Interview with Grant Evans on the ‘The Fundamentals of Love’

[Unpublished]: How did your album title ‘Fundamentals of love’ come about? Did it come whilst writing the songs? 

[Grant:] ‘The fundamentals of love’ is based upon the idea of self-love. Many times, I went out of my way to help other people, and a lot of the time I forgot to then help myself and love myself. So that is the basis of this album. What was really interesting is that there were the classical fundamentals of love in the middle of the year which was gonna be a part of ‘The fundamentals of love’ with me just playing the piano and inspired by Bill Evans, but I broke it up from the project.

[Unpublished]: What music or artist has influenced you?

[Grant:] Everything. I range from Pop, Indie that sort of vibe, I like to make my music sound psychedelic. Artists I'm inspired by are Bill Evans, George Harrison, and Clario.  

[Unpublished]: What type of music did you listen to growing up?

[Grant:] Again, honestly, everything. I got influence from every member of my family growing up: My dad introduced me to rock 'n' roll, Bruce Springsteen and Elton John. My mom who is from Long Beach showed me hip-hop, so Snoop Dogg. My grandma showed me Frank Sinatra and Bob Dylan, so I learned a great appreciation for music very young. The only music I don't really listen to is country. I respect Willie Nelson, but it's the only genre of music I don't really listen to.

[Unpublished]: You have had a few collaborators on your album, what is your dream collaboration?

[Grant:] I usually collaborate with my friends, which is what I like to do. I think it's good to be open and you have got to be humble and remember there was a time when you were trying to hit up these people. We have all got to grow and flourish together. But if we are talking about a dream collaboration I would have loved to work with Bill Evans, Marvin Gaye, or Paul McCartney. But as two of those cannot be done, I would love to work with Nona Gaye, Clairo, or BROCKHAMPTON. I think Gregg Alexander from the 90s band New Radicals would also be one. 

[Unpublished]: What song did you have the most trouble completing? 

[Grant:] Two of them, 'Chicken noodle soup' and 'Groovy girl'. I had those two songs for nearly a year and left them. 'Chicken noodle soup' the title actually came about because there was a can of chicken noodle soup on my table. It was random and has completely nothing to do with the song. That involved live string players at a college and that's why it took longer. It was the actual exchange that took a very long time to then sort out with the college, so it took a bit longer. For 'Groovy girl' we changed the whole song, me and my friend came in to help compose a little bit and we rearranged it. But we spent two weeks in summer completely rearranging it, but now I love it and I believe you can't rush art. I believe in quality over quantity.

[Unpublished]:  How do you think this album has grown since your previous album ‘Ruthless’ two years ago? 

[Grant:] This new album has a lot more music theory. Back then I was just making beats and I was just having fun and it was more electronic music from those two years. But going to college and majoring in music, I spent more time learning how to compose and arrange. All these songs from the album have live instruments apart from 'She's gone' and 'Wistful'. From ‘Ruthless’ to now I'm more into using live instruments, I wanna bring back more the 60s rock era and five-minute songs vibe. I want to bring back an appreciation for the music and just letting it play.

[Unpublished]: How would you describe the style of this album?

[Grant:] I would describe it as a way of being true to yourself and looking into yourself and finding your own happiness. It's about being honest and loving, doing what's best for you are not caring what anyone else thinks. You have to make sure you're happy and not worry about anyone else.

[Unpublished]: Is there a song you are particularly proud of on this album, either lyrically or sonically?

[Grant:] Yes. I'm proud of 'Questions', the last song on the album, because that was all instrumental, with a live orchestra from kids at U of A. That one is currently my favorite as I'm playing the piano and my friend brought in a jazz trio and were all just jamming. It was a cool moment to see. I felt like the Beatles at Abbey Road.

[Unpublished]: When was the moment you realized you wanted to be an artist?

[Grant:] Yes, it was in high school. An artist called 'Skizzy Mars is a New York rapper and he has these songs called 'Numb' and 'Moment'. It was very ambient and chilled music and he was talking about what feelings are and living in the moment. It was beautiful and I thought I would love to talk about stuff like that so that's what got me really into music. Finding ‘BROCKHAMPTON’ and my friend 'London O'Connor' really helped me make music and guided me through the process. I did play the piano and guitar when I was a kid. But those were just me doing covers and me having fun, so it didn't happen until I really heard those two songs.

[Unpublished]: Where do you see yourself in five years? 

[Grant:] Right now, I see myself living with my musician friends in a house and living life to the fullest. It doesn't have to be luxurious. I've talked about living in Portland before and making music with my friends. I’m going with the flow but also making connections. Also applying to NYU or Brooklyn School of Music. The main goal is to be still making music and letting people understand you don't have to put on this mask for others.

[Unpublished]: What is your writing process?

[Grant:] In composition I start with the Chord progression and then build a melody with the bass and drums. For ‘Chicken noodle soup’ I started with the chord progression and from there I contacted a friend that plays bass to help. It involves the chord progression first and we build around that. I've been trying to challenge myself recently and start with drums. Kevin Parker from Tame Impala talked about how crucial drums are to his music and that's how the song ‘Questions’ became the way it was. So, every other song on the album is chord progression apart from ‘Questions’ which I built around the drums. On the writing side of it, I don't sing a lot, it's very rare, but for this year I have talked about me singing more on the tracks. I'll be aiming for 90s style 'King Krule' with the dark heavy voice aspect. Lyrically, there is a poetry aspect as well.

[Unpublished]: What is success to you?

[Grant:] I think success for me would be being happy with everything that I’m making. Money and fame don’t really matter to me, it's material and doesn’t matter. Being successful is being truly happy. Being happy is hard to come by and if you have that then that's true success.

[Unpublished]: Tell us about your new podcast.

[Grant:] Since Covid, I started a podcast called 'Grantastic'. Before Covid, I had this event called 'Groovy' which was a gathering of a variety of age groups of strangers where we made them home-cooked meals. Then, we would start a conversation and it would be very spiritual or deep, and it would be a way to help each other out. So, in response to Covid, I started a podcast called 'Grantastic'. Everyone so far has been in the music industry, but I would love to get everyone from poets to scientists. Anyone who would talk bout being true to yourself and what they have learned throughout their life and self-love. It's allowed me to connect with artists. It's cool getting to know artists and hearing them open up. I think it's important to open up and talk about these issues. I don't want anyone to be left in the dark and I like people knowing that they're not alone. That's what the podcast is about, spreading love.

Stream ‘Fundamentals of Love!’ now out on Spotify!