Also Eden

Also Eden
Origin	Southwest England
Genres	Progressive rock, art rock, pop rock
Years active	2005–present
Labels	F2
Members	Huw Lloyd Jones Graham Lane Simon Rogers Ian Hodson Guy Monk
Past members	Rich Harding Ralvin Thomas Steve Dunn Tim Coleman Mark Hall Steve Byrne Howard H Sinclair Andy Riger Lee Nicholas Dave Roelofs
Website	www.alsoeden.com

The Also Eden story goes back to 1993, when vocalist Huw Lloyd-Jones moved from his native South Wales to Cheltenham and — looking for like minded people to hang out with  — answered a ‘singer wanted’ ad in the local paper. The band was a metal band called Morgan and, after an audition, he was offered the job. The keyboardist of the band was Ian Hodson.

The band played just one gig and then drifted apart as bands so often do but not before Huw and Ian had struck-up a friendship that lead to them starting to write together.  

With nearly an album’s worth of material written, the two started to think about playing live and recruited local musicians to form an actual band, ‘Eden’.  After two gigs, several lineup changes and more writing, the band looked like it was beginning to happen when Huw suffered a near-fatal brain haemorrhage. The band remained on hiatus until 2003 when Huw and Ian started to write music again. After tentatively working with a number of musicians, the band lineup finally settled with Ralvin Thomas on bass and Simon Rogers on guitar. As writers, Simon, Huw and Ian gelled immediately and this lineup completed and recorded the band’s first album, About Time. The opening track, ‘Between the lines’ and the epic ‘For Bumble’ remain staples of the live set today.

Just before the album was released, an internet search revealed a band called Eden in almost every city in the UK, so after ten minutes as ‘Eden as well’, the band became ‘Also Eden’.

The band gigged extensively after the release of ‘About Time’, developing an excellent reputation as a live act.

A second album, ‘It’s kind of you to ask’ was written during 2007 and recorded and released during 2008. By this point, the band featured Tim Coleman on drums (later replaced by Steve Byrne and, later, Dave Roelofs) and Steve Dunn on bass. Live shows during 2008 and 2009 included Night of the Progs, in Loreley, Germany, Progfarm in the Netherlands and ProckFest in Germany plus gigs in the UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. The last gig of 2009 was The Summer’s End Festival.

In December 2009, Huw left the band.

The band started searching for a replacement and recruited Rich Harding as their new vocalist, quickly moving forward with the EP ‘Differences As Light’. And then, just as the band settled into their new lineup and direction, Rich had a very serious bike accident.

It’s to his eternal credit that Rich not only survived a life-threatening crash but actually managed to record an album, ‘Think of the Children!’, for release in 2011, as well as perform live while still recovering. During this period Also Eden’s revolving door continued to spin with both Dave and Steve leaving in 2012, replaced by Lee Nicholas and Graham Lane. Ian left in 2013.

With Simon as the principal creative force, album number four, ‘Redacted’, followed Ian’s departure, with keyboard duties being handled by Andy Davies and Howard Sinclair (who also played live with the band).

During this time, Huw worked with the band Unto Us, which also featured Dave Roelofs. Unto Us released their only album to date, ‘The Human Landscape’, in 2014.

2015 saw Simon contributing guitar to a new band project, Ghost Community, who released their first (and, so far, only) album ‘Cycle of Life’ in 2016 and Also Eden again went on hiatus while the album was promoted.

From 2016, Huw and Ian were reunited in the band Midnight Sun, releasing their debut album, ‘Dark Tide Rising’, is 2018.

During 2018 Huw, Ian and Simon — still good friends —started to discuss the possibility of a one-off gig to mark the tenth anniversary of the release of ‘It’s kind of you to ask’. Dave, though now based in The Netherlands, was keen as was Steve Dunn, though he was forced to pull out due to work commitments and Graham from the latest, latent lineup was recruited. Plans for the reunion show were halted by the global covid crisis until October 2021, when the band headlined a gig at The 1865 in Southampton. The experience was so enjoyable that the band have stayed together since and, as of early 2024, are writing and recording a new album.

As of 2024 the band have released four studio albums and an EP, and have toured the United Kingdom and Europe since the mid-2000s, including four appearances at Summers End UK, and slots at Night Of The Prog at Loreley in Germany and The Cambridge Rock Festival (2011), Northern Prog Festival (NL) (2022) and the inaugural Nene Valley Rock Festival (2023).

Musical style

The band's sound draws influences from classic progressive rock artists such as Yes, Genesis, Marillion and Rush, as well as inspiration from the “metal, fusion, classical and classic rock genres". The band has also cited contemporary bands such as Porcupine Tree and Opeth as influences.

Line-up

Current members

• Huw Lloyd-Jones – Vocals
• Graham Lane – Bass Guitar, backing vocals
• Ian Hodson – Keyboards, backing vocals
• Simon Rogers – Guitar, backing vocals
• Guy Monk – Drums

Former members

• Rich Harding – Vocals
• Ralvin Thomas – Bass
• Steve Dunn – Bass
• Tim Coleman – Drums
• Mark "DB" Hall – Drums
• Steve Byrne – Drums
• Andy Rigler – Keyboards
• Howard "H" Sinclair – Keyboards, backing vocals
• Lee Nicholas – Drums
• Dave Roelofs – Drums

Discography

Studio albums

• About Time (2006)
• It’s Kind of You to Ask (2008)
• Think of the Children! (2011)
• [REDACTED] (2013)

EPs

• Differences as Light (2010)

Guest and session appearances

Rich Harding:

• Elder Water – Reinvented (TBA) – Vocals, lyrics
• Elder Water – Jump, He Said (TBA) – Vocals, lyrics
• Elder Water – What Do You Say When You Talk To Yourself (TBA) – Vocals, lyrics

Steve Dunn:

• Cosmograf – End of Ecclesia (2009) – Electric Guitar, Bass, Classical Guitar on the track “The Dark That Follows The Light” (written by Robin Armstrong/Steve Dunn)
• Cosmograf – When Age Has Done Its Duty (2011) – Bass Guitar on the track “Blacksmith’s Hammer”
• Cosmograf – The Man Left In Space (2013) – Bass Guitar on the track “Aspire, Achieve”

Simon Rogers:

• Francis Dunnery – There's a Whole New World Out There – Guitar on the track Kiss Like Judas
• Cosmograf – When Age Has Done Its Duty (2011) – 12 String Acoustic, Electric Guitars, E Bow on the track On Which We Stand (written by Robin Armstrong/Simon Rogers)

External links

• Also Eden Official Site
• Also Eden on Prog Archives
• Also Eden on Reverb Nation