Musician • Artist • Poet • Animator • Inventor • Filmmaker

Evet Socrates — Biography

A Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary artist creating guitar-driven rock, electronic music, poetry, film, animation and visual worlds.

Biography

Evet Socrates is a Los Angeles-based musician, artist, poet, animator, inventor and filmmaker.

Evet Socrates has been creating and recording music since an early age, encouraged by parents talented in music and art. Early on, he was exposed to New Wave and Neo-Classical Metal, and his interest in guitar playing surged with an all-encompassing vigor.

Throughout his career, Evet has strived to maintain a balance between “tonality and technique” and to create not just songs, but works of art.

“I've always tried to go just a little further with the songs that I write, usually by going in unique directions with my riffs. I have many ways of writing songs, and it seems there's always something weird in there that sometimes throws people off. But if they give it a chance, people will start to hear the many levels with which I try to resonate, and feel they've made a discovery onto something new.”

His interests include astronomy, science-fiction and fantasy art, computer animation, vintage film noir and classic literature.

World Music and Expanded Horizons

Evet has striven to continually expand his horizons and draw upon any source that may yield new creative ideas and approaches. These include music from India, Europe, Arabia, China, Japan, Indonesia, Bulgaria and Bali. He crosses cultural norms and genres by using instruments, scales and forms from various cultures in his compositions.

Evet has long studied to gain a fundamental grasp of such music, so it can be integrated respectfully rather than used as a quick affectation.

“I always felt a need to go beyond the norm, so progressing to more exotic sounds was appealing. I love the Arabian Nights tales and the Adventures of Sinbad, as in the Charles Schneer and Ray Harryhausen films. I was exposed to Hindu traditions by some Hare Krishnas when I was six. Then the soundtrack to Cosmos in 1980 really opened my ears to Vangelis, Tomita and music from around the world. What would we have done without Cosmos?”

Musical Influences

Evet cites Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Big Hat, A Flock of Seagulls, Peter Murphy, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Tones on Tail, Bauhaus, Thomas Dolby, Gary Numan, Marc Almond and Concrete Blonde among his most important influences. He also names Duran Duran, Love and Rockets, George Michael, Pet Shop Boys, Nik Kershaw, Tears for Fears, Adam Ant, The Fixx and many of the artists who appeared on MTV's 120 Minutes.

Vangelis and Tomita were important as well. Evet was drawn to artists who played instruments while embracing electronics, visual presentation, atmosphere, hooks, lyrics and effects.

His guitar influences encompass Jazz, Fusion, Neoclassical and Flamenco players. He cites Allan Holdsworth for his tone and cinematic approach; Shawn Lane for a similar outlook and seemingly untranscribable ideas; Tony MacAlpine, Jason Becker, Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, Richie Kotzen, Ron Thal, Eric Johnson, Robert Fripp and Greg Howe, whose creative tapping offered especially important lessons.

Classical influences include Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, Debussy, Ravel, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and Holst, along with film composers Miklós Rózsa, Bernard Herrmann and John Williams. Electronic influences include Dieselboy, John Digweed, Photek, Kraftwerk, Delerium, Talvin Singh, Steve Roach and Bill Laswell.

Filmmaking and Animation

Evet is also an accomplished filmmaker, with more than 50 short films and music videos made available on YouTube.

“I love experimental cinema. I love the juxtaposition of abstract images to music. I get hypnotized and fall into a groove. That's why After Effects is so great: you can create layers of images, all with different opacities and blending options. I used to be accused of going over the top, but I learned a lot in art school about composition and color theory. So when I went back to Astrolux for the restoration, I was able to improve on it considerably.”

“I'd like to finally get some backing to do this work on a large scale, like all these things could be. See what I've done on my own; imagine what I could do with a real deal.”

Interview: Ensemblage

Q: How would you describe or define your music or genre? Who and what were your creative influences, musical or otherwise?

A: If I am asked to describe my music, I give what seems to be a useful statement for the purpose, but a general statement often falls short. With pop music being what it is, I may seem like an oddity, playing rock guitar alongside dance and drum-and-bass rhythms. I have stayed true to my influences and vision, so to some people it may seem dated because of a lack of context—but New Wave is still new to me. I seem to cross barriers others do not comprehend until they actually see me in action.

Q: Many of your albums feature artwork that is mystical or religious in nature. What are the creative influences? Is the artwork on your albums all your original work? Why do you use so much vivid imagery and color?

A: As a child growing up, I always looked for something deeper. Early on, I was introduced to Einstein and the Rig Veda, along with related artwork and charts, so I thought everyone knew about that material and would be open-minded enough to be interested in creations influenced by it.

My parents were creative and supportive and did not limit what I studied. I must admit that if it were not for the show Cosmos when I was growing up, it would not have been the same for me. Comic books also played a major part, with stories of other worlds, times, dimensions and religions. I spent countless hours trying to capture the cosmic feelings of a confused child in my drawings and music.

I believe art should resonate on many levels, not be limited by the prejudices and naïveté of an imposed normality in any present society.

Evet's Ten Favorite (Under-Rated) Guitarists

In no particular order:

Robin Guthrie

Cocteau Twins: “Pink Orange Red,” “Carolyn's Fingers.” His groundbreaking use of effects perfectly suited the nature of the band. It may look like he is not playing much, but the sounds are immense.

Paul Reynolds

A Flock of Seagulls: “Space Age Love Song,” “The More You Live.” Great echoed tones, melodic layers beyond power chords, innovative textures and E-Bow work.

Bill Nelson

“No Time Says the Clock,” “The Real Adventure.” Innovative and intellectual; his groundbreaking work with Be-Bop Deluxe is deeply underrated.

Daniel Ash

Bauhaus and Love and Rockets: “Passion of Lovers,” “Bela Lugosi's Dead.” Haunting and original effects created richly textured landscapes around Peter Murphy's dark presence.

Steve Stevens

Billy Idol and others: “Eyes Without a Face,” “White Wedding.” Rich textures, catchy hooks, custom rigs and techniques that set new standards for craftsmanship.

James Mankey

Concrete Blonde: “The Sky Is a Poisonous Garden,” “Caroline.” Soulful textures, Hendrix renditions, and Spanish and classical fingerpicking.

Nik Kershaw

“Roses,” “Easy.” Great tones and jazzy guitar riffs inside a richly layered rock context.

Paul Dean

Loverboy: “When It's Over,” “Lucky Ones” "Take Me To The Top" A Marshall, Fender and Gibson player with tasty tones, wild Wah, and strong feeling.

The Edge

U2: “Gloria,” “Bullet the Blue Sky.” His rich textures and ability to fill arrangements have influenced players around the world.

Marco Pirroni

Adam Ant: “Stand and Deliver,” “Goody Two Shoes.” A great ear for melody and classic tones.

Siouxsie Guitarists

Also essential: the guitarists of Siouxsie and the Banshees, including John McGeoch, Jon Klein, Robert Smith and others.

How to Smash the Box

Evet's guide to breaking out of creative limitations.

These ideas are intended for musicians seeking higher levels of expression. They draw on hundreds of songs' worth of experience and encourage artists to overcome comfort zones, widen their vocabulary and reach new levels of creativity and productivity.

Subjects Covered

Voice, guitar, bass, drums and synthesizers
Sampling, overdubs and harmonies
Chords, dynamics, execution and performance
Lyrics, mixing, arranging and theory
Winamp visuals
Music of the world

Voice

Where should one's voice come from—the throat, chest or diaphragm? The answer is the entire body. To get the most from a performance, feel it with your body and express yourself as though dancing vocally.

Vibrato should come from deep below and travel through the back of the throat to the surface. Exaggerate inflections dynamically and purposefully.

Keywords include control, diaphragm, whole body, vibrato, pitch, power, inflection, dynamics, emotion, harmony, counterpoint, range, balance and breathing.

Guitar

Widen your scope and find your vision. Explore basic interval shapes, open-string chords and two-note-per-string octave shapes.

Look beyond the first four chords, pentatonic scales and the idea that everything must be blues-based. Learn rhythmic inflections and grooves from reggae, funk, Spanish music, swing and big bands, Indian tablas and ragas, punk, New Wave, Bulgarian choir music, Byzantine church music, polka and Slavic dances.

The key is to maintain an open attitude and resist changing the channel when something new appears.

Winamp and MilkDrop

Spectacular MilkDrop visualizations can take listening to another level, allowing the listener to become visually and emotionally absorbed in real-time imagery that pulsates with the music.

Imagine sand dunes, stormy seas, fractal landscapes, journeys through three-dimensional Mandelbrot sets and other exotic worlds. Let each preset evolve with the music and observe how it interacts with the sound.

Original suggested settings: 60 seconds between presets, 60 seconds of added random time, blend preset 9, user-solicited 1, and hard cuts disabled.

Music of the World

The entire planet is a global jukebox, with rock music being only one page. Browse the world-music section of a library and seek artists that offer exotic ideas while retaining a rock edge.

Starting points include Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Vangelis, Delerium, Bel Canto, Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, Bill Laswell and Material, Makyo, Muslimgauze, Natacha Atlas, Prem Joshua, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Japan, Talvin Singh, Sheila Chandra, Shankar, Cornershop, Xmal Deutschland and Yoko Ueno.

Explore music from Egypt, India, the Middle East, China, Polynesia, Bali, Japan, Africa, Eastern and Western Europe, Scandinavia, Spain, Mexico, Greece and every other place that sparks curiosity.

Choose ideas and points of reference from this mixture and add them to your own vocabulary. To stand out from the crowd, each artist must endeavor to provide something unique, with a personal spin. The more ingredients in the pot, the more enjoyable the meal.

Open the Box Breakers PDF