Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter Devan, who discusses her creative process, origin in music, new single, “Almost,†and more.
Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?
Devan: I’ve wanted to be a singer/musician my entire life. In college, I used to play coffee houses and open mic’s but I was looking for people to collaborate with. I met Khalid, the co-lead singer of my band Wild Rivers, through a mutual friend. We started playing together and eventually wound up becoming Wild Rivers as it’s known today. Review Fix: What’s your creative process like? Devan: It varies from song to song – sometimes I’ll write a full song on piano or guitar, and then produce it out from there, sometimes I’ll have a production idea and write to it, and sometimes I write full poems in my notes app that will eventually become a song. I also love co-writing because you get to create something from scratch in a room with people. Review Fix: What inspires you? Devan: Life, other music, movies, people. Mostly other artists that I look up to – Adele, Amy Winehouse, Frank Ocean. I’m most inspired when I first hear a song I love and I’m like “I wanna do something like thatâ€. Review Fix: What does music mean to you? Devan: It’s such an important part of my life. As a listener, it provides context for situations through other people’s lyrics, it can act as a soundtrack to certain periods or moments in my life, and it controls my mood. Most of my favourite memories are at concerts or festivals. As an artist and writer, it’s an outlet for me to process my feelings. It’s always challenging so it helps me feel like I’m evolving in the process of creating it.  Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you? Devan: I honestly still think I’m trying to figure it out. My goal would be for someone to describe me as sounding somewhere between Adele, Amy Winehouse and Frank Ocean… but I don’t think I actually do. Hopefully they describe my music as honest and good. Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work? Devan: I haven’t played a show as a solo artist yet, but I’ve been brainstorming lots of things for my live set. I’m excited to be able to do it once this is all over! Review Fix: What inspired your latest single? Devan: Feeling lost in your 20s and trying to balance a relationship with a career. As a musician it can be tough to commit to things because you never know where your career will take you. Kyle Reynolds (who co-wrote Almost with me) and I were talking about this and the song was born in a few hours. Review Fix: What are your goals for the rest of 2020? Devan: To create as much music as possible. Although the circumstances aren’t ideal, I feel like I’ve been given the gift of time. There’s never enough time to write and mess around in the studio, so it’s been really fun so far. Hopefully I’ll have lots of new music ready to go for 2021.  Review Fix: What’s next? Devan: More music! Keep an eye out for my next few singles coming out later this year. |
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