ILiveHipHop.com Evan Darko Interview
16 Sep
Welcome to I Live Hip Hop… how’s life?
Life’s a bitch, choking on the powdered water, but its all good
Now you are from Morrisville, PA… how is the hip hop scene out there?
I don’t know there’s a lot of carbon copy rappers and a lot of Drake and Wiz Khalifa fans, it sucks, I feel like most people are so brainwashed today, I’m sure there’s a lot of underground fans too but I don’t know that many. Usually people don’t know who the fuck I’m talking about if they ask who my favorite artists are.
Ok, when and how did you decide that you wanted to be an emcee and producer?
Its pretty wack but I always wanted to be an emcee ever since I first seen 8 mile in like 5th grade or whatever. I thought if I could be a big rapper some day I could get revenge on all the cool popular kids or something like that, my motives obviously completely changed since then, but thats how it started, and I started learning how to produce and make beats just for fun cause I wanted to experiment with sounds and stuff like that, and so that I could use my own production and not have to buy beats if I wanted to sell my music.
And from the two, which do your prefer? being an emcee or a producer? and why?
Definitely emceeing, my favorite thing in the world is writing rhymes, I love making beats too but Im just way better at writing songs, its a lot easier for me, I get really frustrated sometimes trying to mix samples to get it to how I hear it my head, I just give up on a lot of beats, and its just a different feeling using my own voice to say how I feel, rather than using some old Johnny Mathis song to say I feel. They’re both my favorite forms of expression though.
You have an interesting artist name, Evan Darko… tell us how and why you chose this name…
Well my favorite movie of all time is Donnie Darko, and I originally wrote my song “Evan Darko’s Triumph” to a Donnie Darko soundtrack compilation and I was just gonna call that song Evan Darko, but then it evolved into a character and a world and everything. My real names Evan Souza and I used to be BigSouz for a while, ever since middle school people started calling me BigSouz so I just used that name when I started rapping, but I changed so much with music since then that I didn’t want to use that name anymore so I switched it to Evan Darko, cause I can relate to Donnie so much, and im a huge fan of MF DOOM, thats one of my biggest influences, and I wanted to have a type of persona like him, except I’m a superhero instead of a villain, like that scene in Donnie Darko where he’s walking Gretchen home, and she says “Donnie Darko? What the hell kind of name is that? It’s like some sort of superhero or something.” I sorta took the whole superhero thing from that, and turned into more of a comic book than a science fiction movie.
Now, I understand that you like to use movies as an inspiration for your music, an inspiration on the lyrics that you write… can you tell us a little more about this process and how movies help to aid you in writing stories based upon your own life?
I just watch a lot of movies, and I like to use a lot of obscure references in my songs, so I just write rhymes about movie scenes and use quotes from movies and stuff like that. And I don’t really like literal songs, I’d rather write about my life as a metaphor to something, and I share the same philosophies as characters like Tyler Durden and Jeffery Goines so I use that and other ideas and theories I learned from movies while I’m writing.
Ok, and who or what else are your inspirations for your music besides movies?
Other than life in general, my biggest musical influences and inspirations are MF DOOM, Beck, Nirvana, Eyedea, Mygrane Mcnastee, Murdoc, J-Dilla, and Madlib
The Spine Tingling Adventures Of… tell us a little more about this album…
I got the title form the last line of “Dead Bent” by MF DOOM, I know its from a lot of old TV shows and comics but thats what really inspired it. The full title is “The Spine Tingling Adventures of…” Season 1: Fear vs. Love (The Psycho vs. The Poet). The whole Fear vs. Love concept comes from Jim Cunningham in Donnie Darko, and in my world its like Fear is this evil mastermind, a super villain that captured me the superhero Evan Darko. And The Spine TIngling Adventures is my escape from Fear.
Its all a metaphor for me fighting anxiety and escaping my own mind, and I was really fucked up over a girl when I wrote most of the songs, I still am but this was before I told her how I felt and how madly in love I am with her, I was so afraid to do that and that went with the whole Fear vs Love and The Psycho vs The Poet theme, cause I felt so weird, the way I thought about her I didn’t know if I was some psycho or just a poet, and thats one of the reasons I left it at “Adventures of…” and didn’t put a name on it, cause I don’t know who I am sometimes, I’m just really confused with life and everything, thats why I try and make a lot of my songs satirical because it’d be even more morbid if I didn’t.
And it’s your first album, did it turn out how you expected it too?
Yeah everythings going according to plan man
And what’s next for Evan Darko? what projects do you have lined up for the near future?
“More Spine Tingling Adventures of…” Season 2: The Drowning Fish (Poison vs. Enrichment). I don’t know how to really explain the title yet, its just something I thought of one night, but that’ll be my next album. I wanted to put out some beat tapes too, I did this one called “She Made Me Do It” about 5 months ago for that girl, and I had an idea for one called “The Feeling” based off “A Clockwork Orange” cause I feel like love songs are like my 9th Symphony now, cause I get nauseous when I hear them.
Cool, I look forward to those… and what else besides hip hop are you interested in? do you have any other amibitions in life?
If I could sing or play guitar I’d probably try and do alternative rock, I want to write scripts for movies too but other than that I’m not really ambitious, I always just wanted to rap and eat hot pockets and play xbox for the rest of my life and now that I’m doing that, its not what I expected, I might have to get a real job or something. I just hope music works out, cause thats really all I want to do.
And one question I like to ask… what does hip hop mean to you?
I don’t really know, I don’t wanna steal a KRS-One quote but I think Hip Hop’s something you live, I always liked this thing I heard on this Mygrane Mcnastee song, I forget what he got it form but the guy says “I do not stand before you as a man who likes hip hop, I like pizza, I Live Hip Hop.” And I think hip hops something you feel not something you know so I don’t know what the fuck hip hop means, but I love it, well I love underground hip hop, I hate that mainstream shit.
And when you step in the studio, what is it that goes through your mind before recording? what do you want to ultimately deliver to your audience?
I just try to make my music as uncomfortable and as awkward as I feel, I want people to be as confused as me, thats why my songs are meant to be misunderstood.
Ok, thank you Evan Darko for your time and giving us this interview with yourself… is there anything else you would like to add?
Nah I’d just like to thank you for the opportunity, I really appreciate it man peace
Thanks! If you want to hear more from Evan Darko then be sure to check his latest project, The Spine Tingling Adventures Of…
www.ilivehiphop.net/interviews/evan-darko-interview/
Tags: Evan Darko, HipHop, Interview, Twinn Loco
Duckie
21 Aug
Otis (Everything’s Duckie Edition) by Evan Darko
Lyrics: everything is Duckie, you could find me feeling Blu bumping Lucky, drinking Nantucket feeling lovely, butane in my veins and im out to cut the junkie, with the army of the twelve monkeys, hardly Del funky, but i stay musty, nose runny, clothes bummy, no money, so ugly, but all that matters is if your rhymes was ill, word to the Vill, one line one kill, one try done deal, son spy run squeal, all for some cryll and a couple of bills, On Melancholy Hill, rocking Psychedelic Furs, thoughts quite hellish as im sitting on the curb, listening to Mark Mothersbaugh, staring at the cover art, summer was such a blur, but i think your pretty, pretty sure, im horny and my will is bad, life bores me and its still a drag, samples in my earbuds makes it easier to bare, all the reasons to be scared, i think i fucked my head up listening to Johnny Mathis, or maybe too much Madlib, ashes to ashes, angel dust to lust, adjust to the fish tank, and give thanks, in a trance, ripped out his teeth with his bare arid hands, said thats how they track you, last viewed on bad avenue, maybe im too plain for all of earth, and maybe im to blame for all ive heard, its a shame for all the hurt, drained in pain reading about Kurt, slain in the rain bleeding out in the dirt, but enough with the morbidness and boring story scripts, imperially ridded, anti materialistic, telling things Go back china bitch, the rhymer with a twitch, and albums with no hits just all skits, like Nick Twisp, twisted and lifted, pissed here sip it after you sniff it, like a snippet, kidded, its sickening how he spit it, all cryptic, with missing digits, and loose screws, what he spewed left the crews brains looking like chewed food, yall some poppycock seeds damn he rude, ripped up the lollipop tree on Family Feud, see the rest hell glued, its 3 XL Souz, dont get it all misconstrued, duck man forever, trust them no schmuck fans better, bust jammed then head severed, gun infatuation ever since a bed wetter, dead tethered to a truck, couldnt give a lessor fuck bout what all the fuss about, dont talk with a stuffed mouth, and crusty lips just some tips, like Santa on skis handing out Chapsticks to any rapper in need, ollied the pit falls, went from playing rich to poor like Molly Ringwald, and i much rather listen to Heems and A.D., than Yeezy and Jay-Z, but maybe thats just me
Tags: BigSouz, Duckie, Evan Darko, Jay-Z, Jon Cryer, Kanye West, Otis, Pretty in Pink, Try a Little Tenderness
Requiem for a Denial
21 AugRequiem for a Denial by Evan Darko off of “More Spine Tingling Adventures of…” Video by RamboLovesWonka for Madlib’s A.V.E.R.A.G.E (Instrumental)
Lyrics: requiem for a nightmare, settings for a tight wearer, vigilante, resemblance uncanny, unmanly, shun ban me, grant he’s, Only the Lonely, like John Candy, odd family, towns shanty, sounds fancy, down and angsty, drowned in agony, got me listening to Tennessee on repeat, is this what God had in plan for me, living like Bob Silver on Pirate Radio, am i not bewildered a bit maybe so, maybe your brains just slow, the lane was closed, rain and snow, the lyrics was ill but his chain didnt glow, spirit was killed drained and froze, teased cus the red nose, you all see next show, seized no direct go or collect dough, in escrow, talking in third person all the time, a perverted virgin with a dime on his mind, behind the curtains had em all in line for the swine, at Showtime, Mitch and Trey, myself and i mastered how to say the same phrase a gazillion different ways, instilled in an infinite phase, might be saved, dont let the light escape, your right i am afraid, but i think your the fucking anti christ, cant tell me which path is right, to an attractive life, sacrifice the lamb for the slaughter, typed in the night with hands of a horror author, martyrs partner, dice tosser, nice offer, paralyzed by rejection, scared of life welcoming death in, stared at the sky in reflection, saw paradise in her facial expressions, the age old question, to jump or not, something nothing could stop, smell the love rot, decompose with the bones of the unknown clones, im no George Bailey, but wheres my guardian, i contemplate daily, dont wanna be scarred again, happiness playing hard to get, a succubus for a dream girl, stuck in this dream world, the sky’s so vanilla, liquid sovereignty vs umbrellas, i cant stand the rain like Missy in 97, ran from mistakes wishing to find heaven, a crazed caped crusader, that hates the new neighbors, blamed the newspaper, it was all a succession of images during sleep, i used to read self help books and you have everything to live for magazines, tragedy, forms of alchemy, warn the calvary, dimensions shattered, dont let him blabber, and throw away the codes to the safe, drove to the brink of insanity, franticly hoped to sink humanity, this is it, the drowning fish, poisoned or being enriched?, getting over her aroma’s gonna take a while i tried, but the scent always ends with a denial times nine
Tags: BigSouz, Evan Darko, HipHop, Madlib
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