We last interviewed Evandale in May, 2018. At the time they had just won the 2018 - Best New Artist - Omaha Entertainment and Arts Award. Rising out of the Omaha underground rock scene, their new single at the time, Manipulator, really caught our attention. Blown away by the song and the production, when we heard it was recorded and mixed with Mixcraft Pro Studio, we wanted to share their music and story with fellow Mixcraft users.
Checking back in with the band two years later, Evandale guitarist, Chad Riche, talks about the hard-core rockers new music and how the band is adjusting in a post Covid-19 music scene.
Q: Evandale had a lot of momentum going into the Covid-19 pandemic, then with live shows being cancelled, like a lot of bands, you were essentially grounded. How have you guys been coping with not being able to play to a live audience?
I think one thing we can all agree on in 2020 is that Covid-19 sucks!!! We had some really awesome shows we were scheduled to be a part of. As the summer passed us by though, we started to see a bit of a silver lining in the whole situation. When we initially booked our spring/ summer dates, our 2nd guitar player position was still up in the air. Being a band that was built as a 5 piece we weren't really sure how we wanted to execute these shows. We take pride in being able to execute what we do live without hiding behind tracks. We got through a couple shows as a 4 piece, but it just felt like something was missing. This "down time" has given us time to work in our new guitar player, Jake, and, get a ton of songwriting done. I'm not gonna lie though, I'm sick of practice and ready to get out and play!! Lol
Q: Our 1st introduction to the band was the release of Manipulator. From the opening guitar lick and megaphone effected vocals, to the count-in to a massive wall of sound throughout, it was quite a remarkable song and great production. Worth mentioning that the 2018 follow-up song Where You Belong also packs a roundhouse punch. Evandale's new singles sound incredible and show the maturity of the band. Talk about your new singles, "The Storm" and "Little Sista", and the new album coming out soon.
"The Storm" was a song that a friend of mine wrote. He sent me an acoustic version, said he liked the song, but felt like it wasn't really his style. He thought it sounded like something we could take and give a "little gas" to. His timing was perfect because we had just started working with our other guitar player Jake and we really wanted to get something out since our summer had basically went down the tubes. It came together quickly and pretty much marked the start of writing for this next album.
We just dropped another single called "Little Sista" on Oct. 16th. This song definitely taps into our heavier side. The Storm and Little Sista being released back to back really gives a good glimpse into the mixed bag that makes up Evandale. We have a video we're getting ready to shoot and another single were aiming to have out before the end of the year. We hope the entire album will be out early spring, giving our fans a balanced look at who we are and how we are evolving as band.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup and the creative process behind your tracks?
My studio set up is crazy simple!!! That's actually intentional. There are so many amazing pieces of studio gear available that one side of me would love to go buck nuts with my credit card and get it all, but the truth is no plug-in or piece of rack mounted gear is going to save the day if you don't know the basics and have a really good feel for your room. I still feel like I have so much to learn so for now my credit card will stay out of reach. Like I said my setup is simple. For this album I'm using Audient ID interface, PreSonus R8 monitors, Shure Sm7 for most vocals, Shure ksm44 for acoustics, Headrush for majority of guitar and bass. Drums were all triggered through EZdrummer and of course all this is going into Mixcraft 9 Pro Studio.
Our creative process took a turn after The Storm. Up until that point most of our song ideas and concepts were all worked out on the computer. The problem we started to notice was that once we had finished recording a song and started practicing it, we always came up with better ideas we wish we had done before finalizing the recording. I've always said the home studio is a bit of a love/hate relationship. I personally believe songs often have a better outcome when they're based on feel. The flip side of having this technology at your fingertips is no idea gets left behind. Sometimes it's hard to convey an idea and the best way to get that done is to track it.
Q: How does Mixcraft 9 fit into your creative songwriting and production process?
Mixcraft is my go-to DAW! I come downstairs almost nightly and work on music. I try and hash out ideas or mess with different techniques to try and further my engineering skills. I truly believe Mixcraft offers one the best work flows available!! It's so easy to use! I love that I can literally track guitar parts in another part of the room and easily walk a band mate through the process of editing or setting up a track. It saves me a ton of time not having to go back and forth allowing me to just focus on playing. I think the value is amazing as well. It really comes with everything! If you can't make something sound good with the included plug-ins your doing something wrong.
Q: Any other artists you think our readers should check out?
Ohhh man, I could write a novel on artists I think everyone should check out!! I'll keep it short though. At the moment I'm personally excited to hear Dirty Honey's next offering. I really dig them!! Those guys are just as good, if not better live, and ooze talent. Also excited to see what the upcoming year brings for our friends in Blacktop Mojo. They are another band that is ridiculously talented, and like Dirty Honey, they're real deal rock n roll!!
Q: What's next for the band?
Mostly we're looking forward to playing and sharing our new music!!!! Until we can do that, we're just gonna keep on writing and rehearsing, and when the opportunity comes to get out, we will be ready!!
Q: Where can we find Evandale music and community?
Facebook / Website / Spotify / Instagram / Apple Store / Twitter
Editor's note: We concur. Omaha hard-core rockers Evandale will definitely be ready! Thank you Chad for the interview, and for your long time support of Mixcraft.
Oct 15, 2020