Introducing: Evan & The Brave. Hailing from Sydney, the quartet specialise in dreamy indie rock with a major in catchy hooks.
Following the success of their stand alone single ‘Lil’ Monster’ in 2012, Evan & The Brave have been hard at work finishing off their forthcoming debut EP which will be available on September 20. The release of their new single Stay This Way gives us a little insight into what we can expect to hear off said EP, and if I do say so myself, so far, so good. The single is driven by rich melodies and lush vocals that make it a satisfying slice of sonic bliss. Recorded by Tom Buchen (The Preatures, Andy Bull), the track is incredibly fresh and the perfect hybrid of hazy rock-pop and folk. We decided to have a chat with frontman, Daniel Mifsud, to discuss how the band came about, what we can expect to hear from the new EP and what else we can look forward to from the boys in the coming months.
How did Evan & The Brave come about?
Basically a few years ago I was doing a bunch of writing and asked good friends Ben (bass) and Yanya (drums) to play on the recordings – they really liked them and wanted to be part of what I was doing. We started playing shows together with a couple of our close friends on guitar, but those boys were so busy that we had to find someone else on guitar – we were seriously lucky we met Ross James (guitar) and he joined us.
Who/what are your major musical influences?
This upcoming EP the sounds we were loving were as spread as Springsteen, Blur, The Smiths, Elbow. We don’t sound like any of them (I think haha) but that’s just how our brains filtered them.
You guys have played alongside some great acts. Who have been some of your favourites to tour or play alongside?
Yeah, we really have been lucky getting to play with so many great guys – Josh Pyke, Hungry Kids of Hungry, The Trouble WIth Templeton and Passenger – all such rad musicians but also so very different in how they approach and play their shows.
Are you guys working on any new tunes at the moment? If so, what and when can we expect to hear it?
We’ve got a brand new EP dropping on Sep 20 – we’re genuinely so, so pumped to see what everyone thinks about it. We’ve put all of our ears and brains into it so hopefully people like it.
What can we expect to hear from the new EP?
I guess from our perspective we’re really happy with how the EP has turned out sonically – there’s so many different kinds of sounds and ideas in there for people to have fun listening to. So that, combined with a few nice melodies and thoughts here and there is where we were at when we were in the lab. And also, recording it with our friend, and producer extraordinaire Tony Buchen (The Preatures, Andy Bull) made it an even more enjoyable and worthwhile process.
What else is in store for Evan & The Brave in 2013?
We’re touring the EP on a 10 date tour around Australia – it’s our biggest tour yet and should be lots of crazy fun.
Their new EP will be available through Mucho Bravado on Sep 20.