On The Radar: Evertim

EVERTIM are an up-and-coming rock band from Brighton. The group consists of singer Alex Tuck, guitarist Ben Foxhall, drummer Georgia Challinor and bassist Phoebe Constable. Here Alex and Phoebe tell MELINA MOREN about their influences, new music and playing Brixton Academy. Tell us a bit about the band. How did all of you meet and how did Evertim first form? AT: We met through some interesting events, involving joinmyband, Tinder and a State Champs gig. I originally wrote and recorded some material on my own, with some help from my dad. Soon I decided to form a band to play this music, and once we had a full lineup, the musical direction changed pretty quickly! Phoebe, how long have you been playing bass and who inspired you to first pick up the instrument? PC: I started playing bass when I was 15 so it’s been six years now. I actually played guitar for a year before I decided to pick up bass instead. There wasn’t really a particular person that inspired me to start playing but my favourite bassist now is Mike Ferri of We Are The In Crowd. I also find myself amazed whenever I listen to The Used at the bass parts Jeph Howard writes, his on-stage energy is brilliant as well. Who would be the dream artist or band to support on tour one day? AT: I think the biggest band I reckon we could work with is Jimmy Eat World, that would a dream. Also would chew off my own hand to play a show with The Early November. PC: I’d love to support Story Of The Year one day, I’ve been a big fan of them for a long time but haven’t had the chance to see them live yet. You're releasing an EP with Fox Records in January. Tell us a little bit about it! AT: The EP is entitled ‘Your Heaven Held Me Well’, taken from a line in the new single ‘Let Me Go’. We recorded all four songs last summer at The Ranch with Neil Kennedy and Daly George, who have been behind the recent Boston Manor and Creeper releases. The record was written during a large transition period of my life, moving back home after uni and a break-up. Overall, there’s a lot of positivity about events in life coming to an end, which has always been something I (and many people) have struggled to deal with. We give a lot of emphasis on nostalgia in our lives and my love-hate relationship with it continues on this record. I think the songs, coupled with the fantastic production, are going to surprise a lot of people. Why did you choose to go to BIMM? PC: Originally I considered BIMM because it had been recommended to me by various people I know. I thought it was really cool that there was a university that specialised in music. I enrolled on the music performance diploma in 2014 and had the opportunity to perform with other musicians frequently. Evertim is the first band I’ve been in and that course helped me gain more confidence in myself, so when it came to the band starting out I felt more relaxed going into rehearsals and playing our first few gigs. You've so far released one EP and about to release your second. Any plans on releasing a full-length album one day? AT: Originally, an LP was going to be the first thing Evertim ever released. I wrote a whole album but it became apparent pretty quickly that an EP was the better idea so we didn’t overdo it on our first record! That album would have been a lot softer than where Evertim is now as well. We’re less Mineral, more Knuckle Puck nowadays. PC: Recording a full-length is something we discuss quite often. We know we want our next release to be our longest one yet, whether that will be an album or a 6/7 track EP we don’t know yet though. For now we’re just going to see where ‘Your Heaven Held Me Well’ takes us and go from there. What's the writing process like? AT: There’s no set strategy, which I like. Either I come up with a melody that I find lyrics to go over, or I come up with a few sentences that need some music behind them. With our new single ‘Let Me Go’, I had the chorus melody in my head for a good 2 years before I tried crafting a song around it. I managed to record a demo for it in one afternoon, so it’s pretty much all or nothing when it’s coming from me. Do you have a favorite venue you would like to play one day? AT: Who doesn’t want to play the Brixton Academy? Answer: No-one. It’s where breakthrough acts know they’ve made it and it would be a dream just to be on that stage. ​PC: I think we’d all agree that it’s a goal of ours to headline the Concorde 2 and The Haunt eventually. In terms of venue’s outside of Brighton I’d love to play the KOKO in London. What are some artists that influence and inspire your band? AT: I think lyrically I’ve been leaning more to Knuckle Puck and Have Mercy with this new EP, the lyrics for this record are by far the most transparent I’ve ever written. Musically there a lot of The Early November and Pentimento involved, a little bit of Moose Blood and The Wonder Years as well.

Printed in THE ARGUS December 2017