Evie Evil (Evil Beaver) Interview

No one in my family was a musician. I was just naturally attracted to music.


What were some of the first bands/artists that you listened to on a regular basis?

L7, Black Flag, The Beatles, The Sugarcubes, The Ramones, Descendents, Motorhead, Prince, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, The Pretenders, Big Black, Jesus Lizard, Slayer, Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, Joy Division, The Cure, The Clash, Nina Hagen, Shellac, Bad Brains, Betty Blowtorch, Elvis, The Cars, The Pixies, The Smiths, Dead Kennedys, The Fall, Eurythmics, Faith No More, Fugazi, 45 Grave, Husker Du, Iggy Pop & The Stooges, MC5, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Joan Jett, Minor Threat, NWA, Peaches, soooooo many... I know that I am forgetting a bunch but you get the idea here.


How old were you when you started playing a musical instrument and what was the first instrument that you started playing?

5 years old. Toy piano.


Why did you choose that particular instrument?

I was naturally attracted to it and found it to be a challenge.


As a vocalist and as a musician, who are some of your influences and why?

All of the bands influenced me as an artist. Probably because I listened to them a lot.


Your band Evil Beaver consists of you on vocals & bass guitar and a virtual revolving door of drummers. Why and how exactly did you decide on that concept for the band?

Evil Beaver evolved into what it is. I like to play with different drummers because it is an ever evolving project.


Are you the chief songwriter in Evil Beaver? Also, discuss the songwriting process.

I write the vocal melody and sing. I also write the music on bass. Sometimes I play the drums on the recordings as well or I will demo the songs with drums that I lay down and then a Beaver will record the drums in the studio. Other times in the past, Beavers would contribute drums entirely on their own. In more recent recordings, I kinda give the drummer Beaver the feeling of how I would like the drums to be and then they and I work out the parts together in rehearsals. It is mainly because I hear the songs complete in my head before they are recorded. Sometimes Beaver drummers will play beats on their own without any input from me and when it works, I really like that because it gives me a new perspective on the song.

Drums are much more important to capturing the feeling of a song than most people think. The beat is everything. It can make or break a song. I enjoy working with drummers that are able to maintain control. Too many drummers over play and like to be flashy, which is fun to do but doesn't always sound the best for the song.


What are some of your favorite Evil Beaver songs and why?

All of the songs have meaning. Some songs are so meaningful, I can't play them without crying, so I don't. HA! I can't say that I have favorites but the songs that are fun to play live are the ones I like the most. Songs like: "You Suck", "Hey Man Hey", "Cold", "Handz of Fate", "Closer 2 Hell" and "Lechery". I really enjoy playing the louder and faster songs live.


Evil Beaver had shared the stage with quite a few big names in the music world. What bands/artists are you most proud of playing shows with and why?

The White Stripes, Nina Hagen, Peaches, Shellac, David J, The Gossip, Jennifer Precious Finch, The Polysics, Semi Precious Weapons, Fu Manchu, Betty Blowtorch, and Texas Terri Bomb. The reason why is because these bands have some serious talent. Most of these bands invited Evil Beaver to perform. It feels good to be respected on that level by
other artists who have that kinda talent. It feels really good.

I also really enjoy playing with other friend's bands who also have a lot of talent but are more underground and a lot of fun: Bishop vs. Spy, Moreno, Sweet Machine, Trash Monsters, The Cage, Peelander Z, The Shocker, A Pretty Mess, Jamstain, The Barbwire Dolls, Head Lite View, Warner Drive, Lightning Bolt, Sikolishes, The UVs, Jucifer, Bottom, Gram Rabbit, The Dead Class, Mugen Hoso and so many others that I know I am spacing out on.


Discuss your experiences (good and/or bad) both as a female musician and as a woman working in the entertainment industry.

The main bad thing is that it is harder to travel as women. More so in less developed countries. I turn down offers in Central & South America and some parts of Eastern Europe because I just don't wanna deal with the shit. I don't feel safe in those places. It is always best to have a big huge dude on tour with you. I got one now and he is awesome. His name is Christian Farr and he is security at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California. He is tour managing the Japan tour for Evil Beaver this April and we're probably gonna take him to Taiwan too.

The good stuff as a woman in the biz is everything else. People love female musicians. They are willing to do much more for female musicians in general.


Feel free to shamelessly plug any of your other endeavors here that were not mentioned above.

Hmmm.... Download and rock out to free Evil Beaver tunes www.EVILBEAVER.us/TUNEz oh! And we got some killer tour dates coming up this year... Alaska and Japan and some more fun stuff.

We're also in the process of recording a new Evil Beaver collection in Beverly Hills, California called "The Beaverly Hills Sessions". Look for it by probably the end of this year. In the meantime, you can buy some shit here - www.evilbeaver.us/blingz

Enjoy these pages....

www.FACEBOOK.com/EVILBEAVERMUSIC
www.TWITTER.com/EVILBEAVER
www.EVILBEAVER.us

Filed Under: