It was a night at Red Rocks that opened up J.J. Evanoff’s mind to the audio blend of electronic and rock music. He was a teenager who was getting into the guitar, loving the playing of Pete Townshend and The Who, David Gilmour and Pink Floyd, and, of course, Jimi Hendrix. Then he caught Sound Tribe Sector 9 at the famed, Front Range venue and the style and sound of his band Evanoff was born, a sound that fuses power-chord heavy rock and the head-bobbing thump of electronic music.
Evanoff will perform at Animas City Theatre on Saturday. Also on the bill are Eminence Ensemble and River Spell.
“I was dabbling in electronic music in high school and got turned onto some different acts, nothing that great,” Evanoff said. “Then I went to Red Rocks, and I saw STS9, and it was the first time I ever saw a band implement electronic stuff with a full band, and I was like, ‘this is possible?’ I had no idea – that was what put me on this trajectory.”
If you go
WHAT: Eminence Ensemble, Evanoff, River Spell.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Drive.
TICKETS: $18, available at www.animascitytheatre.com.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.animascitytheatre.com.
That trajectory led him to the music program at CU Denver, where the meeting of like-minded musicians ultimately led to the formation of Evanoff. This current lineup, who in addition to guitar player Evanoff are drummer Jake Hall and keyboard and synth-bass player Brennan Forrester, have been playing together for the last eight years, dropping their latest release, “Live Volume 2/Live in Denver,” in this past fall.
It’s a hot, musical concoction: There’s an exploratory, dreamy and ambient side that floats between thick bass lines and guitar power chords, all held together by tight, driving drums. Fans of Bonobo, King Crimson, Yes or Ozric Tentacles would dig, along with anyone into technical metal or industrial-heavy, electronic music; it’s aggressive and progressive jam, it’s dark EDM, and it’s psychedelic metal, a fusion of sounds that drive the trio.
“I think what kind of brings us all together musically is we all grew up with rock and metal music. All the classics, but then the psychedelic stuff of the late 1960s, that’s what we bonded over, as well as our love for contemporary electronic music,” Evanoff said. “So, our sound now really is this middle ground between our roots and kind of where we see music headed.”
Where they see music headed is in an independent direction. More subgenres, more collaborations and overall more sounds are being created in home studios and garages around the world. The market is heavy, fully stocked and ready for customers.
“Due to the accessibility we have to media, now people can resonate with whatever sub-sect and subgenre they love the most, compared to being fed whatever is being played on mainstream media, like it used to be. Record labels connected with mainstream media, and that’s all people consumed. Now, we have access to all music in existence at our fingertips, and it seems to me that there are stronger fanbases revolving around smaller, more obscure styles of music, and everything is headed underground instead of mainstream,” Evanoff said. “That’s the beauty of being an independent artist now. You can now find your people no matter what genre you create.”
2024 plans for the power trio are to simply release product, as they currently have enough songs at the ready to drop a couple full lengths, or three EPs. All will be done without major label support or major distribution outlets; it’s the independent way.
“The goal is to release as much music as possible that we’ve been sitting on. We’ll take the spring off the road because we usually do a big tour in the spring and the fall,” Evanoff said. “But this year is all about getting music released.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
