INTERVIEW: Green Man Rising Stage Interviews Part 3 – Eva Bowan

Most festivals have a “new bands” element of some sort or another, but the Green Man really seemed to put a lot into programming and promoting their up-and-coming acts, and the artists they featured on the Green Man Rising stage were not only very varied in style but generally of a great quality. So I caught up with five of them to find out how it went and get to know them and their music a bit better. As well as Wyldest, the shoegaze/noise duo who won the Green Man Rising competition and got to open the main stage, I chatted to skronkin’ stripped back punk rock purveyor Charles Howl, experimental soundscape artist Eva Bowan, darkly playful producer/multi-instrumentalist Syd Kemp, and snakey-basslined indie/psych charmers Memory Clinic. So come on in and meet some of your new favourite bands (or mine, at least)…

Eva Bowan

Congratulations on your set – how was it for you?

It was really good, I really liked the sound, it was nice. For me the sound and the set-up is quite crucial, so I always enjoy it more when the sound guys are doing a good job, and they definitely were this time.

Your set is quite tech heavy, isn’t it?

Yes, so there are quite a lot of different frequencies, and it’s good if it is spread nicely.

Is this your first Green Man, and are you a fan of festivals in general?

Yes, I only heard about it from my boyfriend and he said it was a really nice festival, probably his favourite actually, so I was quite excited to come and see it all. And yeah it was amazing – I would like to come back. I do really like festivals, but I’ve had quite a long break. I went to more back in Poland, where I am from, than I have done in the UK, because I’ve been quite concentrated on studying and making music. I’ve invested quite a lot of money in buying equipment, rather than going to festivals. So it’s nice to be here after this long break from it. It’s lovely, especially, not to have my laptop with me, as I’m quite a slave to my laptop, so it’s good to cut loose!

Have you always been into making electronic/experimental music, or is it something that you discovered/developed through other styles?

I think my way into this is a little bit weird, because I come from visual art, really – for my whole life my thing has been just drawing and painting. But I had this need to make music, since I was a kid. And then it started to grow and grow, but I didn’t know how to go about it. I only knew I could sing, so I studied vocals but then I changed to songwriting when I realised that I actually understand music and instruments. I don’t have a main instrument – maybe vocals – but I am able to write on guitar and piano. I think the way I approach music comes from visual art. That’s why I got into the production side and started to make sound collages, and experimental music. Because it just seemed a natural progression after what I was doing. Painting with sounds, really.

Your music seems quite filmic; do you find that you are inspired by film, along with the other more visual art forms you’re inspired by?

I am definitely very inspired by films. I love quite experimental cinema, where you have a lot of images and the music is equally important, and there’s not even necessarily a lot of talking. I love The Color of Pomegranates, it’s a ’60s film by Parajanov, and it’s amazing, really experimental; it’s really carefully built, every scene, and it’s heavily based in visuals, and it doesn’t actually have any electronic music in it but definitely the music really complements it as there is not much talking.

Do you ever combine the art forms, with visuals as well?

The thing is, I normally have a whole visual set, to accompany the music, but for festivals it’s quite difficult to technically sort it out. So Green Man is one of the only ones I have performed without visuals – I feel the sound is quite experimental so it’s good when people are also fed with images. But I think it’s probably quite interesting to go on a journey in your head, too.

Where do you find the sample sounds from in your music – do you play them yourself, use found sounds, field recordings, etc?

I love redesigning sounds. I love very randomly taking samples from things and then tweaking them and turning them into something completely different. I do also play some layers on the synth, or I even also sample very everyday objects. I also love using free samples – like field recordings for example – that people just put out there on the internet. I feel there is something very romantic about using, you know, maybe someone has recorded some church bells in a village in France, and I can put this in my set. But I also record a lot of field recordings myself. I am obsessed with sounds. Some of the songs I start off playing guitar as well… it is a very unpredictable process. I can start with maybe one sample that makes me think of something, and then I do whatever I think is best for the music.

What has been the highlight of your year so far, and what are you looking forward to in the near future?

Well it probably is the Green Man, because I also haven’t had a holiday this year! And I haven’t played a festival before, so it’s a new experience. I only started playing live in March. So this would definitely be my peak so far this year. It’s been really amazing.

Where can we catch you live next?

I’ll probably play more in Brighton, where I live, as I haven’t wanted to play too much there initially as it is quite a small scene. I’ve mainly been playing in London. And I’ve also written an EP so I want to put it out soon.

Anything else you’d like to tell Gigslutz readers about?

Well, if I wanted to be particularly self-promotional, I would say people should check out my visual art, as I think it complements my music and it makes what I do more understandable. You can find me on my website but I’m everywhere on social media too.

– Find out more at www.evabowan.com