EVIL BEAVER
What? A female band? A female
metal band? And what? They only have drums and a bass guitar? Hmm...sounds
interesting and really intriguing, therfore I suggest you to check them
out!
1.FIRST OF ALL POINT OUT THE MOST
IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF THE BAND'S HISTORY AND INTRODUCE YOURSELVES TO THE
READERS...
LA BEAVER: Evie Evil and LA Beaver
met in 1998 and were friends in the Chicago rock community for a few years
before they started Evil Beaver. Evil Beaver was unleashed to the world
in the year 2000 with our debut LP "Lick IT" Toured the united states for
2 years, recorded "pleased to eat you" with pieces of work that were inspired
by all of our hard work and all of the fans we have made over the past
3 years...but we are still 2 friends that love to make music together.
2.WHY DID YOU NAME THE BAND EVIL BEAVER?
IT'S A STRANGE NAME ISN'T IT? DID YOU SELECT IT BECAUSE IT'S STRANGE AND
UNUSUAL? FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND IT'S THE COMBINATION OF YOUR NICKNAMES.
DO YOU WANT TO TELL ME HOW YOU HAVE SELECTED THESE SPECIFIC NICKNAMES EACH
OF YOU?
EVIE: L.A. Beaver is named after
a famous gambler from Los Angeles, and Evie Evil well.... she just plain
EVIL.
3.HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSICAL
STYLE? NAME SOME OF YOUR MOST BELOVED BANDS AND ALBUMS. WHICH MALE AND
FEMALE MUSICIANS HELPED YOU CREATE ADN FORM YOUR OWN MUSICAL VISION?
LA BEAVER: Oh, this one is always
hard to answer. Our music is RockMetalContemporaryAlternativeIndiePunk
I suppose. We can say that without blinking an eye because we are inspired
by so many bands and artists from Nina Hagen to Black Sabbath - Slayer
to Slaughter - Wilco to Tupac - Black Flag to the Beatles - Celeine Dion
to Whitney Houston to Motorhead(oh, wait there isn't much of a difference
there) - but all I can say is that we find ourselves inspired from classic
rock or rap that we hear on the radio in the van as well as the bands that
we play with while on the road. I think you take inspiration from life
and life experiences. In Evil Beaver both Evie and I have very different
musical tastes. Being friends we share a lot of that with each other but
being individuals we always bring a different angle to every song we write.
4.THERE ARE ONLY 2 PEOPLE BEHIND EVIL
BEAVER. YOU DO EVERYTHING BY YOURSELVES. HOW DIFFICULT IS IT FOR YOU TO
HAVE A SAY ON EVERYTHING REGARDING THE BAND? DON'T YOU WANT THE HELP OF
OTHERS AS WELL OR DO YOU THINK THAT THIS WAY THE FINAL RESULT CAN BE BETTER,
CAUSE YOU ONLY TRUST EACH OTHER'S TASTE?
LA BEAVER:I think by the time you
got to the end of your question - you answered it for us. Doing the work
is always hard. We are completely independent and keeping up with the day
to day duties of running a record label is a lot of work. Keeping the band
running takes 24 hours of dedication from the both of us. I think we are
just lucky that we are both so dedicated to quality and both just dedicated
in general. So I suppose that it is not only that we "only trust each others
taste" that there is no room for anyone else in this band - no one can
keep up with our drive for perfection. We would never compromise a song
structure or fullness for vanity or shtick. We are a 2 piece band because
the songs work and our combination of talent make the sound orchestrated.
Evil Beaver might come across as a joke because people like to read into
the name - but musically, we are NO JOKE. This shit is REAL.
5.TELL US A FEW THINGS REGARDING YOUR
"PLEASED TO EAT YOU" ALBUM. WHERE WAS IT RECORDED, HOW LONG DID IT TAKE
YOU, WHO WAS THE PRODUCER, ETC. ARE YOU SATISFIED BY THE FINAL RESULT?
IF YOU HAD THE ABILITY TO CHANGE SOMETHING NOW, WHAT WOULD THAT BE?
LA BEAVER: Pleased To Eat You was
recorded from June 2002-March 2003 at kingsize Sound labs in los Angeles
CA by Dave Trumfio. It took actually 2 separate sessions. One long weekend
in June 2002 while we were on tour and a full week in March 2003. We were
delayed a few times for different reasons (like tours, Dave having another
session go over, snow - stuff like that - its a LONG drive from Chicago
to LA!) but I think putting time in between the sessions gave Evie and
i a chance to listen to the tracks and go back and re-work them. Fine tuning.
Wouldn't change a thing. OK, maybe the hand claps were a little weak -
I would go back and clap harder (just kidding).
6.WHERE ARE YOUR LYRICS REFERRING TO
AND HOW IMPORTANT ARE THEY FOR YOU? WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO WRITE LYRICS AND
WHAT CAN TAKE THE INSPIRATION AWAY FROM YOU?
EVIE: The lyrics are about anything
and everything. the songs come to me from god above. I just sing and play
them.
7.TELL ME A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE COVER
ARTWORK AND THE ALBUM'S TITLE. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SUGGEST? WHY DO YOU
HAVE THIS SPECIFIC PHOTO OF THE MODEL IN THE BOOKLET AND WHY THERE ARE
NO LYRICS?
LA BEAVER:We will have the lyrics
on the web site so we didn't think that it was necessary to print them
over and over. plus we like the image on the inside of the CD. As for the
cover, it is a lot like our work. We don't MEAN anything by it. We are
not making a statement. We look for something we like that has a balance
but is still ROCK. We are all about the rock. The name was just a working
title our friend Kathie came up with after Lick It came out. We didn't
mean anything by that either. We do like things that have different meanings
because it negates any meaning and leaves everything up to the perception
of the listener. Like how a song and all other art SHOULD be. Who are WE
to tell someone what something sounds or what something means. We make
music - not statements.
8.DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS?
WHAT SHOULD THE METALLERS EXPECT FROM AN EVIL BEAVER LIVE SHOW? DO YOU
REMEMBER ANY FUNNY OR WEIRD INCIDENTS OCCURRING TO YOU WHILST YOU WERE
PERFORMING LIVE?
LA BEAVER: Our shows are always
fun and exciting. We have a great energy together and love to entertain.
Funny? - well, sometimes we are like a lounge act because we have a great
friendship and dry senses of humor so there have been shows that we will
go back and fourth with clever banter but mostly we just wow the crowd
with good songs and high energy. Seeing us live puts everything into place.
that is where we shine.
EVIE: EVIl BEAVER fans should expect
a lot of blood and nudity. Bring your ear plugs if you don't want your
head blown off by the loud music!
9.WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO SOMEONE THAT
DOESN'T KNOW YOU, IN ORDER TO INTRIGUE HIS INTEREST? WHICH IS YOUR MOST
APPEALING ELEMENT ACCORDING TO YOU? IN WHICH FIELD DO YOU THINK YOU NEED
FURTHER IMPROVEMENT?
10.IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT
WOULD IT BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
LA BEAVER: Painting would be a
flesh colored canvas with a red dot with a yellow circle around it. Emotion,
uh I dont have any so I cant imagine.
EVIE: This is perhaps the greatest
question I have ever been asked in an interview. If it were an emotion
it would be LOVE and everything that comes with Love. if it were a painting
it would be a dragon in a winter wonder castle land.
11.IF YOU HAD A PROPOSAL TO DO A VIDEO
CLIP, WHICH SONG OF YOURS WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND HOW DO YOU IMAGINE IT TO
BE?
12.WHICH TITLE DO YOU THINK COULD SUM
UP YOUR EFFORTS TILL NOW AND WHICH WORD BEST DESCRIBES YOUR MUSIC?
LA BEAVER: Title? Do you mean song?
I will go with the nutcracker. We are that complex, we just dont show it
all at once. Word......FULL.
13.ARE YOU SATISFIED BY THE FEEDBACK
YOU GET FOR "PLEASED TO EAT YOU"? IS THERE SOMETHING YOU GET TO SEE IN
ALMOST ALL THE REVIEWS YOU READ? A COMMON ELEMENT THAT ALMOST EVERYONE
MENTIONS REGARDING YOUR MUSIC?
LA BEAVER: Sure. I think the fact
that reviewers are STILL amazed that we are a 2 piece band is an on going
theme. I doubt that will ever change. I just hope that everyone knows one
day and we can just be a good band and the amount of people in the band
will take a back seat to the songs.
14.DO METALLERS ACCEPT YOU EASILY OR
DO YOU FACE ANY KIND OF PREJUDICE BEING WOMEN AND ENTERING IN A SOMEWHAT
"MALE" MUSIC? I SAY MALE BECAUSE THERE ARE VERY FEW WOMEN PLAYING HARD
OR HEAVY MUSIC...
EVIE: Are you kinding? They love
us! This is every metal guys fantasy!
LA BEAVER: I think most people are
just surprised how heavy we are. We are both pretty and like 5' 7"ish so
we don't look, threatening but as soon as we start to play you literally
see jaws drop in the crowd. I think most "guys" start looking at what we
are wearing but with out a doubt - by the end of the show they are asking
us about our gear. I think that people give Metal Guy bands little credit
- the bands and the fans are always exceptiing.
15.ON THE OTHER HAND WHY DO YOU THINK
THERE ARE SO FEW WOMEN INTERESTED IN HARD AND HEAVY MUSIC? WHICH ARE THESE
ELEMENTS THAT REPEL THEM?
LA BEAVER: This is something that
I won't ever understand because I love metal music and I love to rock.
People make this same blanket statement about black metal musicians and
Asian metal musicians, handicapped metal musicians and every other metal
person who is not a white male - it seems irrelative to me. The woman metal
players are out there. It is just a matter of time till they hit the mainstream
like everyone else. It is our society that makes it a novelty.
16.LET'S SUPPOSE THAT WE LIVE IN A
WORLD WITHOUT MUSIC. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IN SUCH A CASE?
LA BEAVER: Can not even imagine
life without music. Like asking "how would you live if there was no air"
- can't even imagine.
17.THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK
YOU ANYTHING AND YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?
Christine
Parastatidou
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