Guitar/Vox/Sonic Maven

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I've been been creating and recording music since an early age, encouraged by my parents, talented in music and art. Early on I was exposed to New Wave and Neo-Classical Metal and my interest in guitar playing surged with an all-encompassing vigor. Throughout my career, I've striven to maintain a balance between ‘tonality and technique’ and create not just songs, but works of art. I’ve always tried to go just a little further with the songs that I write, usually by going in unique directions with my riffs. I have many ways of writing songs, and it seems there’s always something weird in there that sometimes throws people off. But, if they give it a chance, people will start to hear the many levels with which I try to resonate, and feel they’ve made a discovery onto something new.

Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

A: Evet has striven to continually expand his horizons and draw upon any source that may yield new creative ideas and approaches including world music from the East such as India, Europe, Arabia, China, Japan, Indonesia, Bulgaria, Bali, crossing cultural norms and genres by using such instruments, scales, and forms of those various cultures in his compositions. Evet has long studied to get a fundamental grasp on such music so as to respectfully integrate and not just flash it out somewhere as a quick affectation. "I always felt a need to go beyond the norm, so progressing to more exotic sounds was appealing. I love the Arabian Nights tales and the Adventures of Sinbad as in the Charles Schneer/Ray Harrihausen films. I was exposed to the Hindus by some Hari Krishnas when I was 6. And then the soundtrack to Cosmos in 1979 really opened my ears to the likes of Vangelis and Tomita, and music from around the world. What would we have done without Cosmos?" He respectfully sites some of his most influential bands: "Without a doubt Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Big Hat, A Flock of Seagulls, Peter Murphy, Tones on Tail, Bauhaus, Thomas Dolby, Gary Numan, Marc Almond, and Concrete Blonde were the big ones; but I can't forget of course Duran Duran, Siouxsie and the Banshees, George Michael, Pet Shop Boys, Nik Kershaw, Tears For Fears, Adam Ant, The Fixx... virtually any band who appeared on MTV's "120 Minutes". Vangelis and Tomita too. I liked all that stuff... it was creative and colourful.. they played instruments but weren't afraid to incorporate electronics; and of course their videos were awesome which started MTV in the first place. Those bands helped shape my taste for atmosphere, hooks, lyrics, and effects. But they are only a part of my spectrum; I also of course have my guitar influences who include Jazz, Fusion, Neoclassical, and Flamenco players. Allan Holdsworth- amazing tone and cinematic approaches; Shawn Lane- we had a similar outlook. I quickly picked up his licks including some stuff people thought were untranscribable; I have remastered his solo albums and bootleg tapes. My favorite Neoclassical players include Tony MacAlpine, Jason Becker, Joe Satriani (I love his first album... his tone was so organic, and the fluidity of expression amazing. Plus he incorporated both live and programmed percussion, a lot of it is very danceable and influenced me greatly), Yngwie of course. I hate when people have said he has no feeling. They should listen to the first solo of Icarus Dream Suite. Also Richie Kotzen, Ron Thal, Eric Johnson, Robert Fripp... Greg Howe is a big one; I learned a lot from his creative tapping. As a matter of fact that whole era was alive with excitement and creativity, it was so exciting to get the new Guitar magazine and learn the new licks. And players came up with new techniques and transcriptions. Classically I would say Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, Debussy, Ravel, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Holst; also soundtrack composers Miklos Rosa, Bernard Herrman, John Williams, and the like. Electronically speaking I would say Dieselboy. Digweed, and Photek, as well as Kraftwerk, Delerium, Talvin Singh, Steve Roach, and Bill Laswell.