January 7th, 2015 
James Shotwell 
Every year I tell myself I am going to dedicate more time to writing about artists on the rise that no one else makes time to cover, and every year those good intentions fade before the heat of summer arrives. Though I often find myself inundated with music from unsigned artists, I’ve honestly never written about a band who sent me an unsolicited email and never contacted me again. The artists I cover tend to be those who either attempt to build a relationship with the site, were suggested to me by a friend, or – and this may piss off some who spend a lot of time submitting their work to music blogs – the artists I stumble across on my own. By this I mean an artist I see live or a group I discover online, typically through platforms like Bandcamp or Purevolume.
I had a bit of free time while doing my best to avoid spending too much time with family during the holidays, and with almost no news being announced I also had the opportunity to research new music. Some of the talent discovered during that period have already made their way onto UTG through our ‘Artists To Watch’ feature, but one singer-songwriter struck me as simply being too unique to fit in with the rest of that list. Her name is Eden The Cat, and after you hear her single “Ghost” I believe you will be a fan for life:
Pretty great, right? That’s just one of nine songs included on Amateur, which is Eden The Cat’s debut album. The record was released digitally last September, but for whatever reason it never got the attention from the media it deserved. Our goal with this article is to begin giving Eden The Cat the praise her hard work deserves, but also to make sure you’re aware of the unique music scene currently thriving in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. To accomplish these goals, we reached out to Eden (real name Eden Rohatensky) and gave her the opportunity to share her life, as well as the scene she knows better than anyone else, with us. You can read highlights from our conversation below.
UTG: I stumbled across Eden The Cat within the last month thanks to a combination of Bandcamp’s discovery tools and having far too much free time for my own good, but it didn’t take me long to realize you have been active in music for a while. When did you first begin playing music?
Eden: I started songwriting when I was 7 or 8, and got a guitar when I was 12. I didn’t play live until I was 17, but I’ve been playing ever since.
UTG: Amateur is your first album as a solo act, as far as I know. What inspired you to step out on your own? Is there anything specific about this material or the events that influenced its creation that made you feel it needed to be represented by a new/solo effort?
Eden: I actually released the first Eden & Escrow EP as a solo album initially, but as that grew we decided to form it into a band. After a while with the full band, I started Orphan Mothers with Jon. All of my bandmates in both Eden & Escrow and Orphan Mothers are classically trained musicians that are way more talented than I am – so I rarely feel the need to play any instruments or do any arrangements alongside them. I made Amateur so that I could push myself to be more independent as a musician and force myself to learn to play my guitar better.
I wrote the album after going through a pretty hard breakup, moving out to live on my own, and starting to work from home. I became very isolated and had a lot of time to think. Since there was no one really around to talk to at the time, I would mostly talk to myself. This eventually inspired some of my songwriting and I decided that I wanted to make an album. I went to my mother’s house for a week and wrote and recorded it in her craft room.
UTG: I think you may be the first artist from Saskatchewan to appear on our site. If not the first, then you’re definitely the only unsigned talent from the area to catch our attention. What can you tell us about the local/regional music scene where you live?
Eden: I am absolutely enamoured with the music scene in Saskatchewan. There’s amazing bands in a wide variety of genres (my favourites right now include The Florals, Jeans Boots, Megan Nash, Rah Rah, and Nick Faye). There’s a ton of support for new artists to get out there and make new things and collaborate. There’s been countless times where I’ve thought that something would be a completely overwhelming task or that I was incapable and someone has swooped in and helped me out. It’s a really positive environment, in my opinion, and I can’t speak highly enough of it.
UTG: It’s worth noting that you have a real world job in addition to being a great musician. Does that responsibility make it difficult to tour? Do you even have interest in extensive touring?
Eden: I haven’t done any touring at all, to be honest. Working does make it difficult, but I’d really love to do some this year.
UTG: I guess I should have asked this first, but do you have any goals for your music? Are you looking for a deal, or are you simply trying to channel some feelings and entertain people?
Eden: Right now my goal is to become more well-versed on keys, bass and electric guitar for the next album. I’d like to tour and I’d like to collaborate with other artists as much as possible. Tole Cover did a remix of “Hush” and that’s one of the funnest parts about making the album.
I’m open to a deal, but I’m not currently actively pursueing it. What makes me happy is to have people want to listen to my music, to be able to continue making music and to grow as a musician. That means continuing to write, expand my skills, and definitely go on tour.
UTG: We’re going to stream “Ghost” on the site, which is a song you also made a video for in recent months. What can you tell us about the inspiration for this track?
Eden: I decided that I don’t want to be in a longterm relationship for the foreseeable future, for reasons that I don’t think I need to disclose here. “Ghost” is basically my argument for why that’s a horrible idea for me right now.
UTG: Now that Amateur has had time to reach the general public, what do you think your next release will be? Does Eden The Cat have a sophomore record in the works?
Eden: I’m currently writing another album, but I’m trying to take my time with it and see what happens when I work on it over several months rather than writing and recording it all in one week. I’m hoping to do another September release, with maybe a smaller release in the Spring. Orphan Mothers is releasing an album in the next few months and I recently joined a few other bands, so I’m looking forward to having a lot of musical outlets this year.
UTG: Anything else you would like to share with our readers about yourself, your music, or what we can expect in the year ahead?
Eden: Anything you read about the inspirations for my music is a lie, it’s entirely about nachos.
Eden The Cat’s debut album, Amateur, is available now on Bandcamp. If you don’t have money and still want to show your support for Eden’s music, please take a few moments to follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
Written by: James Shotwell Follow @utgjames
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