With the inaugural Fort Fest looming (September 2nd – 4th in Bedfordshire), we thought it would make sense to track down some of these up-and-coming superstars and let them tell you a little about themselves. Thanks to Matt from Eva Plays Dead for answering these for us.
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
The mighty city of Nottingham. Most of us are anyway… so democracy wins.
How did you meet?
Tiggy and I met as kids on the other side of the world as part of a Japanese Exchange Trip with our schools. We started writing together with a few friends and as the line-up changed, we met Zach after reaching out through MySpace (old school) and he introduced us to Seb as they played in bands when they were younger.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
Eva Plays Dead launched in 2013 when we decided that we wanted to give the band thing a real attempt, although we had been writing and playing local shows together a year before hand or so.
Where does the name of the band come from?
We were all fans of a local band who had a killer song called “Play Dead”, although they had split shortly before the launch of EPD so we decided to use it. As for Eva, Tig’s lyrics are very autobiographical and we knew that it was likely for people to view us as ‘Tiggy and her band,’ when in reality we work as a single unit, so we wanted to be presented that way. It’s also an easy name for people to shout back at us in unison, which is the dream, right?
What are your influences – individually or as a band?
Cliché answer but we all listen to different things – if it’s good, then we’ll listen and it naturally influences our music.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
A couple of comparisons have been “Florence & the Machine that cut the hippy bullshit and tour with Motorhead for 5 years” and “The Midlands Joan Jett & The Blackhearts”, which both make the point that we have a girl singer and play loud rock music – sure. In reality, our music is always changing subtly but we always smash out big riffs and vocals – Tig can wail!
Which is your best bit of merch?
At the moment, it is the logo tee that we have recently released to help raise funds to replace our gear. Unfortunately, we had £3.5k of backline stolen from the back of our van in July, so it means a lot when people are seen wearing this completely unique tee because we know that they helped support us when we needed it the most. All of our merch is up at www.evaplaysdead.bigcartel.com.
What’s your live show like – why should the baying hordes troop over to the stage you’re playing on to watch you? What can we expect?
Our drummer has been known to end up playing a portion of our set in the mosh pit and I tend to climb up the tallest, most unstable thing possible within the range of my wireless kit… Poor health and safety aspects aside, each of our live shows is a complete one off and no two will be the same – we’re pretty spontaneous.
When/how did you find out you’d been selected to play at Fort Fest and what have you heard about it so far?
Our manager and agent gave us a heads up at the start of 2016 that we had been asked to be part of the first wave of bands for a new festival and we said yes to straight away as soon as we saw the line up. After that, it just kept getting bigger so we’re thrilled to be a part of it.
Which band (other than you guys obviously) is going to kick up a storm this weekend? Who are your top picks of the weekend?
Black Peaks are playing straight after us and you need to be there. That band are insane. We’re fans of literally every band playing across the weekend so I don’t think you need me to repeat the line up! We’re friends with a lot of bands on the bill too so we don’t want to accidentally miss someone and have them fall out with us!
What are you working on at the moment and when/where can we expect to hear from you?
I’ve literally just gotten off of a video call with our manager discussing our plans for the next year or so. Let’s just say that there will be something new before the end of 2016.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen fans do at a gig?
Remember the point about taking ourselves in to the crowd? We had a show in Leeds where a South African dude (he was close enough to hear the accent) was feeding Zach shots throughout a whole song.
What advice would you give to a young band just starting out today?
First impressions mean a lot. Don’t be in a rush to put something out there but work on it until you are 100% happy. Save up and spend some cash on a good producer, video and photoshoot to get you started.
If you could be part of any 3-band line-up who else would you have on the bill? One band above you and one below – a chance to plug a smaller, unsigned act!
We always toy with this question and the answer always comes back to wanting to head out on tour with Marmozets. I’d love to take out a band called Holding Absence too – their drummer has been a big part of the EPD family for some time now, the rest of the band are real nice guys too and their music rules.
What stage / time are you playing at Fort Fest (if you have your slot yet!)?
We’re playing on Friday at 6.20pm!
