EVP – Artist Interview

BTD Radio presents…EVP! Welcome to the studio!

Welcome EVP! I am so excited to interview you! Congrats on your BTD Radio April Artist of the Month. Let’s get started!

Where are you from? Could you tell us a little about your band? 

EVP: We are currently in upstate NY near Albany. I (William) was born in Augsburg Germany and mainly grew up in Delaware. Linda was born and raised in the Bronx NY. We are an indie band, and we record on our own label called Psychle Studio which was devised in the mid nineties in Savannah GA. We do some cover tunes but prefer originals letting the creative juices flow. We write songs ranging in topic from your standard love song, to creepy paranormal romps and everything in between.

Tell us how you came up with the name EVP? I already know what it means but I would love for you to tell our listeners what it means. 

EVP: EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) is a sound ghost hunters pick up on their strategically placed equipment in haunted structures or areas. We both (Lina and I) Have a fascination with all things paranormal and we relay that in some of our music. One of our videos (Cages) was actually shot in an abandoned haunted castle in Roscoe NY.

We would love to know more about your new song, “China Blue? How did that come about? How long did it take to write, give us all the juicy details.

EVP: China Blue was actually written in the summer of 2003 in Forsythe Park in Savannh Ga. I (William) remember looking at the faces of the people going by and was intertwining that with thoughts of the possibility of reincarnation. So someone’s blue eyes popped into my line of vision and “crazy blue” came to mind. It took me about a day there in the park working out the lyrics and chords. And that’s pretty much how that song was born.

Who does all the writing in your band? What song is your most favorite that you have written to date? 

EVP: I (William) write all of the music, we both write lyrics singly and apart. Well, this is a tough one. But after much discussion I would have to say Mine is (William) Wild Tidings. Though it it somewhat older in our repertoire, this is the first song I ever wrote that gained any recognition. It was so inspired by my most favorite haunted city Savannah, and we have a pretty decsent (but fun, toung in cheeck) video to it on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPj1E-KVEzA

A close second is a song I wrote about the atrocities of the 1692 witch trials called Danvers 1692

Linda’s fav is a song we wrote called Eveything in it’s Place. The pictures formed in her mind when we do this song are among her favorites and she loves the sentiment.

Also Linda is partial also to The Heart That You Have Won because I wrote it for her.

So you meet this person in the restaurant and you proceed to tell them about your music. The guy says, he only loves rap music. Oh no, you have to figure out a way to sway him over to your music. Ok, let it roll. Tell us how you would do that? 

EVP: Well, This is a question that is extremely hypothetical as we don’t ever try to “sway” anyone to any music. BUT, if we were in that situation, we would say that rap is a very beat driven form of music. Our songs, some of them, even a lot of them are too. Most of the time, the beat comes first, then a few chords then we let the lyrics fly where they may. So, we would say, just give a song like Wild Tidings a listen, and see if your fingers aren’t tapping along too.

Could you tell us about your song, “Out of Bounds?” 

EVP: We take a lot of road trips and we were just thinking about how it would be to be so far away from the one you love for so long as so many musicians do. So we threw that sentiment into the brew along with wanting to mention the Cowboy Junkies in one of our songs  (“listen to the Junkies rhyme”) , or idols of course, and also, a bridge that believe it or not was inspired by a Genesis (yes Phil Collins and the crew, our other favs) song called Hold On MY Heart. So it’s a blend of a lot of things.

Who are your favorite artists? Are any of them your influences? 

EVP: Linda grew up listening to sixties bands especially the Beatles and listening to folk music. One of her proudest moments was attending Woodstock but having to leave while Jimmi Hendrix played the national anthem as she was helping those who “ate the brown acid” to the first aid station. As a teenager, many of her evenings were spent in sing a longs with friends singing the likes of Joni Mitchell, Pete Seeger and Buffie St. Marie. I (william) was completely overtaken musically when my brother asked me, back in 1979, if I wanted to attend a Genesis concert at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. WHAT? I was 14 and could think of nothing better as I practically slept with their albums under my pillow! Also through the years, we have come to love many bands. Some standouts for us are: Pink Floyd, Cowboy Junkies, Steeley Dan, Dan Fogelberg (RIP) , Blondie, Tears for Fears, Alan Parsons and many others.

How long have you been playing music? Who plays what in the band? 

EVP: Linda has been playing music since she was 11. She has played violin, keyboards, and percussion. I (William) have been playing music since I was around 13. I started with the drums, then went to guitar then to keys. We have both been singing since time immemorial.

Do you feel the internet has helped or hurt your music career? Any great advice for a newbie? 

EVP: It has definitely helped. Advice is don’t give up, and don’t be afraid to give a little to get a little.

I am in the studio with you? What would I see, hear, do? 

EVP: You would see me (William) Maniacally turning knobs on the mixing machine, you would see Linda petting the dogs and you would definitely want to sing as I would be telling you how great you sound. Then you would walk into a blood bath (digitally speaking) of ripping the guts out of what we just recorded in order to save time to record the next track. WHEW! In other words….you would hear George saying….well I’ll record if you want me to….or I might not record at all. And as we both put out our ever present cigarettes, we would say please, record George….please record….

When you are not working on music, what do you do for fun? 

EVP: We take our beloved dogs ,Silly (BLACK LAB)and Maddie (BRITTANY SPANIEL) , to the park to watch them run and inevitably swim in the chemical waste behind the power plant. (THEY ARE VERY WELL CLEANED) We take road trips to anywhere and nowhere and we love thrift stores and flea markets and garage sales. And we LOVE, exploring and photographing old abandoned places such a s abandoned insane asylums. OH, and we love GOING TO CONCERTS!

We would love for you to tell our listeners where they can find your music? If you have any special shout-outs, please feel free to do them now

We would like to thank some of our fav movies. We are huge movie buffs also. Mr. Holland’s Opus is our fav. Along of course with Shawshank and It’s a Wonderful Life. These are Forever inspirations to us.
And…. Our new album is available on itunes and many other outlets here is the Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_3/192-0228976-9689937?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=evp+starlite+theater&sprefix=evp%2Cdigital-music%2C467

We hope you all enjoy our music. And a BIG shout out to BTD RADIO! It’s people out there like you that make our dreams come true. No matter how small this may seem to some, we can’t believe someone is actually giving us a listen.