Hi, everyone! Recently, I sat down and talked with Matt Gibbs, one of the founding members of the Brooklyn-based garage rock group Evolfo. The group originally met while they were college students in Boston back in the early 2010s. Like past bazzreviews interview subject Guerilla Toss, these rockers got their start through the DIY scene outside of Boston, performing in a variety of DIY spaces. Since their shift to Brooklyn in 2013, they have been releasing music consistently and have found their niche in the underground circuit. Hearing about their music background made me very excited to reach out to the group, and I'm very glad Matt gave me his time to talk!
bazzreviews: Which artists or albums made you want to start a music career?
Matt Gibbs: When I really got into listening to and amassing my music collection, I was in 5th and 6th grade. Pop punk was really popular at that time. Thankfully, I escaped quickly from the clutches of that drivel and got into better punk bands like Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys. When you combine that with my jazz and funk obsession that was to follow, I think the resulting influence on my musical tendencies is pretty interesting. Other influences that can't go unmentioned are the glam rockers, like Bowie, Iggy Pop, and T. Rex. The showmanship and pageantry of that music really got into my system. From the very beginning of all this, I knew it wasn't enough for me to just listen to this music. For whatever reason, I needed to perform and try to make people feel the way I did when I listened.
br: How did you meet the other members of the band?
M.G.: We got our start when we were in school in Boston. We all met up to play basement parties and illegal backyard shows out in Allston. At that time, I just wanted to have a big, wacky funk band. I wanted to plan as little as possible and have as many members as we could to perform. I think the most we’ve ever had on a stage at once is twelve guys.
br: Your music is quite interesting, it’s almost like if garage rock, funk and jazz met. What made you want to shoot for this specific style?
M.G.: The main driving factor for me was to create something with a large group mindset. It’s crazy to see what happens when you bring seven guys together and all start creating. Genre-wise, I think we ended up straddling onto a bunch of different genres because we’re still searching. We don’t want to call it one thing and feel bummed out when we do the opposite. We just want to have options to make the best music we can.
br: I know you guys were originally based out of San Francisco, then Boston, but what made you guys want to shift from Brooklyn?
M.G.: I go way back with Evolfo, it’s been my project since my high school years. There’s been several different people, but this iteration is the longest-standing and most dedicated of them all. We all moved from Boston to Brooklyn in 2013, it’s been busy and we’re having a good time. There wasn’t any really any reason why we moved there, I guess just personal factors. Artistically, it was inevitable for Brooklyn to have an influence on us. Some people may think it made us more pretentious, but the music can still be fun and danceable. There’s no problem with dedicating more time and integrity to your music.
br: What is the significance behind the band’s name?
M.G.: Evolfo has taken on it’s own meaning. I like the way it sounds at this point. It implies some mysterious thing, or the group’s subconscious. If you look really closely at the letters, you’ll find it spells “of love” backwards. It’s nothing special. Love is cool and all that, but I liked having a word that wasn’t a word as our band’s name. That way, we could define it for ourselves.
br: Can you describe your process for how you make songs?
M.G.: We do it ourselves at this point. I’ll get the group together, and send them all the rough demos I’ve worked on. I’ll send them the words and influences that convey the vibe, if you will. I hope that from that, they can create a good sound. I’ll teach them arrangements on the fly, and we execute them to the best of our ability. We get behind Rafferty [Swink] (keyboardist and vocalist)`as a producer. That’s how we’ve been doing things with the album we’ve been working on.
br: You mentioned something about a new album, can you tell me a little bit more about what it’s got in store?
M.G.: Yeah, the new album is sort of a mysterious cloud on the horizon at the moment. I don’t want to say too much about it because it’s still defining itself through our hard work. We want to take as much time as we need. The new album is wild, though; it’s got some truly cinematic stuff. I don’t want to freak people out by telling them it’s something different, though.
br: What’s more important to you guys- lyricism, or production value and instrumentation?
M.G.: Damn, that’s a great question. I think that the best songs have lyrics that come with the the kernel of the song. When i get an idea for a song, I usually have the lyrics attached to it. A prominent example of this would be on “Moon Eclipsed the Sun”. We focused on lyrics primarily, and production took a back seat. The production, though, made me realize everything so perfectly. We wanted to shoot for something more lo-fi and dirty.
br: Which Evolfo songs would you recommend to those who haven’t listened to your music before?
M.G.: “Moon Eclipsed the Sun”, “Last of the Acid Cowboys” and “Peachy”. I think that’s a good smörgåsbord.
br: What music goals do you have for the future?
M.G.: I want to get this album out. Like I said, it comes with an asterisk. We’re pretty well along in the process of making it, we just want to put out the best possible music. I see no reason why we should be beholden to a timeline, because that will only stress us out. Labels completely respect our process, and have been very supportive of us. We’re having a great time making the music, and that’s all that matters. I want to grow to a bigger audience for sure, and pack more shows. I play for myself, but I want the audience to be feeling it too. If they’re happy, I’m happy. It’s kind of a give-and-take deal.
Thanks again to Matt for giving his time to interview, I had a great time speaking with him! His passion to dedication towards music are incredibly strong. For those who haven't listened to Evolfo's music, I hope that you check them out. Thanks so much to all my readers, more great bazzreviews content is coming your way soon!
To listen to Evolfo's music, go to https://evolfo.bandcamp.com/
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