WHAT'S IN A NAME?
EVREN GOKNAR OF EVIL MARIA
TALKS TO ROCKWIRED
ABOUT THE BANDS' DEBUT CD
THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE NAME
AND DOING IT YOURSELF

INTERVIEWED BY BRIAN LUSH

While it sounds like news of an exciting debut album from an equally exciting new band, it isn't. The CD 'EVIL MARIA' (SPILL RECORDS) is the fourth studio release from singer/songwriter EVREN GOKNAR, but this time, he has chosen to enlist bassist JUNE KATO and drummer PETE FINESTONE and name this garage rock threesome EVIL MARIA. "It's easier to promote the project with a compelling band name, as opposed to using my name,” says GOKNAR.   "I've decided to move forward with the new CD this way."

The name EVIL MARIA, inspired by the 1927 FRITZ LANG silent film 'METROPOLIS' - a tale of a dystopian future (the year 2026) where society is divided between the 'planners' who live in the massive skyscrapers of METROPOLIS, and the 'workers' who live beneath the city, toiling to maintain the privileged lifestyle of those who 'plan'. However, things change when a robot, disguised as a leader of the 'the workers', named MARIA, leads the people into a state of rebellion, destroying the machines that run METROPOLIS and in effect, destroying themselves.  "As I was watching it, I was thinking that the cyborg, EVIL MARIA, would be a fantastic name for a band." says GOKNAR.

One could look at this and see parallels between 'METROPOLIS' and the music industry. A little over ten years ago, it meant everything to get signed to a major label. These days, an artist has a little more control if the music is released on their terms, as is the case with EVIL MARIA. "I really think it's important for artists to get their material out." says GOKNAR who has issued all four albums of his catalogue through his own label SPILL RECORDS. "A couple of years back, people would try to get signed to a label and attempt to meet the right people. Sometimes it would happen and other times, it's would be a real heartbreak and people would end up waiting around and wasting time. The do-it-yourself ethos is something that EVIL MARIA truly ascribes to."

ROCKWIRED spoke with singer/songwriter/guitarist EVREN GOKNAR over the phone. Here is how it went.

'EVIL MARIA' is a great CD!
Thanks! We're really excited about it.

I would be too! This is actually your fourth CD, proper, but this is the first time you're going by the name EVIL MARIA. Why is that?
For the first three CDs, I would do a couple of tours with a band as part of the promotional cycle. When people would be enjoying what were playing and ask us "what's the name of the band?" It always seemed awkward to say, “Evren”. At some point I decided that I should come up with a band name. We spend a lot of time playing in dive bars and rock clubs, and in those venues it's easier to promote the project with a catchy band name, as opposed to my name.  I decided to move forward with the new CD that way.

I was reading your press release and what excited my initially about your work was how you came up with the name of the band. I love the movie METROPOLIS!
Great movie! It's interesting because I was watching a screening of the movie at the ORPHEUM THEATER in downtown L.A. As you know it's a silent film and they had an organist playing the score and I was watching it with a friend of mine and at one point, I was thinking that that cyborg, EVIL MARIA, would make a fantastic name for a band.

What drew you to music specifically?
I was a young kid around ten years old and I wanted to start playing piano. I liked listening to music and my older sisters had various rock, new wave, folk and pop albums. I asked my mom for some piano lessons and she agreed. I started taking piano lessons, but with piano, you start learning classical pieces and studying BEETHOVEN, and fugues and sonatas, which I liked, but with the meticulous practicing you might as well be doing algebra. At about age fifteen, I became obsessed with the guitar. There was a cheap Spanish guitar around the house and I would take that, put a microphone in the sound hole and press pause on my tape deck and make an electric guitar out of it with a cassette in there. Soon afterwards, I was able to buy my first electric guitar from painting houses and I started learning how to play from friends and listening to records. I listened to a lot of STONES and BEATLES records and whatever was on the radio. That was how I initially got into it. It was later that I started writing songs and singing and putting bands together, during college.

When did you first start writing?
I was in college. I went to school at the University of Michigan where I majored in English. I was reading a lot of prose and poetry. I started writing lyrics and journaling between the ages of 18 and 20. It wasn't until I was done with college that I first started writing songs with chords. When I first moved out to L.A., I was primarily playing guitar in bands and co-writing. I wasn't really singing much initially. Playing in bands was how I first became interested in seriously writing songs and I sought to develop my songwriting in the ensuing years.

Explain, if it's explainable, the creative process. How does a song go from something you hear in your head to something that a person is going to hear over the speakers?
The creative process occurs in cycles for me. There are certain times when you are writing and creating, and there are times where you are recording and promoting. The writing will often start with a lyrical idea. I'll then have a writing session, usually on an acoustic guitar, and start free-associating with chords. It's usually early in the morning before my mind is filtering itself and something interesting will come through. I'll jot down the chords and marry that with an interesting lyrical idea or some compelling subject matter. For example, on the new album, the songs explore varied subjects. There is a song about my cat and how she would always chatter at the birds and squirrels outside but, because she’s an indoor cat, she could never go outside and kill these creatures so she’s full of frustration. At some point, I sort of related to the pathos of this cat being so frustrated. There's also a song about a serial killer and what would it be like to be a person who does something so horrible over and over again. Once the songs are done, the band litmus tests them through a series of rehearsals. We like to record at this studio in Long Beach called THE COMPOUND. I'll spend considerable time adding harmonies and additional guitars, and having friends add organ parts and percussion. That's the basic process from song to completed disc. I'm pretty meticulous about the way the recordings sound and I'm really pleased with the quality of the EVIL MARIA record.

Your band mates PETE FINESTONE and JUNE KATO; have you been playing with them as long as you've been releasing material or is it just on this recording?
No. I've known PETE the longest; I met him right around the time that my second record, FLUX, was done. I was going to have a release show at the VIPER ROOM, and the drummer who played on that record was unavailable for the show. I saw PETE play at a party and he had a really nice feel on the kit and a good snare drum sound. I asked him if he’d do the show and that’s how our association began. We worked together on my last solo record which was called 'BOXES' and we’ve done four or five tours up and down the west coast. When it came time to do the EVIL MARIA record, he was already on board. The bass players kept coming and going, and PETE and I were sometimes playing gigs as a duo. A mutual friend of ours referred us to JUNE. I met with him and was impressed, he's a really talented bass player, I'd show him a song and he'd kind of know it by the time I was done showing it to him. I always call him JUNE PAUL JONES because he brings that rolling bass melody thing you hear in LED ZEPPELIN songs. JUNE has been involved with EVIL MARIA for about two and a half years now.

Other than the fact that this CD is being presented by a band as opposed to a solo artist, what do you think are the fundamental differences from your previous releases?
I think the EVIL MARIA record is more of a focused and concise record. You're not going to find a piano vocal song or an acoustic guitar vocal song in the middle of an EVIL MARIA record whereas you would on my last solo record. ‘BOXES’.  The EVIL MARIA record is a garage rock record and that was what we wanted to make. It does have a lot of pop sensibilities, but it doesn't pretend to be anything else. It's more focused on edgier material, and is consistently more up-tempo than the previous releases.

Who do you think influences you as a songwriter?
There are so many influences! ELVIS COSTELLO is a big influence but we sound like a much edgier version.  I'm also influenced by the attitude of bands like NIRVANA, and some RADIOHEAD also. I refer to our music as garage pop because it combines raw rock with pop sensibilities. Growing up, I did listen to tons of classic rock radio and you hear really concise hooks and song structures in those songs. In our music you can hear a little of THE KINKS and THE BEATLES, but subject matter-wise, the songs explore new territory and I think that makes the record unique. Each song has a specific thematic content and I think that comes from life experiences, reading books or poems or experiencing other types of art than music.

I'm going to name a handful of songs off of the album, and I would like for you to talk about them. The first one is the album's opener 'SUCKERPUNCHED'.
'SUCKERPUNCHED' is a song about a relationship breaking up. It's about a guy who feels essentially suckerpunched by this girl that wants to leave him. There are parallels and imagery drawn from boxing, being on the mat, being punched out, etc. The poor guy has been blind-sided and he doesn't know how to move on.

'HAND OF GOD' almost sounds like VELVET UNDERGROUND's 'WAITING FOR MY MAN'.
It's very much a nod to the VELVET UNDERGROUND as far as the vibe. The song itself is about Hollywood. A couple of the songs on the album are about living in Hollywood and L.A. and about people trying to pursue their dreams. ‘HAND OF GOD’ is about the belief that people have that they can just show up in Hollywood and the hand of God will come down and dust you off and you'll be transformed into a rock star, or an actress or some other luminary. This song is a snapshot of that belief. It's a sentiment that is very prevalent in L.A. I'm not trying to make a value judgment about it, I just find it interesting to observe.

'CALIFORNIA' has an interesting theme.

People are always talking about immigration in the news.  It's about a guy who spends his life savings to come to the U.S. to work and gets killed along the way. One angle that I find interesting about this song is that there are people griping about living in the U.S., but when you realize that there are people risking their lives to come and work some kind of menial job, it's pretty sobering.

So is it going to be EVIL MARIA from here on out or will you record again as EVREN GOKNAR?
I'd certainly like to make more EVIL MARIA records. I love the band and I'm excited about the first record that we've done and I think that we can continue to do more interesting things. I think a future EVREN record would be a more introspective sounding album as opposed to what EVIL MARIA does sonically. A solo release will be more acoustic guitar driven and EVIL MARIA is the brand for the heavier edgier material that I write.

Your music is released through SPILL RECORDS?
It's my own record label. I really think it's important for artists to get their stuff out. A couple of years back, people would shoot for trying to get signed to a label and try to meet the right people. Sometimes it happens and other times, it's a real heartbreak and people end up waiting around and wasting time. The do-it-yourself ethos is something that EVIL MARIA truly ascribes to.

What do you want someone to come away with after hearing EVIL MARIA?
I'd like them to come away with a sense of the context of EVIL MARIA, which sound wise is a combination of sixties pop and seventies rock and new wave. Contextually I think that the EVIL MARIA record is an interesting amalgamation of different genres. I'd also like them to come away with a sense of what some of the songs are about. Subject matter and lyrical perspective are an important part of EVIL MARIA.