Present yourself to the readers
We are Evans and Stokes, comprised of John Evans (USA) and Jenny Stokes (New Zealand). We met online in October of 2016 and began our collaboration with one song, Kingdom, which is actually featured on our album “Beyond the Gates.” Our initial collaboration was fantastic. We clicked immediately. Since then we have released 5 singles and 2 full length albums with more to come.
Who composes ?...How does it work in the duo ?
John composes most of the music and performs all acoustic and electric guitars as well as all bass guitar, but songs like “Forgiven” and “Erased” feature piano compositions by Jenny
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Who writes the texts ?..What are they talking about ?..How does inspiration come ?
Jenny writes the lyrics and the vocal melody, performs all piano, and is the vocalist. So far, our albums have been concept albums, so each album tells a story. Once we have established the story we want to tell, we identify the main ideas of the story and write a song for each so that the lyrics of each song tell one piece of the larger story. Inspiration for the lyrics can come from anywhere. Beyond the Gates, for example, grew out of a song title that John tabled – Kingdom – which suggested to me (Jenny) the idea of a lost soul who believed she was destined to Hell. That idea became the basis for the album. The idea for the album Valley of the Kings grew from a cool tribal drum beat (what became the intro to the title track). Inspiration for our next album came from a conversation we had with fans. You never really know where inspiration will come from next; you're just glad that it comes.
What is the story for your new album ?
Our new album, “Valley of the Kings,” has our story set in ancient Egypt. We cover the rise, reign, and fall of the Pharaoh, Hatshepsut. It was a very interesting story to us because the hero is this strong woman who became king against the dominant idea of the time that the most powerful person in the land should be a man. While women in ancient Egypt were respected, they were not encouraged to do what Hatshepsut did. Women have been oppressed over the centuries in many countries and cultures. We liked the idea that Hatshepsut broke with tradition and did an amazing job of it too. Plus, there's the intrigue that the story offers: why did her step son erase her kingship from public record and what have been the consequences of that?
What are your personal musical tastes and your influences ?
Metallica, Megadeth, Dream Theater, Joe Bonamassa, Steve Vai, Iron Maiden
My tastes are pretty varied. Add to John's list Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Pink Floyd, Mendelssohn, Thelonius Monk, Theocracy, Kaleo, Devin Townsend, and NZ bands Devilskin (Jennie Skulander...yeah!) and Coridian (love Dity's amazing voice). Too many to list really. I just love music.
In studio, what was the ambiance for the album VALLEY OF THE KINGS ?...etc.…
We live on opposite sides of the planet. Our recording process is pretty unusual and challenging. It cannot be done properly without a lot of trust in one another. For “Valley of the Kings” the experience was great. We had a lot of laughs along the way and found that we were very much "on the same page" in terms of the sound we were after and the story we wanted to tell. Most of the music was written early on in the process. It was the development of the story that took the most time because we wanted to write history, not fiction. So Jenny found herself reading weird things like the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. Fascinating stuff, but seriously strange.
In terms of recording, we each have our own studio set up. We record our parts separately, in our own time, but share as we go. Then, everything is brought together. It's a complex process with thousands of emails (not kidding there) and dozens of Dropbox dumps as we finalize tracks, but it's a rewarding process too and we are very proud of the finished product. In total, this album was a 6 month process from the first idea to the finished product.
How does it work for the design of the CD ? and why this title ?
As with any album cover you want some sort of image that hints at what your album is about but also is something that grabs someone’s attention, hopefully making them want to listen and see what your music is all about. I think were able to accomplish that with our art designs for “Valley of the Kings.” As far as the album title is concerned it fits the story well because Hatshepsut helped to make what we know as the Valley of the Kings a popular burial ground for the Pharaoh's who followed her. In the valley, she built this amazing temple, Djeser-Djeseru, that was way ahead of its time in terms of architecture and style. Subsequent pharaohs wanted to build there to be near this inspiring building. You could say she was the trend setter of her day.
Did you find a label ? If yes, how do you made the research ?
Our music is released independently and not through any label. This is fine for us and affords us the ability to work at our own pace (which is actually pretty fast) and also to create whatever we want. If either of us feels strongly about a part of a composition or lyric then we only have each other to convince. We're not excluding the idea of working with a label, but we're not chasing it either.
With Management and booking, how do you work ? And with whom ?
Although we are almost always close to each other on our inspiration and musical direction, from a physical standpoint we couldn’t be farther apart from one another. With John living in the Northeast part of the United States and Jenny living in New Zealand performing live together is unfortunately something we are not able to do at the moment, though if the opportunity presented itself, we'd definitely consider it. This separation is actually one reason that we are able to produce more music in shorter periods of time. Valley of the Kings was released one month ago but we have already begun work on the next album! When it comes to music, we're pretty passionate and definitely motivated.
What do you expect from the future ?
A couple weeks ago we began talking about and writing for our next album which is tentatively titled “The Exodus.” For a short sample of what it will sound like you can go here…
What's your motto ?
Make your mark on this world. Be creative and share your creativity with others. When you are long gone from this life the music you created will live on forever.
Find your passion, then do that. If you feel defeated by the challenge, try harder, cause if you love it, it's worth the effort and sacrifice.
Website to remember
http://www.evansandstokes.com
https://www.facebook.com/evansandstokes
What would you like to say to the readers ?
What we would really like to say is thank you. Thank you for taking the time to read this interview and thank you for having a listen to our music. Creating music is very special in many ways. Not only does it give us a sense of pride and accomplishment, but it also gives us the ability to connect with people. “Valley of the Kings” has been so well received in several countries. The communication we now have with fans in Brazil, Egypt, Europe, etc. is amazing. We have learned a lot about these diverse cultures and connected with people in ways we would have never thought we would. Music truly does bring us all together. We are very active on Facebook and love to communicate with fans there. So if you have comments, questions, or even recommendations for what story we should tell next, then connect with us on Facebook and let us know.
https://www.facebook.com/evansandstokes
You can also reach us directly through email at evansandstokes@gmail.com. We hope to hear from you all!!
Thanks for the upkeep
Hugues B.
