Brutal Planet Magazine (BPM): Margarita thanks for taking the time to chat with Brutal Planet Magazine. Could you first tell us a little bit about yourself and what got you to where you are today? As someone passionate about music I feel like we all have that moment that can define taking us down this road. For myself it was seeing Def Leppard on American Bandstand. What moment was it for you that defines you?
Margarita Monet (MM): Thank you very much for having me! For me, music was always a big part of my life. I can blame my parents for that (haha). My mom brought me to piano lessons at 4. I grew up in Moscow, and over there, anything you take up, you take it very serious. In addition I was going to dance and theater, so every day I was (immersed) in that. I loved it, so in a way I always knew I wanted to be a performer. However, I never thought I’d be fronting a rock band. My parents had VHS tapes of Led Zeppelin and Queen live shows and I was always in awe, secretly wanting but never thinking that i could do anything close to that. But life works in mysterious ways, I met guitarist Dave Bates, and he lured me to the dark side of the moon, opening a whole new world of possibilities 🙂
BPM: Along those same lines, can you tell our readers where you and the members of Edge of Paradise draw your influence from? What bands do you draw from?
MM: Dave comes from a rock/metal world, so his influences are Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhodes, Iron Maiden. Currently, we are all into Rammstein. I come from classical music and theater background, but in college I really got into Dio, Korn, System of A Down. I think part of our style is blending Dave’s rock and metal world with mine. It took us a while to figure out how to write songs together, but once (we) did, it really gave our music a unique edge to it 🙂
BPM: Edge of Paradise preparing to release its fourth studio album, Universe. Do you have a date for that release? How has the band evolved in sound over the years since that first album in 2011?
MM: Yes, we are very excited for this release. We just signed with Frontiers Records and will be announcing the release date soon. The band is always evolving and we sound like a completely different band from the first release Mask. Dave and I really grew as songwriters, and we have a great system in place. Now we can just focus on letting the music lead the way. We also added new band members, David Ruiz, Vanya Kapetanovic, Jimmy Lee. They really understand the sound of the band, the direction it’s going, and contribute to the sound! Also, the production on this record is top notch. Working with producer Mike Plotnikoff on recording really took it to another level and Jacob Hansen, who is mixing, brought the songs to life!
BPM: What can Edge of Paradise fans expect from Universe? How is the sound different that previous albums.
MM: Well, it’s like discovering a new galaxy in the Universe. 🙂 You might have gotten a taste of it from the music video Face Of Fear. However that was the first song we wrote and recorded for the new album, so that was just the beginning of where the music took us…. First and foremost, these are really great songs, with catchy powerful choruses, driving grooves, memorable melodies and meaningful lyrics. Making a good song is our primary focus. And then musically, we experimented with adding some industrial and electronic edge to it. I also got a new Moog keyboard, that has insane bass sounds, and that really gave the song a thick bottom end. They sound massive! Of course Jacob Hansen, really is responsible with how huge and wide these songs sound. Honestly, I was very nervous going into making this album because you can’t force the songs to come together. But the outcome really just blew my mind. We had all the pieces come together and that allowed us to create something special that we are super proud of!
BPM: Edge of Paradise is about to head out to Japan some dates, what other plans do you have for the rest of 2019? Any tour that includes the US?
MM: Japan is amazing! They are such big music fans over there and they really support and respect musicians. We are so thankful for the opportunity! But you have to earn their respect by being great at what you do 🙂
Once the album is out we will focus on touring. And joining forces with Frontiers Records, who are based in Europe, you can expect European shows in the near future. Of course US dates as well. But right now we are getting all the content together, like music videos, art, merchandising and giveaways for the release, so please allow us a bit of time to announce the touring plans for the rest of the year!
BPM:To date what would you consider to be your biggest accomplishment professionally and personally?
There are so many things we’ve done that I thought were impossible. Like filming a music video in Iceland, completing 3 CD’s and now the 4th one. Touring Japan! And to me, professional and personal has no boundary line, this band is both, as I put my soul, blood sweat and tears into it, haha. Up till now Dave and I pretty much did and funded everything ourselves, so I’m just really proud that we kept going and are always making things happen. There were plenty of times, where the easiest solution would be to just give up, and unfortunately, that’s what happens to a lot of bands. This is a very hard business. But I’m just very lucky that I have Dave. He is like a rock, no obstacle can phase him, we just plow through. And having great band mates, with David Ruiz, Vanya Kapetanovic and Jimmy Lee, we are ready to conquer! 🙂
Band Links :
Website: http://www.edgeofparadiseband.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/EdgeOfParadiseBand
