Knock Knock<\/a>.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nEvian describes himself as a \u201cjack of all trades and master of none\u201d when it comes to his instrumental skills. He undersells himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI would play along to a drum machine and build from there. I did most of it alone, then I\u2019d have certain musicians send me performances because it was the deep part of COVID when no one was seeing one other\u2026 I\u2019d have a friend record some drums and send it to me and things like that,\u201d he shares. \u201cI play mostly everything on the record except for the drums\u2026 bass, guitar, saxophone (the instrument that I studied in school), keyboards, some clarinet\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFlute?\u201d offers Hannah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t play flute,\u201d laughs Evian. \u201cI wish I could play a flute! I\u2019m trying to get instruments under my belt that people usually want on records. Music is a language and if you can hear it in your head and communicate it with your voice then it\u2019s usually pretty easy to cross-communicate with different instruments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Evian was very specific with the sequencing of tracks, and it is the first five tracks that are his pride and joy. They are designed to seamlessly flow into each other, much like a DJ set. They are funky, downbeat disco numbers, slinky and sequined, sultry with a distinctive R&B soul groove to them. Cohen\u2019s gorgeous harmony on \u201cDream Free\u201d shows off her lovely voice, which is both smoky in the lower ranges and gorgeously warm and bright through the midrange. It partners perfectly with the deep, anchoring bass line and trembling, sunshine-blinding, woozy atmospherics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Evian and Cohen want to perform live, but both have also had time to reflect on how touring could be a healthier endeavour. \u201cIt was interesting because we\u2019d been hustling so much, Hannah and I, touring and having people here to make records\u2026then everything stopped\u2026\u201d Evian muses. \u201cMaybe going on a five-week tour is not the healthiest\u2026 it can be really destructive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor me, touring has always actually been an expense that I write off on taxes, but touring has always put me in debt and Hannah too, has just paid off her debt from touring before COVID. I don\u2019t think people realise how crippling it can be to tour,\u201d he adds, rattling off the litany of travel costs, paying musicians, hotel costs, venue bookings, insurance and feeding everyone. \u201cTouring is really for the 1% of the music industry. It\u2019s for huge venues and stadiums.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBigger artists in the industry do really well, but we\u2019re not that big, so\u2026 we\u2019d both end up going into debt,\u201d he concludes. \u201cWe both love playing and it\u2019s been hard not having that catharsis of just playing music and speaking that language out on the stage with our friends and sharing that connection with people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Evian does have some shows lined up in New York, Washington, Philadelphia and Chicago. In the meantime, he and Cohen are cooking, dancing and playing with their canine \u201cpandemic baby\u201d to the soundtrack of Time To Melt<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cTime To Melt<\/em> is like a party, a disco. It\u2019s so funky\u2026 it\u2019s such a fun record,\u201d says Cohen.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAdds Evian, \u201cMost records I usually get tired of, but this one I still get a kick out of listening to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Follow Sam Evian<\/a>, Hannah Cohen<\/a>, and Flying Cloud Recordings<\/a> on Instagram for ongoing updates.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Sam Evian and Hannah Cohen shifted their lives from bustling Brooklyn to the wilderness and open landscapes of the Catskills, it was with the vision of an artist\u2019s sanctuary in mind. Their spacious and warm home, known as Flying Cloud, provided both a working space and a comforting retreat for their collaborators and friends. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":45103,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[573,305],"tags":[12742,12741,12724,12723],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SamNHannah.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45244"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/117"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45244"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45292,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45244\/revisions\/45292"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}