Highlight Reel
Nominated for Outstanding Male Singer/Songwriter 9th annual LA Music Awards
Hi, my name is Evan. I’m a 6th generation Los Angelino composer / producer / musician. I grew up a misfit in a family of classically trained musicians. While it certainly had its impact, my nature was to be creative and I had a hard time following rules. Having played piano for as long as I can remember, it was always clear I would never be a virtuoso but it, like everything, would be part of my tool box. I started and played in lots of bands but would always count down the minutes until I could be back at work with my 4-track. I co-founded a band called Gingersol and later Joined Maypole playing bass and then lap steel. In 1995, I won a Daytime Emmy for Guiding Light but stopped scoring to tour for a couple years with Maypole, The Wallflowers and the Jayhawks. It became clear that while most musicians make records so they can get out in front of an audience, I saw touring as a necessary evil to get back into the studio. While I was away, TV music was undergoing a needed transformation. People were taking more chances and being celebrated for it. I didn’t pursue scoring but I didn’t fight it either. For the most part, I was working on records because that’s where my heart was. As an early adopter of Pro Tools, I found creative ways to develop cool sounds and my rig and I became a staple at most of the LA studios. I worked with many talented artists and bands including Rancid, Pete Yorn, The Bangles, Distillers, Turbonegro, Orson, The Muffs, The Plain White T’s, Missing Persons and Liz Phair. Liz and I have also scored a half dozen shows together including Swingtown, Beverly Hills 90210, In Plain Sigh, The Client List and Super Fun Night. More recently, I’m into the second season of The Hundred.
I’ve also co-founded a band called Les Friction, in which I go by the pseudonym Nihl Finch.
My company, Would Work Sound, is an artist collective and over the last decade I’ve had a dozen studios built to accomodate me and my friends. When I come out for air, I get valuable interaction and feedback from people who know and understand me. In an industry where most fly solo, I’m too social to shut myself in. It facilitates collaborations such as one with Bert Selen on Rules of Engagement. If my workload becomes too much, I have more talent around than I ever could take full advantage of.