Storm Deva

The composer-astroscientist duo that are cloudbusting in mythical, eclectic style.

In Hinduism, a Deva (pronounced dayva) is a god; someone supernatural who shines and is literally dev-ine. Add extreme weather, and emotion, and there’s a substantial concept manifesting. So when Leeds-via-Hertfordshire composer, vocalist and pianist Carollyn Eden chose this name for her work she was thinking big. Bigger than big. Celestial, magical… as large as the heavens and Earth – which was serendipitous as the noted astrophysicist (and progressive-minded rock guitarist) Dr Stuart Clark, was soon pulled into her, ahem, orbit.

After a chance conversation at a tube station, Eden was invited to perform at a Victorian-style interactive-theatre event in 2012 called //Enlightenment Café//. It took place in the Old Vic tunnels at Waterloo, where Clark was a Master Of Ceremonies amid a number of scientists taking part. “We started talking about music there and stayed in touch,” Clark tells //Prog//. “Much later, Carollyn played me some piano music and I immediately recognised it as rock songs waiting to happen. There was a depth of musicality and super-strong melodies; it was everything I liked about progressive music.”

Eden’s influences had included rock, but she adored “All About Eve, //Watermark// by Enya, and Iona. I’d listened to //Journey To The Morn// so many times, this is where I was heading,” she says. However, in her 20s, the band assembled around her didn’t fit: “there was soul and pop, and a saxophone!”. Eden craved folk and Celtic rock flavours but wasn’t connected to that world. “I was longing for that, so, years later, this was the perfect meeting with Stu,” Eden nods.
That said, the Storm didn’t rage for an age. “We were trying to find our soundscape,” says Clark. “Carollyn’s demos were so fully-formed that anything you do diminishes what’s already there…”

“But I kept saying, ‘More rock!’ and I’d come up with guitar riffs,” laughs Eden.

Writing and arranging together, and becoming a romantic partnership, led to their recently-released debut, //Storm Deva//, comprised mainly of Eden’s back catalogue. Produced by John Mitchell, whom the pair met via a Space Rocks-initiated online chat during lockdown, Eden’s songs are vivid with imagery.

“I was brought up with gothic fairy tales and fantasy such as //Lord Of The Rings// and //The Dark Is Rising//,” she says. “The natural world is also my inspiration, and everything that’s happened in my life. I went through some incredibly dramatic things in the last 10 years and I’ve had inner demons to cope with. My songs are about growing as a person.”
“I’ve always loved great lyrics and really enjoyed the storytelling aspect of writers like Neal Peart, or Iron Maiden,” Clark says. “That’s what we imagine for Storm Deva too; hear our music, be swept along by us.”

Another influence is Loreena McKennitt – and Storm Deva benefits from the presence of McKennitt’s superstar drummer Rob Brian.

“He came to our first Zoom meeting with a pad full of notes,” she enthuses. “He wanted to really craft his parts and connect with us.”

“It’s a dream, really,” says Clark, “And now we have the bit between our teeth, in the next year we’ll have the second album out and the five-piece who recorded it on the road.” JK

PROGFILE
Line-up: Carollyn Eden (keyboard, vocals), Stuart Clark (guitars)
Sounds like: Piano-led classical, theatrical and folk styles with soaring prog guitar accents
Current release: Storm Deva, out now
Website: www.stormdeva.com

— Jo Kendall