10 Quick Ones with MARGARITA MONET of Edge Of Paradise – February 2017

As the bands story goes: “Edge Of Paradise was formed by Margarita Monet and Dave Bates in 2011. Few months after formation, the band released their debut album Mask that featured rhythm section of bassist Tony Franklin (Blue Murder, The Firm) and drummer Gregg Bissonette (David Lee Roth Band). Mask came out at #6 most added on national CMJ radio, right behind Machine Head and solidified existence of Edge Of Paradise.”  Fast forward to 2017: “With a solid line up and touring over 30 states, Margarita Monet-Vocals, Dave Bates-guitars, Nick Ericson-bass, John Chominsky-drums the band is looking forward to jumping into the future, full speed ahead!”  We were able to get Margarita for 10 Quickies (why yes we are lucky)… read all about it here!

1. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

My mom took me to see my first theater show when I was 4 years old, it was a musical with a big orchestra, colorful costumes, singing, dance, it was beautiful, I loved it and I knew I wanted to be a performer ever since. We lived in Moscow, Russia till I was 11 and since I was about five years old I went to music school, ballet, theater classes… And we used to go see shows every week, there is so much happening on every block in Moscow that I was emerged in it. That was my life! And Im very grateful to my parents for supporting me in what I chose to be my path.

2. Who would be your main five musical influences?

I played classical piano my whole life, so that influences the melodies I write, but as a singer I love Dio,  Rammstein, Korn, Avenged Sevenfold and Rob Zombie is one hell of a showman!

3. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be?

That’s so hard to pick, lots of amazing musicians out there! Lately I’ve been on an industrial kick, I think it was would be cool to collaborate with Rob Zombie!

4. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before?

It’s dynamic hard rock with melodic vocals, aggressive metal guitars, driving rhythm with an industrial and symphonic edge! Haha I think that sums it up, its always hard to pin point what we sound like, but our music will definitely take you on a sonic  roller coaster ride! 🙂

5. What’s the best thing about being a musician?

Creating and sharing it with others! That’s the most rewarding feeling is to listen back to something that we created, and even more, when others say that what we made something that holds a significance to them.  Music is a great way to express and connect with others, its a universal language! Also, there is so many different sides to me that I get to explore when writing and on stage with the live show, I definitely never get bored 🙂 It’s not easy to be a musician especially in the world we live in, but it’s worth all the blood, sweat and tears! 🙂

6. When the band are all hanging out together, who cooks; who gets the drinks in; and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Haha well we’re not your typical band, me and Nick (bass) don’t drink and Dave doesn’t believe in acoustic guitars so when he cracks out a guitar then we know it’s gonna be loud! 😉 We usually eat out when on tour, but if one of us is cooking it’s our drummer John, he loves to grill and smoke things haha! We don’t really get much downtime, we’re either rehearsing, recording, touring, promoting, it’s a 24 hour job to keep moving this band forward, but we really enjoy it!

7. If you weren’t a musician, what would be your dream job?

This is my dream job 😉 Well my dad is a scientist and I love learning and reading about whats going on in that world, especially about outer space, sometimes I don’t believe what we are able to do now, it’s like a science fiction movie! I guess it’s between ballerina or an astronaut haha!

8. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over”?

Oh there are so many! But that’s how you learn! The first CD Mask we released we spent so much money promoting it, but the product wasn’t very good, but it’s an evolution, we had to find our sound. We also signed a bad label contract for the 1st CD, worked with the wrong management that also cost us a lot of money that we should have put into something else, I think you can’t be in the music industry and not make mistakes, but we’re a lot smarter now on the business end and the music is solid and really defines us a band, I’m very proud of how far we’ve come and I think making the mistakes is just part of the growth!

9. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Very hard to pick, but i’ll go with Black Sabbath’s Heaven And Hell. I’m such a big fan of Dio and I love those songs, I never got to see him live, he was a great singer and Black Sabbath is one of my favorite bands! That would have been very cool to be a part of!

10. What, for you, is the meaning of life??

This is the first time anyone asked me this in the interview, I like the depth of this! 🙂 I believe we are here to experience, to learn from each other and grow spiritually. I really believe we are more then just physical beings! Actually some songs on our new EP Alive explores exactly this, and I’m an open book, if you read my lyrics you will see into my heart and soul.

11. BONUS – tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets the band put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

The underlying theme of “Alive’ deals with us humans being so caught up in the digital world, obsessed with convenience and monetary gain, we have begun to sacrifice our humanity. We are becoming corporate led consumer machines! We get lost in the enticing virtual reality that we forget what real human interaction feels like. Break away from bombardment of advertisements, social standards, never ending race with time and just breathe, and remember what it’s like to feel alive! To connect with our fellow humans and the world! Production wise, we had an amazing team of people, Chuck Johnson (Korn, Slipknot) produced the songs, he was so great to work with and helped us explore the heavier and more industrial part of Edge Of Paradise, also helped elevate me to a new level as a vocalist. We worked with Jay Ruston, Michael Wagener and Mike Plotnikoff on the song mixes, they are all phenomenal and we just couldn’t be more happier with the production! This CD is a new level for us and I can’t wait to share it with all of you! Regarding hidden nuggets, there are some continues themes set forth by our previous album Immortal Waltz, I won’t give it away yet, since the CD is not out, but we have some die hard fans that read all the lyrics, so I think they will know what I’m talking about! Thank you so much for having me, we appreciate your support! Have a rocking day!

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Category: Interviews