You may have remarked that Evdokim is on our list of the best emerging artists for a while now. With incomparable productivity and creativity, the rapper is not ready to slow down anytime soon.
His offering is a highly anticipated release entitled “Stay with me”, a perfect single to start the new season, immersed into a real and original musical moment.
From the first note, we were surprised and impressed by the artist’s flow and vocal tone. Haunting and unique, the performance is never-heard-before and proves that Evdokim knows how to reinvent himself artistically.
Press play right now and enjoy:
1- Great to have you on our blog. Please, introduce yourself?
Thank you for the opportunity to be on! My name is Evdokim and I am an independent artist, originally from Serbia, but I live in Zurich, Switzerland at the moment.
Being born in Zurich, I lived in Switzerland at the restaurants my parents used to work at, until I was about twelve. As a little kid I would sneak into the kitchen to listen to my pops sing melodies while he was spinning and stretching pizza dough. It was a rare, but special occasion. I guess that's where I got my musicality from. He was actually the one always pushing for me playing the piano. But we will come to that.
Then we moved to Serbia, where I spent my teenage years in a little town called Velika Plana.
After I finished my base schooling, I moved back to Switzerland and started studying Biology.
About 4 years in, I dropped out and had no plan what do next. Then I watched a movie called Interstellar and was so fascinated by time and space bending that I thought to myself I should have a go at studying physics. Side note : Back in school that was probably the only class I hated, besides math's. My father thought I should go see a psychiatrist the first time I told him about it, as I dropped out of biology, which in his eyes should've been easier than Physics,
However, it turned out to be a good decision as within three years I had my degree.
No matter the circumstances, put your mind to it and eventually you'll get there. That's exactly the feeling I have about my music now. It'll take time, but we'll get there.
2- What got you into music and made you realize that it was your chosen path?
My parents pushed me to it with classes. I could read music notes on paper before I could write or read letters. I played classical music for many years of my life, however I never connected with that type of playing an instrument. I love classical music, but not playing it. Too many rules. Too perfect. Throw in your father asking you to play it whenever friends and family would come over and you get that love and hate relationship, more on the hate side though. Many years later I listened to John Coltrane who introduced me to Jazz, which I felt was more my style. I worked with a good friend of mine on some music prior to this. Then he tragically past away and I put the music down for good.
Time passed and my mind was focused on other things, when one day, about a year ago, as if he whispered into my ear, I thought to myself, why am I not doing music? Then I got myself a DAW, watched a couple out YT videos and got to work. From that moment, I finally found the music I wanted to play. It was composing and writing that I always wanted to do. No rules. No perfection. That's creativity to me. It's funny now, thinking back, that that never crossed my mind throughout years and years of grinding the keys. I guess the time comes when you're ready.
3- Tell us about your new Single. And what’s the story behind it?
I wanted to create something for me and my friends to be able to listen to while we chill out at night, smoking. The night is probably the most wonderous thing this world has to offer. Its the night that brings out reflections of the day, the reflections of your life. This single is just that, a reflection of my life. Its not always easy for me to see the point in it. Not always easy to see what's important and what not. The thing you enjoy doing makes it worth living though, in my case, that's music. A major influence on this project are some of my favorite movies, like Fight Club, The Truman Show, The Matrix and Donnie Darko. These movies display the truth that lies in the darkness we often shy away from.
4- What makes your music unique? How would you describe it?
F**k if I know. I don't try to be unique. I try to bring out my deepest fears, doubts and enjoyments that I had, have and think will have. That's what you sign up for. Raw emotions. Unfiltered. I do however try to discover new sounds, drum patterns and experiment with
instruments, so that I can bring you something fresh and not the trend formula, which I feel gets recycled too often these days. You can see that from my first project. I got it all. Old school, trap, pop and a reggaetón track among a rave rap song and a lofi pop song which
I experimented with. My new project will show off another type of sound. A more darker, distorted one. Cadence wise, I am like a wanderer, which my next track Heartbeat will showcase.
5- What advice would you give to aspiring musicians?
I'm not sure if I'm in a position to give advice at this time, as I'm still fairly new to this game, but I can tell you what I did and do and the advice I follow.
Get a good standing on your own first, meaning find a way to make money and secure yourself. After that get the equipment you need. Nothing too crazy, a pre amp and a mic is all I got, besides a pc, two speakers and a midi keyboard. Then its only up to you really. Create what you want to listen to and put your all into it. Don't compare yourself to anybody but yourself yesterday. If you're better than that person, you win. It's really not that deep.
The best advice I've heard is "Don't try" from Charles Bukowski. Meaning if the grind and the craft is not waking you up in the morning before that alarm goes off, if its not getting you excited every time you think of it and if you don't dream about it in your sleep, then don't do it, because you will fail.
6- Who are your biggest musical influences? And any particular artist/band you would like to collaborate with in the future?
That's a tough one. To hip hop it was definitely 50 Cent that drew me in as a young kid. However, I remember even before that, my friends older sister, which, obviously, I had a crush on, had this big poster of a man standing with his hands behind his back. He had this smirk on his face that was hard to look away from. I had never seen him before, yet felt some kind of familiarity towards him. I was awed by the markings on his body, again, never seen anything like it. A big one across his stomach that said Thug Life.
Until the end of time was my favorite track of the same named album. I was around 10 years old and I didn't understand a word, but there was that emotion I felt connected to. Years passed, with me not listening to 2Pac, however, I came back to it once I was older, almost exclusively listening to his tracks for years. Now I understood what he was saying, and that emotion I felt back as a kid, I felt that much stronger. The greatest to ever do it in my opinion. He just had it all. The things he stood for, his energy. Unsurpassed. We have greats now, but...its not even close. No one has an opinion anymore, and the ones who have it, are too afraid to say something, because that might offed somebody, even if its the reality of things. Facts don't matter anymore, because feelings took over that role. Its sad really, the thing people used to fight for, to me it seems, are now the same things that hold back our society. A theme I'm taking on in my next few tracks.
If I could work with someone in the future, it would be Eddie Vedder. Pearl Jam has grown on me when I was a teenager together with other grunge bands. But his melodics to me are unsurpassed. That rawness in his voice. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. Grunge has definitely a spot in my heart that is on par with rap and it will show in one of my future projects.
7- If you had one message to give to your fans, what would it be?
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for sharing, thank you for showing me to your friends, your family, your neighbors. Thank you for everything that you're doing to get the word out. I got you on my radar, meaning once we get to the top, I got something special for you.
8- What’s next for you? Any upcoming projects?
Its music every month 'till the wheels fall off. I got a video coming up hopefully soon, so keep an eye out for that. Tapping into the lofi sphere at the moment, I'm preparing a whole project that will carry that influence. On the other hand, I got a surprise project that I'm working on as
well. I think that could be the one. But I think that for all of my songs, hah. Only time will tell. I just want for us to have a good time. The rest will fall into place anyway.
Pre-save: https://evdokim.lnk.to/heartbeat
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