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Sean Bowley

Sean Bowley is a singer-songwriter and guitarist based in Melbourne, Australia. In 1988 he formed the Darkwave band EDEN with multi-instrumentalist Pieter Bourke. EDEN released six albums including EPs internationally between 1990 and 1997. The band re-formed in 2015 and launch ‘The Edge of Winter’ LP in June 2017. EDEN released 'East of The Stars' to support a European tour schedules for June 2020. History – The Early Days and All Things Unseen Sean Bowley was born in Bairnsdale, Victoria and raised in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. Heavily influenced by underground music of the 1960s as a child, Bowley started writing music at age fifteen. He became deeply immersed in Melbourne’s alternative music culture as a teenager, citing Joy Division, The Birthday Party, and specifically Rowland S Howard as key influences in defining his musical direction. Bowley formed his first ethereal guitar band ‘All Things Unseen’ in 1981. The band performed at alternative venues such as The Seaview Ballroom, The Tote, The Stockade Hotel and the Central Club supporting notable Melbourne bands such as The Corpse Grinders, Safehouse and Red Blue Yellow before parting in 1987. All Things Unseen comprised Sean Bowley – Vocals, 6 & 12 string guitars, Carl Carter – Bass guitar, William Carter – Keyboards and Ingo Wieben – Drums. EDEN EDEN was formed in 1988 with multi-instrumentalist Pieter Bourke and bassist Ross Healy. EDEN’s debut performance was at the Baden Powell Hotel, Prahran. The band quickly established a local following that saw them perform regularly as a fixture in Melbourne's burgeoning alternative music scene. EDEN’s debut 12inch EP ‘The Light Between Worlds’ was released in 1990 on Nightshift Records, Scotland. The EP caught the attention of BBC Radio's John Peel who featured tracks on his show, resulting in rapid support of EDEN by The Alternative Press Magazine in the USA. A 7” single version of ‘Searching for Angel’s Hands’ was released by Ultimate Records Australia the same year, broadening EDEN’s growing supporter base through a live appearance on Australia’s national music TV series Countdown Revolution. In 1991 EDEN moved to London based label Third Mind Records who continued to grow the band’s profile in Europe and the USA through the 1992 release of their first full length album ‘Gateway to the Mysteries’ (released in Australia under Elysium/Shock Records). The album was described by the music press as sounding akin to 'the Cocteau Twins had they existed in the 1890s'. A second LP ‘Wearyall’ was recorded under the Third Mind label but remains unreleased. In 1993 EDEN joined the roster of Projekt Records, USA releasing the ‘Healingbow’ mini-album. In 1993, EDEN established a new lineup, Bourke leaving the band as drummer Peter Barrett, keyboardist Paul Machlis, guitarist Tracy Ellerton and bassist Ewan McArthur joined Bowley to form the next iteration of EDEN. ‘Fire and Rain’, EDEN’s second studio album under the Projekt label, was released in 1994. Allmusic's Ned Raggett found the new lineup's music to be "an intriguing sonic palette, extending the goth/psych tendencies of Bowley's particular muse to their logical conclusions”. This, the band’s third album showcased EDEN’s distinctive sound - characterised by Legends Magazine as ‘dark and richly atmospheric…demonstrating that the band should not be categorised for any one sound prevalent within the Goth movement.... as they have mastered them all’. The same year EDEN released ‘Earthbound’ - an LP of remixes and rarities on Viridian Records (Melbourne, AU). In 1996, EDEN recorded the ‘Midnight Sun’ LP which remains unreleased. Bassist Stephen Wattie completed the lineup for the ‘Stone Cat’ mini-album which was subsequently released on Heartland Records (Melbourne, AU) in 1997. EDEN re-formed in 2015 in Melbourne, Australia and once again established themselves as regular performers in the alternative music scene. The distinctive EDEN sound, this iteration delivered by a lineup comprising Sean Bowley (Vocals, 6 & 12 string guitars), Andrew Kutzer (6 string guitar) and Matthew Sigley (bass guitar, drum machine and keyboards) culminated in ‘The Edge of Winter’ LP (Seraphyne Records, AU) was launched in June 2017 at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen festival in Leipzig, Germany. EDEN currently perform as Sean Bowley (vocals, 6 & 12 string guitars) and Anthony Cornish (6 & 12 string guitars, keyboards, drum machine). The EDEN-REVENANT synergy forms the core of a continually evolving EDEN, performing material drawn both from early EDEN releases and new material to be released in 2020. In live performance EDEN have shared the stage in Australia and overseas with Rowland S. Howard, These Immortal Souls, Lycia, Love Spirals Downward, Attrition, Heligoland, Ostia and countless others. EDEN undertook a promotional visit to the UK (1990) and an extensive tour of live dates in the USA (1996). In 2017 EDEN performed live at Wave-Gotik-Treffen festival in Leipzig.