Evie Bamford on finding connection over perfection with her own unique sound

For Evie Bamford, perfection has never been the point. Her new EP embraces the warmth, texture and small imperfections that come from musicians playing together, bringing her background in jazz and classical music into a rich indie sound. The build up to the EP won support from the Student Radio Network and a growing audience across the country. Slowly but surely, Evie is carving out her own place in Aotearoa’s alternative music scene. Ahead of the release, she answered our questions about the making the EP, finding her sound, and balancing life in the music industry with her own artist career.

Your EP feels organic and stands out next to a lot of music that chases the pursuit of perfection. Was this intentional and what did the creation process look like?

What a compliment – thank you! I would say it was absolutely intentional to have the music be grounded in a live context, with real musicians playing all of the parts. I guess this results in an organic and somewhat ‘imperfect’ sound. 

I always write all of my songs alone and in private first, solidifying the chords, melody, lyrics and form etc well before they’re brought to my band. Despite bringing them fully finished and realised songs, I am always open to their suggestions – I don’t want them to feel like they have no creative input whatsoever. All the musicians in my band are incredible players and I’m so lucky to have them!

I think the special thing about this EP was that pretty much all of the songs were written and finished before I even got a band together, so they feel really personal. I always knew that I wanted dense layers and a sense of fullness, and now that we’ve played together for almost two years and I know I can achieve that, my writing has definitely been informed by their individual musical identities. 

The SRN has got behind you in a big way. Why do you think your music resonates so well with this audience?

Gosh I have no idea but I’m really grateful! The SRN has been my musical community for as long as I can remember, so being recognised by stations I love and respect so much means a lot. I’ve been so informed by the music played on the SRN, which has undoubtedly inspired my own music-making – maybe that’s why! I think making music that’s (for lack of a better word) ‘alternative’ often means less public success – especially in Aotearoa – so I’m super thankful that my music has resonated with this audience.

Your background is in jazz and classical music, when and what led to the change of direction to a more indie / alternative sound?

I wouldn’t necessarily call it a change of direction – I was into jazz, alternative and orchestral music all at the same time in my early teens. I’ve always had a foot in two worlds with playing guitar and clarinet, so it felt really natural to bring all of these inspirations together when starting up my solo project. You can hear a lot of jazz harmony and chamber pop-esque orchestral layers, but I knew I always wanted to create indie music.

As someone who works in the music industry, how do your day job and career as an artist intertwine?

That’s such an interesting question! I think working in the industry has taught me a lot and granted me access to a lot of resources that have hugely helped my artist career. I’m lucky that I’ve had the opportunity to learn skills in my full-time mahi that are related to my personal project, but it can also be tricky having my work and personal life so intertwined. The Aotearoa scene is small, and that’s wonderful, but it can also be frightening. 

What does success mean for you as an artist?

The most rewarding part about releasing music for me is hearing how it touched someone, so that’s definitely my biggest indicator of success. Somebody told me recently that the bridge in ‘Daily Bread’ helped them move past something they were feeling anxious about, and I reckon that’s pretty epic. Of course success also means playing heaps of shows and being able to do this as a job too – I would be lying if I pretended it didn’t!

Now that the EP is released, what's up next for Evie Bamford?

I’m super excited to be going on tour after the EP comes out! But after that, I have a whole bunch of new material that I’m itching to get recorded – after a bit of a rest of course! As I mentioned before, my songwriting has developed a lot since I started this project and I think I am getting better at it. A lot of the new songs I’m really excited about, so I can’t wait to record them. To be honest I’ve had a bit of writer's block these last few months, I think just because I’ve been focusing so much on the EP promo, so I’m also looking forward to having some time to just create.