EVIE

Austin Memery:

How do you feel that went? That’s not the first question, but how do you feel it went?

 

Evie:

Ehm, I think I probably should have warmed up my fingers before from being outside [laughs]. But yeah no, it felt good to kind of just sing on my own for a second again.

 

AM:

Yeah.

 

E:

Yeah. The voice feels warmed up now so do you wanna do take two? [laughs].

 

AM: 

That was perfect, that was perfect. Ehm, first question: Picture  yourself in a few years, maybe a few more. Would you, Evie, rather have a gay son or a thot daughter?

 

E:

I dunno, ‘cause I always thought I wanted a girl…

 

AM:

Okay, but –

 

E:

So…

 

AM:

—she can’t be a thot, though.

 

E:

[Laughs]. I dunno, we’ve gotta empower these women…

 

AM:

You can go gay daughter.

 

E:

Yeah, we’ll go gay daughter. It's a mix of both then.

 

AM:

Okay, okay. So you released your first EP “Since the Fire,” as you said, in October.

 

E:

Yeah.

 

AM:

Do you feel like the songs from that [the EP] differ from your previous singles? And then if so, in what way? Do you feel like it maybe shows your progression, maybe could show where your music is heading?

 

E:

I think they’re definitely… See, two of them were written when I was in school and then two are, like, post-pandemic songs, and… I think that the content obviously differs, but I think the style— my original recordings are very digital heavy, a lot of them aren’t real instrument sounds, because I was doing it by myself and sort of—it was Covid, and you know. So “Famous Behaviour,” “Simple City” are a lot of digital sounds, and this is more music where I recorded everything separately and mixed it together. I think it’s been great for my production skills to be able to—I think it kind of shows the difference. But I’ve loved—I’ve loved doing it. It’s a nice release, especially during Covid, that’s kind of how I started it up.

 

AM:

So the timeline is a bit mixed up with the songs and stuff…

 

E:

The timeline is definitely mixed up, but I can kind of see the direction that I’m going now.

 

AM:

Okay. Get ready for Evie’s post-pandemic music. [Laughter]. So, recently you’ve been doing live performances with a band. We’ve got Clara and Joe here from the band—

 

E:

And Matthew.

 

AM:

And Matthew [laughs].

 

E:

He’s not that important, he’s only been with us a few years. [More laughter].

 

AM:

And Matthew! So you’ve recently been performing as a band. How does it feel to perform solo, how does it differ? Do you feel more pressure on you, or is it—is it better?

 

E:

I don’t know, sitting here I actually suddenly, once I started playing songs that I've been playing for weeks now in front of loads of people, I actually felt really nervous, and I could feel it in my voice.

 

AM:

Yeah.

 

E:

Like you get used to the band and the… the equipment and the mics and the reverb on the voice and stuff but I do look forward to the one song that we normally have in the set where it's just me on my own. Just to sort of bring it back to where it starts.

 

AM:

Strip it down.

 

E:

Yeah, so I do love that. 

 

AM:

Yeah that’s–

 

E:

But I love the band stuff, just ‘cause it’s a bit–

 

AM:

Well they’re great!

 

E:

– it adds layers to the songs, yeah.

 

AM:

Clara’s violin, I’ll give her a shoutout.

 

E:

Yeah, the violin’s a great instrument.

 

AM:

She gets really into her solos. [Laughter].

 

E:

She does. Eyes closed.

 

AM:

You have said before that you’ve been compared to Mazzy Star and Wolf Alice, that was in the bio. Obviously comparisons like that are a bit subjective and stuff. How do you feel—how accurate do you feel they are? Or do you feel like there's more artists out there that you could have a closer comparison point to?

 

E:

I think, based on the EP—the sounds, the tone of the production and stuff—that's I think where people are getting the comparisons from.

 

AM:

Just the tone and the—

 

E:

The actual—just the sound.

 

AM:

Not the content.

 

E:

The audio as opposed to [pauses] the songs, I guess. I don’t know, people ask me what styles and I actually, I don't really know what to say. And I've asked other people, “What do you think?” and they're not really sure, and I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing [laughs]. But as for, like who I would probably think that I sound like… a few oldies like [pauses], Beth Gibbons, Beth Orton, and then modern, like, I love Phoebe Bridgers. I’m not claiming that I sound like Phoebe Bridgers at all, but the idea of the—the way that she forms her songs, where it starts off like just this [mimes strumming the guitar] and then they build and build and eventually kind of—

 

AM:

Yeah, you can hear it. Like the songs on Punisher.

 

E:

Exactly like, that just gets from there to there.

 

AM:

No one would bat an eyelid.

 

E:

Yeah. Yeah, so I love that.

 

AM:

Okay. Who was your top artist on Spotify Wrapped? That’s what we’re all thinking. [Laughter]

 

E:

Someone should ask himself this question [Laughs]. It actually was this artist called ‘Evie’.

 

AM:

Interesting. Never heard of her.

 

E:

Yeah.

 

AM:

Sound like Phoebe Bridgers at all?

 

E:

Bit of a narcissist there. I think the second top one was Wolf Alice though, so…

 

AM:

Oh okay.

 

E:

But that's just when a song comes out you just loop it overnight.

 

AM:

You’re just listening to your songs tryna… copy your next one that comes out is that it?

 

E:

Yeah. It was also for when we were rehearsing I just needed to get them on my ear, y’know. Yeah. [Makes a face] Thanks Austin. [Laughter].

 

AM:

Okay, what is to come from Evie? I won't say, “Where do you see yourself in five years,” but what's next for Evie? Short—shorter term.

 

E:

I don’t know. When you’re sitting in the library you really wonder what you’re gonna do with your life [laughs]. I don’t know. I always thought I was very divided. I study politics so they don’t really overlap, so you either go do politics or you do music.

 

AM:

Right. There’s a break in the road somewhere and you have to…

 

E:

Somewhere I’m gonna have to make that call. But I think as I’ve started gigging and sort of met everyone along the way and sort of, the scene and the environment and just the craic, I think, I'm leaning towards the creative side of my life.

 

AM:

Yeah. The fun stuff.

 

E:

Yeah. I mean, you can always go back to academics…

 

AM:

That’s true. My mam just graduated from—

 

E:

But I think—Hm?

 

AM:

Nah, no. [Everyone laughs]. My mother’s fine. [More laughter].

 

E:

Yeah, I don’t know. I think you can… [pauses]. I think you can always go back to your academics,  but I think music for me is just a bit more than a hobby, now.

 

AM:

Yeah. And you’re only young and beautiful once.

 

E:

[Laughs]. Thank you Austin.

 

AM:

No problem Evie.

 

E:

You too.

 

AM:

Okay. I think that's probably about all we have, but I would like to say, I think everyone

here would agree, that was really beautiful.

 

E:

Thank you very much for having me on Top Floor Music, and all the the subcommittee—

 

AM:

Thank you for coming on.

 

E:

I really enjoyed it, it was really nice. Thank you, thanks Austin.