I’m Daniel from Sydney quartet, Evan & The Brave.
We’ve just released a 5-track EP, Island (which we were lucky enough to have the incredible Tony Buchen produce), and are heading out on our first ever headline tour around Australia.
It feels like these tunes will be especially nice to listen to in Summer.
I’m pretty good at playing basketball (just ask Nacho Pop), and so is our guitarist Ross. Yanya is amazing at Volleyball and Ben, our bass player, is good at FIFA.
I also have a Street Fighter II arcade machine in my house so I’m getting really good at that, too.
With your debut EP Island dropping recently, take us through the writing process.
I began demoing some ideas with Tony Buchen in his studio – we were just fooling around with different beats, sounds and melodies, laying down anything that felt worth keeping. Those initial ideas ended up becoming our first single, Stay This Way, and the opening track of the EP, Rescuer.
In just a few words, how would you describe the record?
Sonically satisfying, or so we hope!
What kind of records were you guys listening to around the time of writing the EP?
The funny thing for me was that I didn’t listen to anything for about a month or two before writing these tunes with the guys – my ears needed a bit of a break at the time. As we began recording, I listened to the Grizzly Bear album Shields, a lot – but once we were in there, a whole bunch of sounds came flooding into our heads, guys like Blur, Springsteen, The Smiths, and Elbow.
How was the recording process with such an esteemed producer like Tony Buchen?
The great thing about Tony is that, as a producer, he’s not just an exceptional engineer, but an incredible musician – that means he’s listening to everything we’re doing on so many levels. Also, Tony often talked about the importance of tracking whole takes, as opposed to adopting a mentality of chopping up individual phrases and being happy with whatever was stuck together; that had a big influence this EP.
Stay This Away is the dreamy first single release off the EP that is (deservingly) blowing up with both critics and fans. How do such reactions to your work sit with the band?
It’s such a weird feeling waiting to see what people think about a track you’re about to release – in this case, the anticipation/nerves from us were pretty immense, so when Stay This Way dropped, the positive vibes that came from everyone made all the long hours of practise, recording, listening, re-recording and re-listening really rewarding (thanks guys!!).
Your sound has been labelled predominately as “dream-pop”, are there any influencers of this genre that have profoundly affected Island’s sound?
I guess we kinda feel like our brains have filtered all the different kinds of sounds we love and that what we write is the combination of all those varied elements swirling around in our heads. That being said, guys/girls like James Blake, Grizzly Bear, Real Estate, Elbow and PJ Harvey have all influenced Island in some way or another.
Triple J have listed a “fun fact” that you Daniel, spent some time in London and New York City to which you’ve hailed as a “musical reconnaissance” leading to the bands creation. What was it about this time spent away that influenced you to start the band?
There’s something strange about being in these mega-cities where millions of musicians/artists from all over the world converge to try and ‘make it’ – it makes you feel pretty small and insignificant, but at the same time it’s kinda galvanising being in-and-around the energy it creates. There’s not much like it in the world.
You’ve played alongside great Australian acts such as Hungry Kids of Hungary, The Falls and Josh Pyke. You must be stoked to step out into the limelight for your first headline tour of the east coast?
Yeh absolutely, but it’s scary because you never know if anyone will come to your shows hahah. In saying that, just being able to play shows in different places to new people is the best feeling ever.
Outside of Sydney, is there a favourite venue/location you guys have found particularly memorable?
Yanya our drummer has someone that hooks him up to play congas on an amazing gig in Bali whenever he feels like getting out of Sydney – I’m still waiting for the invitation.
Your final show in Melbourne is with one of our natives, Lurch & Chief. They’re playing some pretty great sets of late – have you guys checked them out?
We haven’t been able to catch them when they’ve played in Sydney, but I love We Are The Same (plus, the clip is so, so good!), so I’m genuinely looking forward to hearing them play it live. It’s going to be a pretty great way for us to finish our tour!
After this tour, what is next for Evan & The Brave?
We’ve actually already started writing new tunes, so as soon as we finish the tour we’ll demo them and hopefully have something ready before mid-2014!
We know you’ve only just released your EP, are the ideas flowing for a full-length release?
I don’t know if we’ll follow Island with an EP or album, but whichever we do, I’m so stoked that the well hasn’t dried up and we’re jamming out so many new vibes – it feels really exciting.
Evan & The Brave Australian Tour Dates:
Thursday 17th Oct – Small Ballroom – Newcastle, NSW
Friday 18th Oct – Grand Junction – Maitland, NSW
Saturday 19th Oct – Brighton Up – Sydney, NSW
Thursday 31st Oct – Café Le Monde – Noosa, QLD
Friday 1st Nov – The Hideaway – Brisbane, QLD
Saturday 2nd Nov – Spotted Cow – Toowoomba, QLD
Thursday 7th Nov – Alternative Bookshop – Canberra, ACT
Friday 8th Nov – Ed Castle – Adelaide, SA
Saturday 9th Nov – Rochester Castle – Melbourne, Vic
Listen to ‘Stay This Way’
