Interview: Evestus
Evestus is an Electronic/Industrial/Rock Band from Estonia who has just released their new EP, Post 18 Depression. I found them to be an intriguing example of a modern band playing a classic sound that exudes atmosphere, attitude, and angst. Here is my recent interview with mainman Ott Evestus, covering a variety of topics:
How/When
did Evestus start? What was the original impetus for the project?
I used to play drums in a few bands and then do vocals in a metal band for some years until I started experimenting with computer music. My first album came out in 2005 called “Destiny In Life” and it's absolutely horrible glitchcore/samplecore experimental piece of work mainly consisting of samples from movies and cartoons.. I decided to call this project after my last name which is Evestus and .. well.. despite this horrible creation I got signed to Canadas Dtrash records and just kept going. I've come quite along way since then haha!
I used to play drums in a few bands and then do vocals in a metal band for some years until I started experimenting with computer music. My first album came out in 2005 called “Destiny In Life” and it's absolutely horrible glitchcore/samplecore experimental piece of work mainly consisting of samples from movies and cartoons.. I decided to call this project after my last name which is Evestus and .. well.. despite this horrible creation I got signed to Canadas Dtrash records and just kept going. I've come quite along way since then haha!
Who are
your influences, (and definitely include films, games, or even books
if they’ve influenced the project)?
Well,
musically there's mainly The Prodigy, Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch
Nails but this only does make up about 25% of the influences – the
rest is games like Fallout 2, Vampire the Masquerade, Bioshock –
films like Fight Club, They Live and graphic novels such as
Transmetropolitan and The Maxx – just weird shit that looks like
fantasy until it actually happens to you you know. Or maybe there are
just certain people who live these kind of lives and the rest live on
thinking this shit only happens in movies haha.
Describe
the musical climate (As far as your genre) in Estonia.
Haha!
That's really simple. We've got Evestus, Freakangel, Forgotten
Sunrise and Pedigree. If you're a really hardcome industrial music
nerd, you might actually know all of these bands, but yeah, that's
pretty much all the industrial there is over here. And whenever any
of these bands has a gig, the local rivetheads get together and have
a party. And it's really sweet, but after playing a couple of years,
you realize that you're playing to the same people and they're
amazing people and all, but as an artist, there's nothing like the
expression of the crowd who sees you for the first time! That's a
hard drug for me and that's why I play outside of Estonia as much as
I can!
Evestus
is an interesting project to me because the atmosphere and
instrumentation seems to have elements that are modern, but also
recall some of the yesteryears of electronic music going to the 80’s
and 90’s, was this your intention?
I didn't
exactly think this through went I got into it – I still don't
really.. I think these are the things that have stuck to me and what
I feel like doing at the moment. I do love the sound and atmosphere
of nineties industrial rock – I think the 90's was the darkest era
in any style of music – and I draw a lot of inspiration from there.
What
goes into your mind when you write lyrics?
My
lyrics tend to be quite personal. Just about how I feel towards this
world and my place in it. And other times I go into social criticism.
I've tried to, you know, “come up with stories” aswell.. but I
just, you know, if I don't feel it, I can't really describe it.. so I
just stick you what I know and feel.
What do
you write first, the lyrics or compose the music first?
I
usually do the music first, then listen to it and figure out what
emotion is in there – what's the story this melody or beat is
describing.
Is Post
18 Depression a concept album of sorts?
Yes, it
is. As a whole. The artwork and music and everything forms a really
solid package. We've spent 18 years since the millennium change and
the world is pretty much fucked and we're all pretty fucking
depressed. That's (roughly put) one of the concepts – but there's a
few more layers to the EP.
The
album features a cover of (Tears For Fears, who I’ve been actually
listening to lately) Mad World, what inspired you to cover the song
and do you think the lyrical ideas fit into the other tracks in a
way?
Yes,
this cover is like a centerpiece of the EP – it fits perfectly into
the concept of Post 18 Depression. I actually had the idea of this
version of the song in my head for about a year – it just came to
me one day that this song could work really well in this sort of
gothic vibe. I tried it out at some live shows and the audience
really dug it. It might have been the spark that made me create the
Post 18 Depression ep. To give it a nice home.
Was the
idea of the cover in part to kind of return it to its original (New
Wave, Electronic) roots, since the piano/vocal only one seems to be
more well known nowadays?
You
know what – I listened through about five pages of cover versions
on youtube before recording this. And 90% of the covers made were
either just a piano or an acoustic guitar. They all sounded like
versions of Gary Jules's cover. And that DID make me feel a bit sorry
for the original Tears for Fears version. But as I said, I just had
this concept in my mind and right now I feel like this version of the
song has always been there as well.
Where/when
can we expect Evestus to tour?
Right
now it looks like the next tour will be in Poland and then UK.. but
not until the end of the year.
What
is your favorite equipment/plugins/software when it comes to
recording/composing music?
I
love Cakewalk, Sound Toys, Spectrasonics and my Novation Mininova. I
don't need much :D
A Special Thanks to Evestus for this terrific interview.
You can find more info about Evestus from the following links:
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