MUEN: HI GUYS AND THANK YOU FOR TALKING WITH MUEN

EKOTREN: Absolutely, thank you for taking the time to talk to us!

MUEN: YOU ARE GETTING READY TO RELEASE YOUR DEBUT ALBUM "LIGHT THE FIRE" ON FEBRUARY 19TH IN NORTH AMERICA, FEBRUARY 20TH IN JAPAN, AND FEBRUARY 25TH IN EUROPE. CONGRATULATIONS!! SO WHY DON'T WE START WITH TALKING ABOUT THE CD.

EKOTREN: Thank you! We have been working a long time for this, and we could not be happier with all that has happened in the past couple years to make this possible! This CD means alot to us, we recorded in two months, part in the Dungeon in Miami,FL and part at Yates Studio in Fort Myers, FL. We're very excited with how it turned out.

MUEN: WHO DID THE WRITING FOR THE ALBUM? WHO HELPED TO PRODUCE THE CD?

EKOTREN: Since this is our debut, the CD is made up of songs that we have been playing for years, and some that we wrote right before we got into the studio. The album was produced by Paul Trust, who produced bands like Endo & Diecast. He was a perfect fit for the project! He also helped us write a couple of the tracks on the album ("Tranquilized" & "Needed You More")- but we wrote the rest on our own.

MUEN: THERE WAS AN EP THAT YOU USED FOR MARKETING CALLED "DESTROYING THE AMERICAN DREAM" ARE ANY OF THOSE SONGS GOING TO BE ON THE NEW ALBUM "LIGHT THE FIRE"?

EKOTREN: Yes, we recorded those 3 songs first with Paul on our own, hoping it would get us a deal and make it a starting point toward our full album, and that's exactly what happened. So two of the songs from the Destroying The American Dream EP- "Falling" and "Point Of View"- will be on the full-length.

MUEN: IT WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AT BEST BUY, F.Y.E. AND HOT TOPIC. AM I FORGETTING ANYTHING?

EKOTREN: That covers the big retail shops but we should also be available in some of the smaller 'mom and pop' stores.

MUEN: HOW WILL YOU CELEBRATE ITS RELEASE?

EKOTREN: The official CD release party will be on February 23rd at Club Ricochet in Fort Myers and we should be jumping on an US tour right after that, to support the album release. So stay tuned for more!

MUEN: I READ THAT YOU NAMED YOUR BAND AFTER A PAIN RELIEVER. SO.... WE HAVE TO HEAR THE STORY BEHIND THIS..

EKOTREN: Ah, the meaning of Ekotren. The name comes from a pill bottle that we took the name and misspelled it. Finding a name that is unique and stands out is difficult. So we just took the cynical approach to it...lol

MUEN: THIS IS NOT YOUR ORIGINAL LINE-UP OF MEMBERS. WHAT CHANGES HAVE YOU MADE TO THE BAND AND DO YOU THINK THAT IT IS A PERFECT FIT NOW?

EKOTREN: Well EkoTren started when we were in high school, so in the last 7 years we have had a couple of member changes, but in the last 2 years with the addition of Eric Pottle (drummer) and Derek Desantis (bass). We now have finally found the chemistry that most bands hope for!

MUEN: YOU SAY THAT YOUR MUSIC IS A CROSS BETWEEN COLDPLAY AND PANTERA. EXPLAIN WHAT YOU MEAN BY THAT.

EKOTREN: Ha, it sounds like a cliche, but we really sound different from whats out there, we have a heavy sound with lots of hooks and melody. But check us out and make up your own mind.

MUEN: YOU SIGNED WITH BLIND PROPHECY RECORDS IN SEPTEMBER 2007. THEY HAVE REALLY GREAT BANDS ON THAT LABEL. DID YOU KNOW INSTANTLY THAT THEY WERE THE LABEL FOR YOUR BAND?

EKOTREN: Yeah, Blind Prophecy was the perfect fit for us. We shopped our EP pretty hard and in the end of the day BP kept so much faith in us and we needed that more then anything else! So it was an easy decision, the fact that they are based out of our home town just made things even better!

MUEN: YOU WILL BE STARTING UP ANOTHER TOUR EARLY JANUARY. WHEN DO YOU THINK YOU MIGHT MAKE IT TO CALIFORNIA?

EKOTREN: Soon! We just toured the whole country with Diecast in Nov./Dec. 07 and this January tour is just a quick warm up before the CD comes out in February. But we are working on another U.S. tour sometime late February or early March, so we should have some updates on our site coming up pretty soon.

MUEN: WHAT OTHER BANDS BESIDES DIECAST, HAVE YOU TOURED WITH?

EKOTREN: We have played with bands like Saliva, Flyleaf, Nonpoint, Ankla and others through out the Florida area, but the Diecast tour was our first U.S. tour of what we hope to be many more to come.

MUEN: ARE THERE ANY VIDEOS WE CAN SEE AND WHERE CAN WE FIND THEM?

EKOTREN: Yes, we have videos on our Myspace, www.myspace.com/ekotren and Youtube, www.youtube.com/theedgefactory.

MUEN: IS THERE ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO SAY TO THE METAL FANS OUT THERE?

EKOTREN: The only thing we have to say is, get out and support your local metal scene! We want to thank all of you that do!

MUEN: WE AT MUEN WOULD LOVE TO THANK YOU FOR THE INTERVIEW. I FOR ONE CANNOT WAIT TO SEE YOU PLAY LIVE. WE WISH YOU SUCCESS IN YOUR CAREER AND HOPEFULLY WE WILL SEE YOU SOON!

EKOTREN: Thank you so much for taking the time and the interest, Shauna. It really means alot to us to get the word out there about our music! And we look forward to meeting you the next time we hit Cali!

Interview by Shauna O'Donnell