One rather sad result of the Eden's push for bigger and better things is that long serving bass player Nive has decided to call it a day. Was this not a bit of a shock was my next question.

"Yes and no, in that we don't want him to leave, because he's a dear friend, but it's not a shock in the sense that we really think it's the right thing for him to do, from the point of view of family reasons, and it's been quite a gentle thing. It's not been a trauma, we all feel quite relaxed about it, but it's sad.

Eden Burning

A contributory factor has been that Nive was recently very ill with ulcerated colitis (or however you spell it!), which meant he got progressively weaker and weaker and went down to under 10 stone and had to come off the road, although he is now almost back to full strength. This of course has left a gaping tear in the rhythm section so...?

"Well, we've got a number of people we're considering at the moment. We're currently using stand-ins, but we haven't made a firm decision yet. We're giving ourselves to the end of May, because there are good bass players out there who want to be the bass player in Eden Burning but we're very committed and concerned to get the right person."

Ill health was not Nive's main reason for leaving Eden Burning at this time, speaking in the aforementioned newsletter he had this to say: 'The main reason for leaving is that I feel I need to 'be there' for my family more than I can be at the moment. I have a gorgeous wife called Mags and three fine boys, Steve (11 years, cool indie kid with worrying metaller tendencies), James (9 years, football mad) and Jacob (1 year, no hobbies yet). Also I'm far too old to be in a band (I've started listening to Radio 4!). It was a very difficult decision as I am still really into what EB is doing and am very excited about the future. Unfortunately the exciting stuff to come would have meant an even greater commitment to the band. I guess I chose to be a 'home boy'.

After briefly considering asking Paul for an application form, I decide against it for the same reasons as Nive and move on to discuss the recording of a new album.

"We are really hoping to write a whole batch of new songs. We've got lots of ideas in the melting pot and we've even been writing over easter, so we're hoping to make it a completely fresh product so that people feel like it's something completely new because we don't want to dupe people with putting all the singles on there as well."

I wonder at this point whether Eden Burning's long and harmonious business relationship with FFG will continue for the new album.

"We're not absolutely sure," Paul admits. "We're just in meetings with him at the moment. We've got a tentative offer on the table from a new label which is offering us money for the first time to record and put out a product so it may be that with Dave's blessing and consent and probable still involvement we may be moving away to using a different studio for the next product, finances permitting. It is our hope that if we proceed with this deal it will give us licensed distribution through one of the three major record companies into the high street stores, and that is part of our vision - to keep heading in that direction."

As we speak the band are days away from another visit to Germany where they have had an enormously successful reception and they plan to nip over at regular intervals in the future. I point out to Paul that Germans do seem to like British bands.

"They do, yes. There are lots of good German bands but in the main European pop is absolutely hopeless so you don't have to be all that good to go down really well."

Yes, he did say that, honestly. I pursue the topic by pointing out how well Split Level and the Electrics have done there.

"They have yes. We hope that perhaps it could be our turn now because they're very well respected in Germany."

Eden Burning have recently assigned all of their booking administration to Forward Agency Booking (FAB) who will be setting up a fairly extensive autumn tour. Paul is excited about this new venture.