Eversoul Interview
Q: Can you talk about your musical history?
A: Well, I grew up in a musical household. My dad played saxophone, and my folks always had all sorts of music playing in the house - classical, jazz, even some country, disco, and rock. I wanted to follow in those footsteps and in grade school took up the clarinet. However my fingers were too small to cover the holes, and it sounded like shit. So I switched to the saxophone, which I played until maybe the 8th grade. I realized that I couldn't get girls with the sax, so I switched to guitar and never looked back. I played in several bands during and after high school, and after graduation I went to the Wisconsin Conservatory Of Music on a full scholarship. I was in a band called Angels Rage that had some success in the Milwaukee music scene, which was difficult at the time because we were all-original in a sea of mostly cover bands. Add to that the fact that we were on the more "progressive" side of the spectrum (think Dream Theater or Fates Warning), I don't think we would've gotten much farther career-wise unless we moved to either LA or New York, which nobody wanted to do. So after Angels Rage broke up I heard that a local band called Katella was looking to replace their lead guitarist. I heard of them around town, and their singer was in a previous band with the singer from Angels Rage (he played guitar in that band), so there was that connection. I got the gig and we had over 15 years of success, both locally and regionally. We put out 2 CDs of material and played with what seemed like all of the great bands from the 80's & 90's. Unfortunately I think the rigors of touring, rehearsing, and recording and not getting that "big label deal" got to some of the guys. We broke up while we were working on our 3rd album release. At the time I still felt like I had some gas in the tank so to speak, and I tried to find another band to move forward with. However I just couldn't find the right chemistry or whatever, so I decided to "form" EversouL as my next endeavor. It's truly a "solo" project in the sense that I do all of the writing, play all the instruments, sing all the parts, and produce it all in my home studio called The Gimp Room. EversouL has released 2 CDs - "Phoenix" and "Propaganda", and will soon release a 3rd CD, tentatively titled "Uncivilized SocietME".
Q: What are some topics and themes you explore with your music?
A: I try to stay away from the typical rock band themes of relationships, mythology, history, and hardcore political leanings. I write based on what I see in the world around me...usually things I either see on the news or read in the papers, witness personally, or just shit from social media. I don't try and present one side of a view, but rather try and write in a way that will make the listener think for themselves and form their own opinion. Or just make the listener think. For instance "Other Side Of The Mirror" is about an anti-abortion protestor who finds herself pregnant as the result of a rape. The song talks about her mental anguish trying to decide what's best for her - does she have the child because she thinks abortion is wrong, or does she abandon her principals because she can't bear the though of raising something born of violence and violation. The song never tells what happens...the listener can make up their own mind. "In The Name Of" deals with corruption in the world of organized religion, "I'm Alive" talks about mental disease/mental health, and "My Poison" gives some insight into having an addictive personality. The one "ballad" on the album "Requiem (The Reason Why)" is the story of a person who witnesses their own funeral after committing suicide, seeing the emotional pain that their family is going through...the pain that they wanted to escape from by killing themselves.
Q: How do you approach songwriting?
A: I'm constantly jotting down ideas, phrases, or lyrics as they come to me. Once I come up with a conceptual idea, I see if anything I've written so far can be adapted to that concept, or I just run with something and work it through until the end. More often than not the lyrics come before the music is written, as I want to have the music be complimentary to and reflect the subject matter. But there are also times where I'll get a guitar line or a drum beat in my head and I'll do a quick recording of it, and from there I see if there's anything that I've written that could work within that musical idea. I do a lot of writing in The Gimp Room as that's my "fortress of solitude" where I can just be creative and see what comes forth.
Q: What's the energy like at your live shows?
A: Well, EversouL is a true solo project, meaning that I perform everything - the guitars, the drums, the bass, the vocals. So playing live "as-is" really isn't an option. That's not to say that if the demand was there I wouldn't be opposed to finding the right people to form an actual band and getting these songs out in a live environment, but right now that's not high on my list of things to do. So for right now EversouL is strictly a recording-only project.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: I'd like to think of EversouL's music as something that has a blend of the "old school" 80's rock that influenced me when I was starting my musical journey along with the modern rock of today that's carrying that torch. So it doesn't matter if you're more of a Scorpions/Quiet Riot/Def Leppard/Iron Maiden/Queensryche/Tesla fan or you're more into Alter Bridge, Avenged Sevenfold, Sevendust, Halestorm, Godsmack, or Bullet For My Valentine...you'll be able to relate to what you're hearing with EversouL.
Q: Can you talk about your musical history?
A: Well, I grew up in a musical household. My dad played saxophone, and my folks always had all sorts of music playing in the house - classical, jazz, even some country, disco, and rock. I wanted to follow in those footsteps and in grade school took up the clarinet. However my fingers were too small to cover the holes, and it sounded like shit. So I switched to the saxophone, which I played until maybe the 8th grade. I realized that I couldn't get girls with the sax, so I switched to guitar and never looked back. I played in several bands during and after high school, and after graduation I went to the Wisconsin Conservatory Of Music on a full scholarship. I was in a band called Angels Rage that had some success in the Milwaukee music scene, which was difficult at the time because we were all-original in a sea of mostly cover bands. Add to that the fact that we were on the more "progressive" side of the spectrum (think Dream Theater or Fates Warning), I don't think we would've gotten much farther career-wise unless we moved to either LA or New York, which nobody wanted to do. So after Angels Rage broke up I heard that a local band called Katella was looking to replace their lead guitarist. I heard of them around town, and their singer was in a previous band with the singer from Angels Rage (he played guitar in that band), so there was that connection. I got the gig and we had over 15 years of success, both locally and regionally. We put out 2 CDs of material and played with what seemed like all of the great bands from the 80's & 90's. Unfortunately I think the rigors of touring, rehearsing, and recording and not getting that "big label deal" got to some of the guys. We broke up while we were working on our 3rd album release. At the time I still felt like I had some gas in the tank so to speak, and I tried to find another band to move forward with. However I just couldn't find the right chemistry or whatever, so I decided to "form" EversouL as my next endeavor. It's truly a "solo" project in the sense that I do all of the writing, play all the instruments, sing all the parts, and produce it all in my home studio called The Gimp Room. EversouL has released 2 CDs - "Phoenix" and "Propaganda", and will soon release a 3rd CD, tentatively titled "Uncivilized SocietME".
Q: What are some topics and themes you explore with your music?
A: I try to stay away from the typical rock band themes of relationships, mythology, history, and hardcore political leanings. I write based on what I see in the world around me...usually things I either see on the news or read in the papers, witness personally, or just shit from social media. I don't try and present one side of a view, but rather try and write in a way that will make the listener think for themselves and form their own opinion. Or just make the listener think. For instance "Other Side Of The Mirror" is about an anti-abortion protestor who finds herself pregnant as the result of a rape. The song talks about her mental anguish trying to decide what's best for her - does she have the child because she thinks abortion is wrong, or does she abandon her principals because she can't bear the though of raising something born of violence and violation. The song never tells what happens...the listener can make up their own mind. "In The Name Of" deals with corruption in the world of organized religion, "I'm Alive" talks about mental disease/mental health, and "My Poison" gives some insight into having an addictive personality. The one "ballad" on the album "Requiem (The Reason Why)" is the story of a person who witnesses their own funeral after committing suicide, seeing the emotional pain that their family is going through...the pain that they wanted to escape from by killing themselves.
Q: How do you approach songwriting?
A: I'm constantly jotting down ideas, phrases, or lyrics as they come to me. Once I come up with a conceptual idea, I see if anything I've written so far can be adapted to that concept, or I just run with something and work it through until the end. More often than not the lyrics come before the music is written, as I want to have the music be complimentary to and reflect the subject matter. But there are also times where I'll get a guitar line or a drum beat in my head and I'll do a quick recording of it, and from there I see if there's anything that I've written that could work within that musical idea. I do a lot of writing in The Gimp Room as that's my "fortress of solitude" where I can just be creative and see what comes forth.
Q: What's the energy like at your live shows?
A: Well, EversouL is a true solo project, meaning that I perform everything - the guitars, the drums, the bass, the vocals. So playing live "as-is" really isn't an option. That's not to say that if the demand was there I wouldn't be opposed to finding the right people to form an actual band and getting these songs out in a live environment, but right now that's not high on my list of things to do. So for right now EversouL is strictly a recording-only project.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: I'd like to think of EversouL's music as something that has a blend of the "old school" 80's rock that influenced me when I was starting my musical journey along with the modern rock of today that's carrying that torch. So it doesn't matter if you're more of a Scorpions/Quiet Riot/Def Leppard/Iron Maiden/Queensryche/Tesla fan or you're more into Alter Bridge, Avenged Sevenfold, Sevendust, Halestorm, Godsmack, or Bullet For My Valentine...you'll be able to relate to what you're hearing with EversouL.