your typical psych-rock enthusiast. He’s a musical trailblazer based in the Northern Rivers and you’ve probably seen him perform more times than you know.
Published: 21/08/2024
FHR (Flaming Heart Records): It is an absolute pleasure to be chatting with you Eden! I stumbled across you a while back now and have been following ever since. Your latest project, Lucy’s House, has just debuted its first single. Can you tell us how this project differs from other bands you have been in?
Eden (Yeigh): Lovely to chat with you too, Soph, thanks for reaching out. Lucy’s House is different in the way that it’s a lot heavier and more experimental than previous bands I’ve been a part of, for sure. The recording process so far has also been a lot more DIY and way more open and collaborative. Creatively, its focus for me is exploring new sounds and exploring the relationship between studio recordings and live experiences within rooms.
FHR: Psychedelic rock seems to be a genre you are drawn to the most. How were you introduced to this kind of music? Did you listen to certain bands growing up that interested you or inspired you?
Eden: I feel like it’s difficult to live in Australia making music in the last 10 years and not have been influenced by psychedelic rock in some aspect. I swear hearing Lonerism (Tame Impala) for the first time altered my brain chemistry. Something about fuzz satiates me deeply. I also love how diverse and open-ended the genre is, you can throw any combination of instruments together and really it could still be psychedelic rock, they all have a home there. Anything is possible, synths to sitars.
I love most artists I hear within the genre too, so it feels like home for me as well. Todd Rundgren’s A Wizard, a True Star was awesome when I first heard it. A lot of King Gizz was totally formative for me, too. Recently, I’ve been listening to a lot of Wand, Radiohead/Thom Yorke, Stereolab and Broadcast. GUM’s new record with Ambrose (Kenny-Smith) is on repeat often for me at the moment.
FHR: You’re not only producing and performing in your own bands, but you also play live with other artists from the local area, such as media puzzle and AKA Lui. What are those experiences like? It must be fun experimenting with new sounds and getting an insight into how they’re doing things.
Eden: Yeah it’s a blast getting to play in both of those projects. Getting to do the tour with Luka at the start of the year taught me heaps; he’s really good to work with and I feel very valued when I’m contributing in that space. Getting to support a band like Tora, too, was so inspiring, those guys are so fucking good. They are just really dialled together on stage, and so chill to be around. media puzzle in a lot of ways is the polar opposite of the AKA Lui experience to be a part of, it’s so much more freewheeling and bombastic. Playing it live feels like you’re being held together with tape and string, right on the edge of chaos, but you love every moment of it.
I really like working with Tom ‘cause we have such similar tastes in music, we seem to be able to cultivate some really good stuff together. That relationship is where Animal came from. I think it’s important to surround yourself with a variety of creative energies. I find chasing these kinds of endeavours with people in your artistic community inevitably filters back into your own practice, so they’re important things to chase.
FHR: I would love to learn more about your personal recording processes. Is there particular gear, hardware or software that is your go-to? Maybe even guitar pedals or microphones you would like to give an honourable shout-out to.
Eden: These days I run most things pretty DIY, I’ve got a little home studio in my bedroom I record in with some miscellaneous gear. I love my Korg synth. I have this melted Vox Telstar drum kit modelled off these weird Trixon kits from the 1960s, I love how that thing sounds. Most of my guitar work is a Jazzmaster and Boss multi-FX rig, it seems to be capable of making pretty much any guitar sound I dream up.
I’m trying to stay as out of the box as possible these days with what I’m making tone wise, ‘cause if I can make it happen in a room, then I can put it on a stage easily. It also keeps me limited to my hands, and generally good things come from that. Lately I’ve been tinkering with doing some out of the box mixes through this analog SSL desk I have access to, that’s been really new and interesting. It’s a totally different workflow that I really enjoy for mixing.
FHR: So with Lucy’s House – first up, how did the name come about? And who have you joined forces with? It would be interesting to know the creative inspiration that influenced this new project to come about.
Eden: The name Lucy’s House actually was an old name I’d had in my pocket for a while. It was an offshoot of a name we nearly went with for Super Orbit, which was “Lazy Susan”. It has no specific meaning, I don’t even know who or what Lucy is, I just think it feels right. The current lineup is Oli Clarke (Puff), Tom Peter (Liminal, Puff, media puzzle), Axl Deandro (Cerberus, Off Judy) and myself. We’re waiting on our golden boy Solomon Jones (Apostles, Cerberus) to get back from the snow to start playing with us too – he may replace Tom. All those guys are worth their weight in gold, really excited to have them onboard.
FHR: The Northern Rivers is home to some pretty cool venues, I mean our hotels in particular are quite supportive of the local music scene. What’s your favourite venue that you have played at and what do you love about it? Any fun stories you wanna share?
Eden: I really enjoy being in the green room at the Northern Hotel in Byron Bay and looking at all the band stickers and tags in there. It gives a sense of lineage. Playing the Stone & Wood Festival with AKA Lui recently was awesome, they catered so well there for our rider. Favourite venue I’ve ever played at though, is easily the Metro Theatre in Sydney. That’s not so much a local venue, but playing bass through that huge P.A was such a power trip, and so memorable. When you get encased in that sound, it feels like you’ve got the breath of God all over you.
FHR: Are there any milestones or goals that you want to accomplish or are striving towards? Creatively, I think you’re doing so many cool things! Anything else, even outside of the music world, that you have in mind?
Eden: There’s hopefully gonna be 2 albums I get done this year, one may end up as an EP depending on how much I cut from it. I’ve been piecing together this band album for Lucy’s House over the last 6 months and also working on another solo effort that’s super different. Lucy’s record is leaning deep into psychedelic rock and the other is this total IDM/electronic album I’ve been wanting to make for ages.
I’m deep in the writing and recording of both at the moment, but I’m looking forward to putting them out eventually. I’m in no rush though. I think there’s a lot of value in taking your time and getting things right. I’m also writing a Sci-Fi novel, but that won’t be done for ages. Also clothes, I wanna make more clothes.
FHR: Do you have any events or gigs coming up soon that keen punters can attend? Anything on the horizon for Lucy’s House we should be looking out for, too?
Eden: Some more releases for Lucy’s House will happen soon for sure, our debut gig is at @scrubbycreekshed on the 23rd of August. I’m really looking forward to that. Popping my head out of the studio for some live appearances with AKA Lui on the 29th of August (Beach Hotel, Byron Bay) too, and then hitting BIGSOUND with him after.
