“I want to write songs that move people and create music that makes people move.” Growing up in a small town of Bartlett, circa 40 minutes west of the city of Chicago, IL, E V Y N was continuously surrounded by music. From his mother’s Rock ‘n’ Roll and Worship tunes, his father listening to a lot of Jazz and R’n’B, to his brother’s Pop and Hip Hop records, there’d always been a variety of sounds around the house. “What drew me towards music was the fact that even as a child I wanted every significant moment and encounter with someone in my life to be soundtrack-ed by a song that reminded me of that moment. From there I realized I could begin to write my own soundtrack in a melodic formula.” It’s no surprise then that he tends to draw inspiration from films. “I consume a lot from watching movies. I like to go through old collections of films that seem to have a similar storyline that I resonate with. It helps me have this thought of ‘If the storyline of this song was adapted into a film, how would I want to write it? How would I articulate how I feel, musically?’”

His EP ‘Who Could It Be At This Hour?’ is set to release in August 2017 and E V Y N would describe his sound as ethereal and ambient Pop. “I like to tell people that it is music you can listen to while driving through the city at night.” The songs are intricate creations, different sounds combined into a whole that fills you with wonder; like observing the night sky whilst speeding down a highway or watching waves crash against the shore. He’d written the lyrics in less than a week whilst spending some alone time in New York City. He’d penned them in a stranger’s apartment in Brooklyn, the streets of Times Square and coffee shops in SoHo. His creative process is an ebb and flow, wrapped around the seasons of his life. “There are times where the lyrics come first, then the music follows or vice versa.”

Currently working on another musical project, it seems that E V Y N is bursting with creativity. Music is his primary love, he tells me, but he also loves graphic design and photography which is evident from his Instagram feed- soft pastels mixed with perfected whites; photographs combined with his own designs and snippets of his songs. “Art to me is a tangible representation of the deepest, most personal corners that reside in a creative’s heart and mind. It’s like handing the world your journal for everyone to read. Be it a song or something you watch, read or touch, they are reminders to me, that there is always opportunity to create something beautiful. To create something that will transcend beyond me for a greater purpose.”

You can find E V Y N on Instagram (evyn.domin),
Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/artist/0o3ZUXHeCr4A6zsXBN2KjV),
iTunes (http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1237797079?ls=1&app=itunes)
or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/E-V-Y-N-1085613438168012)

 

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Text: Maja Podojsteršek, Photos: E V Y N