Evida is a relatively new dance act that has had a rather successful start to their career. The group is famous for their remix of Majozi’s ‘The Woods’, which got them nominated for a South African Music Award and their new single ‘1 2 3’ has dominated the airwaves over the past few weeks. This week, we chat to brothers Liam and Richard Jones and find out how Evida was born, the inspiration behind their new hit and who the band look up to locally.
Evida continuously showcases their fresh approach to electronic music. Tell us, how did the group come together?
We started individually. Richard was in university at the time, trying to make it as a DJ and Liam was still in school and was more of a metal head. Richard started making music on FL Studio, and sent samples to Liam, who also then decided to try using the software. After a while of working separately, we decided that we are better off working together and sharing our separate talents in music.
Your debut single ‘You Gotta’ became a radio hit. Why do you think this was the song that got people to sit up and listen?
From a radio and a music perspective, the song was different from everything coming out at the time which we believe flipped listeners on their heads a bit.
You also worked on the official remix to Majozi’s ‘The Woods’. How different is your approach when creating a remix to that of your own track?
Taking into consideration the amount of remixes we’ve done, the difference between a remix and our own track isn’t really large in both respects we try to bring life to a sound. The only difference when doing a remix is that we have something to start with rather than a fully blank canvas.
Your new single ‘1,2,3’ is taking the country by storm. Tell us a bit more about the inspiration behind the track.
For us, the song was more about making sure that the production was on par with the rest of the world as well as giving it a sound that could be directly associated with us and would resonate with the actual meaning of the song.
You worked alongside Carla Franco on the track. What was it like working with her?
Working with Carla was both fun and challenging. Mainly because we were working on the project from opposite ends if the country with her being in Grahamstown and us in Johannesburg.
You’ve named Black Coffee and Goldfish as some of the local acts that inspire you. What makes you identify with their music?
With regards to specifically black coffee his struggle and “grind” come out through the sounds he builds and to us there is nothing easier to respect in an artist than the work they put in. Goldfish produce such happy and well-rounded tracks when it comes to the production that they use it’s hard to not like a goldfish track and that kind of continuity is something we aspire to.
Evida is a relatively new act. What do you hope to accomplish over the next few years?
Growth of our brand and to build a team that can help said growth take place. International gigs would be awesome but mainly growth and we hope many lessons on the way.
Feel free to comment, share or tweet @ElBroide
