Today, we sat down with Evereal to talk music inspiration, advice for future musicians and much more! Be sure to check out their Spotify list below after the interview!
Here is the interview:
What is your inspiration to write your music? Is it your surroundings?
Steve: Surroundings? not so much as what i am listening to at the time. Inspiration comes from strange places… a song, a rhythm, a drumbeat, a video game, or just a random idea pops into your head. The trouble often is keeping it there long enough until you can jot it down or record it. For instance our song “Veil” was inspired by a looney tunes cartoon. I just happened to be away for 2 weeks and had no access to recording equipment so I slowly wrote the song in my head over 2 weeks then quickly recorded it when I arrived home. Surprisingly it sounded very similar to imagined once recorded…which i can’t say the same for other ideas.
Alicja: Inspiration can come from anywhere, anytime lol! I use my cellphone recorder app to jot down melodies and ideas. Sometimes a word or phrase will start it or other times I want to capture a feeling. A lot of times I just start playing chords on the guitar and it comes out.
What type of music did you listen to growing up?
Steve: I was influenced by prog rock, Zeppelin, Kiss, Rush, Priest, Maiden. My older brother got me into these bands at an early age and I started learning how to play these bands as a pre-teen then started my own bands. As an adult I appreciated music much more than I did as a kid and branched out to bands like Saga, Dream Theatre, Megadeth, Within Temptation, Night Wish, Lacuna Coil etc.
Nelson: Ditto — I grew up listening to and playing Led Zeppelin, early Rush, The Scorpions, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Yes, Pink Floyd, Queen. I have my older brother to thank for turning me onto these bands. He kind of force-fed this stuff to me when I was young and listening to bubblegum pop music. I’m glad he did.
Alicja: My dad listened to Pink Floyd, Queen, The Scorpions, and I remember my mom listened to a lot of Boney M and Demis Roussos. In addition to those I listen to most anything now, Breaking Benjamin, Doja Cat, Bebe Rexha, In This Moment, Fifth Dawn, Papa Roach, Nickleback, Justin Nozuka, Journey, Chris Stapleton…my playlist is having an identity crisis!
Is there someone you looked up as a hero?
Steve: Musically I would say Neal Peart is high on my list. Not only was he a stellar ground breaking drummer but he wrote inspirational lyrics and was a humble guy. He always strived to improve and you could hear the patterns and precision in what he did. I found this inspirational and always strived to have that precision and drive to produce music consistently and accurately live.
Nelson: Again, ditto. Neil Peart was my hero, not just as a drummer but as a lyricist as well. He was very literary. My older brother took me to my first rock concert when I was 15. It was Rush. It blew my teenaged mind. John Bonham was also a god to me. My biggest regret is that he died before I got to see Led Zeppelin play live.
Alicja: two words. Dolly. Parton.
If you weren’t a musician, would you be doing today?
Steve: You ask the question as if musicians can make a living….That is a thing of the past. Not so long ago you could sell CD’s and play live shows and make a reasonable living but the digital age has taken all that away. People now consider music “Free” and are reluctant to pay for it. It can be had on the internet and streamed at no cost. Perhaps one day when musicians slowly disappear there will there be a concerted movement to support artists again and pay them for their work. It takes a lot of imagination to make a living as a musician these days.
Nelson: If I had never had music to channel my creativity into, I probably would have stuck with art — painting and drawing — which I dabbled in when I was younger.
Alicja: If I weren’t doing music in the small amount of spare time I have I would still be doing something creative. Art, photography, something like that for sure.
What advice do you have for our fans out there that want to create music?
Steve: Learn to play an instrument properly. Take lessons and learn the fundamentals. Find a mentor to help develop good habits. If possible learn classical or conservatory.
Get yourself a home recording setup and learn the basics of recording.
Find a good group of players to write and play with. Stick with them and grow together as a group. Don’t bounce all over joining band after band searching for that elusive “Perfect gig”. Work together through the hard times and personality conflicts.
Play what you like and not what you think other people will like. Stay true to what you love and allow the band to grow and change with the times.
Learn how social media works and promote yourself.
And most importantly get a good job because music is an expensive hobby. If you’re in it to get rich then don’t as you will most likely be let down. If something comes of it that’s great… just allow it to happen organically. Have fun with it.
Nelson: All good advice from the music side. I personally did not study music formally — I was self-taught and never learned to read drum notation until much later in life. Big regret there. On the lyric writing side, I would say read as much as you can, and jot down lines when they pop into your head, otherwise I guarantee, you’ll forget half of them. Read the classics, read science fiction, and read poetry. And buy a rhyming dictionary.
Alicja: I wish I had more actual lessons and knew the theory behind it. I would suggest to take lessons and learn your craft.
Oh yeah, and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. I unfortunately did not get supported in my musical dream and lost a lot of time because I listened to the naysayers telling me I would never succeed.
