Review Fix Exclusive: Garrett Stevens Talks Evolution Beat’s Debut EP

Review Fix chats with Evolution Beat vocalist and guitarist Garrett Stevens, who discusses the band’s debut EP, as well as their goals for the future. A collaboration between Jennings and well-known producer and studio musician Kerwin “Shooter” Williams, Evolution Beat has a unique ska sound that’s cool enough for the underground scene and groovy enough for dedicated fans of the genre.

Review Fix: What’s the band’s creative process like? How does it all come together?

Garrett Stevens: As the songwriter/guitar player, I usually happen across some cool chord structures. If I find them interesting enough, I play them with a drummer or machine to induce a melody line. The melody line and the lyrics seem to come out of my subconscious mind. I usually do the chorus first…something like a sculpture with a blank stone to carve and an image seems to manifest itself as the carving continues. I don’t try and push the sound or the music it has to be organic and true to itself. After the song has been completed we break it down in the studio for recording. My producer Skooter Williams adds his touch at this point including bass lines changes or small adjustments to words which adds a different beat or color sound within the context of the song.

Review Fix: What are your live performances like? How are they different from the studio work?

Stevens: Live performances are energetic and about the most fun you can have on any given day. The exchange with the audience and the ability to move and release all the physical energy while singing and playing brings the music to its highest form. Live performance is real and intentional… its magic. Studio work it is just that…work. It’s really breaking the song down line by line, music track by track… finding the best delivery/performance of a line…doing multiple tracks of the same lyric line, overdubs to just to make it right. Then all the raw material has to be reworked / engineered for any flaws, remixed and then mastered. The process is somewhat tedious but very rewarding in that, as the artist, you start hearing the nuances in your voice such as diction and voice deliveries, tonal qualities.

Review Fix: Who inspires you guys musically? How does it play a part in your musical identity?

Stevens: My musical roots run deep in my family who are of Irish/Scottish decent and play Country Western. I find that a song inspires me when it touches an emotional note within my body and soul. I have never been a hardcore follower of music. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy certain artist. I’ve never wanted to have influences creep into my psyche. I always try to search for originality. Bob Marley, older ska bands such as English Beat for example. I listen to a lot of different genres. We opened for a band out of New Zealand called Sola Rosa and they were really cool and I was intrigued by the synthesis of electronics and traditional Funk / Soul sound they put out. That really sparked my interest in seeking an newer sound.

Review Fix: How was “Love Me More” written? Is there a story behind it?

Stevens: I worked on “Love Me More” for about three years. It came together slowly but organically. It was written about a past time when I was in college days in San Francisco… There was color and a visual story I started seeing in my mind and just kept coming…it was slow.

Review Fix: What do you think makes the band special?

Stevens: I think that EB is an original band. I feel we have merged reggae, ska and pop to get an original sound that is distinctively ours. I do not write with a concept of “this is going to be a reggae song” in mind. The songs fall somewhere by the nature of the chords into a genre, but overall we don’t go traditional.

Review Fix: How do you want this EP to be remembered?

Stevens: Fun, Emotional, Real , Original , Colorful, Soulful, did I leave anything out? Maybe Danceable?

Review Fix: What are your short and long-term goals for the band?

Stevens: Short term, we are finishing up our EP and hoping to complete our video. We will be getting our live act back on the road as soon as we’re finished. Long-term will be doing live shows and continue writing new music.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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