Interview with Dave Evans by Omar
Dave Evans ! Brother man ! How are you ? First off, let's hit the ground running, tell us all about what Dave Evans is all
about ?
I'm doing fine and boy that is some kind of question!! Everyone is so complex that it would take a volume to answer it. As far as the music goes well, for me it is all about the music and the fans and the performances and delivering the power, energy, dynamics and the conviction every single time.
Can't wait to see a show soon ! Your latest release SINNER has some truly kick ass tunes. Tell us about about this new release :
I got together with Mark Tinson whom I had written
songs with in the past when we were both in Australian
Rock Band, RABBIT, and we decided to collaborate our
song ideas and that he would produce the album for me.
We contacted several of our good friends whom we had
played with and rocked hard with in the past and we
all went to work and in three weeks we had the album
down.
Coming up with material in three weeks is highly commendable Dave. Coming up with Sinner, which totally kicks ass in three weeks, ROCKS. How involved were you in the overall Production of it ?
I didn't really have to do much as Mark knew what we
both wanted and we had worked together so well in the
past.
Good enough for me. How would you compare this release to others in Terms of what you've done with Rabbit and Thunder Down Under ?
This album is really back to basics, kick ass, hard,
Australian "in your face" Rock N Roll and every song
is just so strong that they all seem to be everyone's
"favourites".
I like them all as well, but if I had to choose one it would be Take Me Down Again. And what about A Hell of a Night ? Tell us about that ?
A few years ago now,I recieved a phone call from a
good friend who had an ACDC tribute band in Melbourne
(I was living in Sydney at the time) and he explained
that they were doing a special gig in 6 weeks time. He
told me that it was the 20th anniversary of Bon
Scott's death and it was a special show. He asked me
if they could fly me to Melbourne to appear and to
sing a few songs. As I had known Bon Scott before he
had joined ACDC and spoke to him privately after he
had joined, I agreed. Word got out about my appearing
at the gig and soon emails were coming in from all
over the world with best wishes for the gig and the
local rock radio station rang and asked me to come in
for an interview. I realised that this was bigger than
I thought it was and decided to record the even live
and to see if I could get a label to have it available
for the hard core ACDC fans who would want it. This is
what I did and it is available from Perris Records if
anyone would like a copy.
Hell yeah ! I'd like two copies. Now your guest appearance in 2003 with Blood Duster was a bit of a departure from your style considering it was more deathgrind/grindcore type music. Are we going to see more of Dave Evans in the thrashier music genres ?
I don't think so. I was just helping out a new and
young Australian band who asked me if I could just put
down a couple of lines on one of their tracks as it
would be good publicity for them. I went to the studio
and met them and just sang a couple of lines one of
their songs and wished them good luck with their music
careers.
I'm curious, do you think that music today, with its abundance of death metal and emo, and alternative rock, has lost it's pure raw edge ? Is it becoming so out there that it's going nowhere musically ?
The problem with a lot of the thrash metal is that a
lot of the musicians are playing for themselves and
their own personal egos instead of thinking of the
SONG ITSELF and what the song needs!!!!! Make the song
a great SONG and the fame and ego will go with it.
When you come up with a song, whats the first thing you have in mind ? What is the basis of a song for you ?
I usually come up with the hook line or chorus that I
know everyone will sing as soon as they hear it. Once
I have that then I write the verses to justify the
chorus.
Just to get an idea of your influences, what Bands
would we find in your CD Player right now ?
I am still a great fan of the classic, great masters
of rock like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, Free/Bad
Company. Led Zeppelin is to me still the greatest rock
band ever.
Do you play any other instruments ?
I have a guitar but only use it to help in song writing.
You were the original lead singer for AC/DC, that's totally cool in our books, so we gotta ask, in your opinion, since you were there in the beginning, do you believe you contributed significantly towards their sound or is your sound more influenced by what they contributed ?
The sound of the band always was a hard straight ahead
rock sound with the two guitar attack. We were all
influenced by the Rolling Stones, Free and Chuck
Berry. I am not going to take any credit for the
worldwide success of the band but I was there when we
had the first Australian hit single CAN I SIT NEXT TO
YOU GIRL? which was voted Australian single of the
year for 1974.
Any particularly crazy stories from those days that you can share ? How about something exclusive. Something you've NEVER told anyone before about the days when both you and AC/DC started out in music.
Malcolm Young and our roadie Rob and myself were
ambushed at the back of Chequers night club late one
night as we were leaving by four members of a rival
group that had given us lip while we were having a
quiet drink. They jumped out of their car as they drove
up with their lights on and the engine still running.
The building right behind us was going through
renovations so Malcolm picked up a length of wood that
was lying there, Rob picked up a brick and I grabbed
an empty coke bottle that was also lying on the
ground. The three of us started towards our "would be"
attackers and they turned tail and ran back to their
car and reversed at speed back up the alley way as we
hauled our missiles at them. We never saw them again.
I understand you'll be making an appearance at the
Bon Scott Celebration Concert in Australia where the
unveiling of the statue is taking place. What are your thoughts on this ?
A terrific gesture by the Bon Scott fans and by the
local Fremantle Council as Bon grew up there as a
young man.
We must say, in our opinion, that your music definitely stands on it's own. So we appreciate you putting up with the obligatory "humble beginnings" type questions. Now Dave, you've played quite a few shows with more to come, what stands out as the most awesome moment in your career ?
The first time I ever heard my very first recording
with AC/DC - CAN I SIT NEXT TO YOU GIRL being played on
the radio and it was on the hour every hour as it was
a top 5 hit at the time. I just couldn't believe it.
What a thrill that was. There have been many other
great moments that have meant more during my career
but that was and still is just a wonderful and
exciting memory.
We've got you on our Friends list on MySpace Dave !
How involved are you with the whole MySpace thing
considering it is THE most popular social networking site on the Planet ?
I do answer all my mail personally even if it is just a short thanks!! or welcome !! depending on the time I have.
And your MySpace headline : "King of the Badasses".
Care to explain that ?
I got that from the American Rock Fans. I soon
learnt that anything that was "badass" meant really
cool or really good. After my performances here and
breaking mikestands as usual and rocking the hardest
of fans and making them sweat that they would come up
and shake my hand and say "Man, you are truly the King
Of All Badasses" so I guess it has stuck.
So come on Dave, truth be told, you get lots of really hot pics in the mail from female admirers ?
Yep.
What's a typical week like for you ? What does Dave Evans do to party ? And to relax ?
I try to mind my own business at parties and stick with only good friends as I do get asked a lot of questions from fans and it is hard to really enjoy myself and to relax with a lot of strangers about. I like to read novels by Steven King and Dean Koontz and general World history. I love to travel as a tourist whenever I get the chance so that I can actually see
the country and the cities and towns and to enjoy the
history of the places.
Where can the people find you on the Internet Dave ?
Give us a rundown of where we can get our sights on
your sites ?
My official website is under new construction at the moment as I have just signed with Destroy All Records and they have released my album Sinner in the USA and about to in Canada and Australia but rock fans can go to www.myspace.com/daveevansrocks for some great stuff
including some cuts from Sinner.
Okay, anyone that knows Metal monthly knows we gotta
ask the nonsense question, so here it is Dave, our
strange question just for you : If you were on a burning plane with Angus Young AND Jessica Alba, with one parachute, and it was yours, AND you could only save one, who would it be ?
That's a silly question and has only one answer -
Jessica of course. There's something about being a
gentleman when it comes to women. All men are taught
that aren't we?
Uh, yeah, sure Dave. That's what we say. Any special words for the people out there ?
Get your copy of Sinner and play it loud and proud
and LONG LIVE ROCK !!
Thank you Dave ! You freakin' rule brother ! And I can say after this that you truly are King of the Badasses !
Thanks a Million !!!
