Okay. [sigh] Let’s get this one right. Evy Jane are the tandem of Jeremiah and Evelyn, friends who met through friends and now make music together. If the internet were a human being and preached to you high from a pulpit somewhere, he or she would say that Evy Jane’s music is trill-hop inspired, dubstep-ish, experimental, 2-step garage, tinged with R&B, and perfect for those steamy make-out sessions in the back of your mum’s Cadillac Eldorado at the dark end of the street. But fuck, the internet is not a human being, yet, so we’re not going to say that. On the contrary Evy Jane’s music is a fusion of uncharted sounds that rose out of the fertile soils of British Columbia, Canada, and just keep on evolving. The duo’s latest release, a self-entitled EP, features the single “Sayso” and is only a taste of what the band has to offer. They’ve already completed more records together and are just waiting to put them out.

First off, I wondered what each of you contribute to the project?
Evelyn: It’s more of a band. Obviously Jeremiah has a lot of experience with production and I’ve always been a singer. I dabble in production as well. We help each other along.

Jeremiah: And I sing sometimes.

Evelyn: And he sings sometimes. [laughs] No, he doesn’t really. He doesn’t really sing on this project. But yeah, we write everything together.

Jeremiah: It’s like a band. We’re both working on things together.

Considering you guys have worked on other projects, do you think it’s important to work with one producer for an entire project? Is that kind of why you guys teamed up?

E: Well, yeah, it gives a sense of consistency. But then again, we’re pretty experimental with our sounds.

And Jeremiah, what kind of production do you bring to the table to compliment Evy’s style and tone? Is it new or different from what you’re used to?
J: Yes and no, because I’ve really been into making shufflely, 2-step garage style music for a while. I also like deeper tunes, deeper techno sounds. And I understand songwriting formats, as opposed to dance floor formats. What Evy and I are doing, as a ‘band’ or whatever, there’s obviously some more songwriting-type structures to the songs- I don’t really want to confine us to a certain style of music because it’s going to morph and change a little bit. But there’s definitely that slant, where there’s songwriting with my electronic production.

E: We’ve done a lot of different styles.

J: They all sound like us. Like when we’ve performed I’ve played my guitar for instance, but I played it in such a way that you wouldn’t expect it to be a guitar when you’re listening back to a recording of it. It’s kind of an open format, but there’s definitely a bass-heavy sensibility to it.

Yeah, and it’s crazy when you look at the blogs, because one site will be like, “Oh, trill-hop band, blah blah blah,” and then another one will be like, “Experimental rock…,” or like, “The Weeknd better watch out. They’re coming.”
E: [laughs] That was ridiculous. I thought it was so funny. I was like, “Oh my god! Yeah, watch out.” [laughs] “I’m coming for you.”

I didn’t see much of a similarity.
E: I mean, after I finished writing “Sayso” I knew that was going to happen, like, “This song is totally going to get compared to The Weeknd.” It’s just like a transparently emotional song. It’s dark and sexy sounding, so I’m like, “This is definitely going to get compared to The Weeknd.”

Is it sort of surreal to be a part of that whole blog community?
E: I don’t know. I read a lot of blogs. Not so much any more, but I see how people catch on to things and post them. I don’t think it’s that weird. The internet is just really accessible. Probably if I saw us in a print magazine that would be weird.

How did you guys conceive that “Sayso” video, because I read that you guys directed it too?
J: Actually for me that was my first time shooting. When we were coming up with the idea we were down in California. We wanted to shoot something on the beach, on the seaside in an interesting place, but it didn’t work out.

So you switched to the snow.
J: Well, for the video for “Sayso” we figured we could shoot that up in the Kootenays, which is where we shot it.

E: That’s where I’m from. We have a mutual friend who has a really weird and sexy farm. It seemed easy and kind of sensational. It seemed fantastical to have this strange farm, and he has a pet wolf and all these animals and stuff. Obviously we didn’t put the wolf in because we thought that would be a little bit over the top.

What’s going on in the video? Is it more of an impression, or is there a story in a way?
E: There are a few possible stories, but it’s not supposed to be concrete. Mostly it’s just supposed to wash over you.

J: And allude to things.

Like a feeling.
E: Yeah, more like that. It’s a fantasy.

What’s Jeremiah digging for in the snow at the end? It reminded me of the John Carpenter movie, The Thing, when they’re looking for those monsters in the snow.
J: [laughs] When I was what? Digging in the snow? That was a pile of rocks.

It looks like dead bear or something.
E: [laughs] That’s so funny.

J: It was a pile of rocks. It was supposed to be like a pagan burial mound, you know?

E: It actually was that. We were at the farm and I was like, “Do you guys have a grave or a burial mound?” And they were like, “Yeah, we actually do. We actually do have a pagan burial mound.”

What is a pagan burial mound?
E: Well, normal graves have a cross, but people who don’t follow that religion, or pagan people, or I don’t even know, some people just pile big rocks on top of graves.

Wait, there was a person buried there?
E: Probably more like an animal. Jeremiah wasn’t actually digging. [laughs]

You were grave-robbing the animal.
J: Yeah, totally, I was going to get his tooth.

And Evy, where’d you learn how to write songs? Did you train your voice somewhere?
E: I grew up singing a lot. I wrote my first song when I was in Grade 11. In high school I took a music composition class, actually two music composition classes. I just liked it so much the first time around that I did it again. We had to use this really shitty production software and the teacher would be like, “Come up with a rock song,” or, “Write a gospel song.” That’s kind of how I learned how to write songs.

Where’d you go from there?
E: I don’t know. “Sayso” is one of the first songs that I actually finished. I’ve always really been into literature and poetry. I sang in Jazz and Blues bands, so I know a lot of songs.

I listened to your songs on your Myspace account actually, the old ones. Heavy Evy.
E: I didn’t expect anyone would listen to those. [laughs] Those are just me playing around and being a weirdo on GarageBand.

How long ago was that?
E: Two years ago.

What was the big transition from there, from doing that to really taking it to a new level? Was there a moment when you decided to go for it?
E: It’s more like I’ve been developing this whole time. There was never a moment when I was like, “This is how I’m going to sing.” I can still sing in a lot of different ways. I can put my intentions into a song in a different way, and when I’m working with Jeremiah I tend to put it into this particular style that we create. So with those first songs I was just fooling around, trying to figure out what I wanted to do, having fun.

J: It started almost as a challenge. I was like, “Write some songs. See how many songs you can come up with.”

E: I went into the woods for a week and made those songs. I was going to have Jeremiah help me produce them, but then I was like, “Whatever. I’ll just do it.” But Jeremiah gave me the rhythm for “Sayso” even before that. We didn’t really work on the record together. He made that beat five years ago and didn’t do anything with it, then he gave it to me. It took me a long time to write it. It took me a long time to get the inspiration. Because I edit my lyrics and change things over time. I finished writing “Sayso” in the car on the way to our first show.

No way.
E: I did the first show by myself, and I wrote the rest of the song in the car.

Like a sudden burst. And you guys have the EP too. How many songs are on that?
J: There’s four tunes. I got a couple of my friends to do remixes, because I always want to support and help my friends as much as I can. They’re both excellent producers, so I was like, “Hey, you want to remix a couple songs and we’ll put it out on vinyl.” They went for it, Peter, the owner of King Deluxe, he went for it, and they did it. The first run isn’t going to be a lot of records. I think Peter’s used to doing digital.

Why’d you decide to put out the online version after the vinyl?
J: That’s Peter. We both have things that we would like to see done, but when you’re collaborating with people you have to have a back-and-forth, and let people do things their way. Peter has a specific way he likes to present the music, and it’s not detrimental to us, I don’t think. It feels good. I feel like he’s making good decisions, maybe not the same decisions I would make, but they’re still smart decisions. And then next month, after this one, there’s going to be two more remixes coming out.

Is all that stuff done already?
J: Yeah, it’s all done. It’s been done for a while.

How’s it all sound? I’ve only heard “Sayso”. How’s it sound compared to that?
J: The other song that compliments “Sayso” is “Ohso”, and it’s a bit more aggressive. The beat is a little bit more hectic.

How did you guys meet?
E: Through mutual friends I think. I was playing this festival and then I met Jeremiah there, I think a couple summers ago. We talked music, and then were like, “Okay, let’s do something.”

Did you get busy right away, or has it been a slow process?
E: It’s been pretty slow.

J: It was kind of all my fault.

E: Yeah. [laughs]

J: I’ve been keeping myself busy, wrapping up an album and then I went out on tour. I wasn’t really able to dedicate a lot of time to our project, but at the same time I think that was good, because it allowed it to breath.

E: And I was done too, done with backup singing on tour. So right away we were like, “Let’s work together.” Then it was like, “Okay, see you later.” [laughs]

He kept you waiting.
J: We’ve always given it attention. It’s just been a matter of timing, even with working out the release. We had talked an August release when we decided to go with Peter from King Deluxe, but it took a while.

You guys must have new music you’ve been working on since then.
J: Yeah, we’re just waiting for this one to get out, and then we definitely have a bunch more that we want to push.

So you guys are really embarking on something that is long-term, working together.
E: Yeah, if you do it you should- I definitely like the idea of it being more long-term.

J: It’s just fun, and we have a good time.

E: It happens really naturally, and that’s an important part of it… all.

Yeah, for sure. I also read somewhere that Jeremiah organizes ‘renegade dance parties’ in Vancouver, and I was like, “What the hell is a renegade dance party?”
J: What is a renegade dance party? [laughs] Well, they’re basically- my band here in Vancouver is called Basketball. You’ll probably never be able to Google search that. It’s pretty chaotic, hectic dance music, with more international flavors I suppose. Under this moniker we throw these parties, free outdoor parties, and we’ll do them in crazy places.

E: There was a really cool one. It was under a bridge.

J: Yeah, we did one under a bridge by the train tracks here in Vancouver, and it was crazy. People were up in the rafters in the bridge, dancing on the bridge.

 E: It was really intense.

J: On the train cars, it was really crazy, but then it got busted unfortunately, because there were just way too many people.

E: And then there was one in a park and it was right on the water in Stanley Park and you could see-

J: Don’t tell him where that was!

E: Oh, oh. [laughs]

So you’re not going to tell me the story?! [laughs]
J: That was a really fun one. It was right next to the water above a huge cliff. It was really beautiful. It’s nice and hidden, because the last few we held did end up getting busted, with the bass traveling across the water. It’s really hard for people to find unless you know where you’re going. Yeah, those are the renegade dance parties. They’re just really big free outdoor dance parties that me and my friends throw.

The cops pretty strict there?
J: They’ve actually, surprisingly, been quite nice. At the one under the bridge, I didn’t mention earlier but someone pissed on the cop car, and the police were very patient. We have luckily avoided getting any fines, but once your location gets busted it’s kind of done, and it’s hard to find another one that’s easy for everyone to get to. But it’s super fun, and it’s a nice way to give back to people. There are so many parties that are like $20, $25 dollars, whatever, to get into, which is crazy, when you can throw a free party and have good music and have hundreds of people having a great time.

Going back to your music though, what do you guys think distinguishes your music, or distinguishes you as people, because I’m sure the music is a reflection of you guys?
E: For one thing, we’re both individuals, of course. [laughs]

J: We’re West Coast, man. West side.

E: We both have really different influences. I grew up listening to a lot of R&B, like Whitney Houston, stuff like that. I actually did. I love her. But then at the same time I listened to a million different kinds of music, anything I could get my hands on.

J: When we first met, and one of the reasons we decided to make music together, is because we like a lot of the same elements in different styles of music.

E: I think it’s always going to be a little bit experimental because we’re trying to find a way to make all of our influences come out.

J: It’s just the way we come together, and the permutation of that. It’s like any band really. We’re  not trying to make a certain style of music and be like, “Okay, this is what we’re going to make,” pigeonholing ourselves with that forever and ever. It’s just like, “Let’s make some tunes that are exciting and feel good.” It’s going to change and morph with the unique experiences we have as individuals. And as far as East and West Coast, I do hear a difference in sound. Here there is definitely a bit more dirt in the music.

A little bit more soil.
J: [laughs] Something like that, yeah. Just by the nature of where we are, we’re going to be influenced by different things, and it’s going to come out in its own unique way.

I agree. And Evelyn, I was reading that you ran away from home twice, or was that made up?
E: Well, I grew up in a really small town, but not like a regular small town. It’s the weirdest kind of micro-community. It’s pretty hippy-ish. I had a really weird, isolated childhood. [laughs] I would run away but just go into the woods and disappear for a while. I wasn’t serious about it, like hitchhiking with strangers. I was just playing around. 

Evy Jane’s digital EP is out today. Make sure to grab it here.

By Peter Marrack