Can you give us a bit of your musical history?
I was born in Latvia but my parents immigrated to Germany when I was a little baby. At the age of six they gave me the opportunity to begin a classical music education by taking piano lessons. Later in school I met today's guitarist of Ewian, Benjamin Lachance. Music meant a lot to us: just listening was not enough, so we started our first band care[le]ss, a kind of alternative metal-folk band (pronounced careless caress). The drummer is still active in the band "Get Well Soon“. We played some gigs, mostly at small events or in some sleazy local clubs in south Germany. From then on I was fixated on music and never stopped till today. Ewian is a young project and was formed in March, 2013 by me. I´m responsible for lead vocals, (distorted) piano, sound composition and a majority of the songwriting. During the production of Good Old Underground I worked mainly with Benjamin Lachance, some songs arose from collaborations (Featuring / Remix) with artists outside of Germany, for example electronic singer/songwriter Fifi Rong (London) or instrumental Post-Rock artist James Hrabak (Chicago).
I have read that you started out studying classical music? Do you still incorporate that style in the way you write songs?
Actually I didn´t study it, but I was taught in classical music instruments very early, f. g. piano, clarinet and church organ (yes, church organ!). The organ teacher was not very satisfied with me cause I was very defiant. At the age of ten he kicked me out. Regarding your question: To be honest, you could be right. I never thought about that really, but Frederick Chopin is definitely a classical composer who influenced me. Sometimes I took up a classical piano, f. g. in „The Last Poem“ or in „Take Your Meds“.
On your latest record Good Old Underground one of the first things I noticed was the guitar sound. It cuts through the mix and is powerful but never steps on other elements. Can you tell us a how you achieved that tone?
I´m a fan of the so-called "Wall of sound“. I favorite noisy sounds which are not just created by a classical power chord (keynote and quint) but a whole harmony. I love this, because it generates a dirty, mushy, carpet-like sound. To make this sound even more unique, I mainly did not use guitars but a distorted E-Piano. I have an old 64 Voice Synthesizer which has an integrated fuzz box. I use this noisy piano sound on stage as well. Finally I changed the equalizing and spatial sound in a way which gave it a special drive.
The record in general has plenty of inventive sounds. Did you produce the album yourself or did someone else come in and help? How do you go about figuring out tonal palettes to your songs?
I produced the album alone, because I already had experience in recording, mixing and mastering. An external producer never was an option - you know it´s this fear of tailspin most musicians have. We have or own little studio and thankfully we don´t have to pay for recording time. The electronic sounds on the album came either from my 64 Voice Synthesizer or a Software-Synthesizer. Figuring out tonal palettes is a matter of time, patience and meaningfulness. All elements of my art - f.g. tonal palettes, lyrics, composition, visual implementation - subordinate to one thing: the content of the song.It have to make sense in the end and it have to create coherence on different leves.
How much involvement did you have with the mixing process?
Full control. I already mentioned it above: I´d never hand over the mixing process to an external person. The result would be probably a more sophisticated sound which I think is contrary to my perception of „Wall of sound“.
Do you have any favorites off Good Old Underground?
If you mean former releases of Ewian: My favorite song is still „Don´t stand by me“ from the Debut-EP „We Will Never Grow Old“. If you mean other artists: At The Drive In - Relationship of Command, Radiohead - OK Computer, Portishead - Portishead, Muse - Showbiz, Sigur Ros - Von, Aphex Twin – SYRO.
What next for Ewian in 2015?
Much. At the moment we mainly prepare our stage programme. Parallel I started to write news songs because I have some ideas at the moment I just can´t get out of head. In January we began to shoot a video for a new song, here's a freeze frame:
I was born in Latvia but my parents immigrated to Germany when I was a little baby. At the age of six they gave me the opportunity to begin a classical music education by taking piano lessons. Later in school I met today's guitarist of Ewian, Benjamin Lachance. Music meant a lot to us: just listening was not enough, so we started our first band care[le]ss, a kind of alternative metal-folk band (pronounced careless caress). The drummer is still active in the band "Get Well Soon“. We played some gigs, mostly at small events or in some sleazy local clubs in south Germany. From then on I was fixated on music and never stopped till today. Ewian is a young project and was formed in March, 2013 by me. I´m responsible for lead vocals, (distorted) piano, sound composition and a majority of the songwriting. During the production of Good Old Underground I worked mainly with Benjamin Lachance, some songs arose from collaborations (Featuring / Remix) with artists outside of Germany, for example electronic singer/songwriter Fifi Rong (London) or instrumental Post-Rock artist James Hrabak (Chicago).
I have read that you started out studying classical music? Do you still incorporate that style in the way you write songs?
Actually I didn´t study it, but I was taught in classical music instruments very early, f. g. piano, clarinet and church organ (yes, church organ!). The organ teacher was not very satisfied with me cause I was very defiant. At the age of ten he kicked me out. Regarding your question: To be honest, you could be right. I never thought about that really, but Frederick Chopin is definitely a classical composer who influenced me. Sometimes I took up a classical piano, f. g. in „The Last Poem“ or in „Take Your Meds“.
On your latest record Good Old Underground one of the first things I noticed was the guitar sound. It cuts through the mix and is powerful but never steps on other elements. Can you tell us a how you achieved that tone?
I´m a fan of the so-called "Wall of sound“. I favorite noisy sounds which are not just created by a classical power chord (keynote and quint) but a whole harmony. I love this, because it generates a dirty, mushy, carpet-like sound. To make this sound even more unique, I mainly did not use guitars but a distorted E-Piano. I have an old 64 Voice Synthesizer which has an integrated fuzz box. I use this noisy piano sound on stage as well. Finally I changed the equalizing and spatial sound in a way which gave it a special drive.
The record in general has plenty of inventive sounds. Did you produce the album yourself or did someone else come in and help? How do you go about figuring out tonal palettes to your songs?
I produced the album alone, because I already had experience in recording, mixing and mastering. An external producer never was an option - you know it´s this fear of tailspin most musicians have. We have or own little studio and thankfully we don´t have to pay for recording time. The electronic sounds on the album came either from my 64 Voice Synthesizer or a Software-Synthesizer. Figuring out tonal palettes is a matter of time, patience and meaningfulness. All elements of my art - f.g. tonal palettes, lyrics, composition, visual implementation - subordinate to one thing: the content of the song.It have to make sense in the end and it have to create coherence on different leves.
How much involvement did you have with the mixing process?
Full control. I already mentioned it above: I´d never hand over the mixing process to an external person. The result would be probably a more sophisticated sound which I think is contrary to my perception of „Wall of sound“.
Do you have any favorites off Good Old Underground?
If you mean former releases of Ewian: My favorite song is still „Don´t stand by me“ from the Debut-EP „We Will Never Grow Old“. If you mean other artists: At The Drive In - Relationship of Command, Radiohead - OK Computer, Portishead - Portishead, Muse - Showbiz, Sigur Ros - Von, Aphex Twin – SYRO.
What next for Ewian in 2015?
Much. At the moment we mainly prepare our stage programme. Parallel I started to write news songs because I have some ideas at the moment I just can´t get out of head. In January we began to shoot a video for a new song, here's a freeze frame:
To put it straight: no plans at the moment to disrupt the advancement of Ewian.