WORDS BY
Jacqui James
EVERY ONCE IN a while I get to listen to a song which stops me in my tracks because it’s so different to what we hear consistently on the radio.
Sian Evans is a young singer/songwriter who has released her debut folk-fused EP beautifully titled “How Time Has Treated Thee”. Sian wanted to take the “less is more” approach, resulting is six tracks sounding raw and live.
The EP has Sian’s captivating voice singing her beloved covers (“Blackest Crow”, “Worried Mary”) along with her original “Take Me Home”. “Take Me Home” is a real sweet track (with Sian’s little cheekiness), featuring the banjo, tambourine and kickbox.
I urge everyone to support this young, vibrant artist by buying Sian’s EP “How Time Has Treated Thee” here. Alternatively, you can listen to Sian on Bandcamp, Itunes, Spotify, unearthed and airit.
As you read my interview with this extremely friendly lady, you will discover how intelligent and sensible (and wiser than some older people) Sian already is about life and music .
Hi Sian! How are you? I absolutely adore the sound of your debut single “Take Me Home”. The banjo is gorgeous and adds a kind of cute, cheeky vibe to the track. How did you develop your sound?
Hi Jacqui, thanks for getting in touch. Ahh, yes, Banjo! I love it! The song was drawn from some good inspiration side of the road coming home from Mitchell Creek Blues Festival. I was so happy I cried, so I pulled over in the middle of nowhere, ripped out my banjo and hit record on my phone and this song literally fell out. The sound is a mix of a picked banjo roll and traditional frailing styles.
Listening to your EP “How Time Has Treated Thee”, a wave of peace and tranquility washed over me. Your beautiful voice along with the simplicity of a violin (Close Your Eyes, I’ll be Here In The Morning”) is just exquisite. Is one of your mottos, “little is best”?
For this record “less is more” was definitely approached. due to time and budget, but also I wanted to offer the listener something that was very similar to my live show. Often I’ve bought records from artists I’ve seen live and just felt a bit sad about perhaps an over-production of the songs. So I wanted to keep it simple.
Where did you record the EP because it sounds live and crystal clear?
The record was made with my friend Govinda Doyle in northern rivers NSW. He has a really special studio under his house in the hills. It’s an old water tank he gutted and now it feels like a special little dungeon (without any prison vibe) with a timber floor. beautiful room sound. we always light tea light candles and stacks them on the stones in the walls for ambience. He’s also just mastermind with sound
Where and when do you write most of your lyrics? For your originals, do you write about personal experiences or are you an observer?
All of these songs are intact my interpretation of really really old songs except for Take me Home. Take me Home is the first dong I’d written for myself from start to finish in about three years. It was very personal, yes. And profound. The others are collections of songs other people have bought my way. Tradition American folk song “The blackest Crow”, The song “Close Your Eyes (I’ll Be Here)” is by Townes van Zandt song. I always relate it back to my son and putting him to bed at night. It’s very sentimental. I mean they all are. That’s why I re-did my own versions of them. As a respect to the person on the wings of which they came, the messages within the songs themselves and how they translated back to me.
How are you enjoying your tour?
Oh my word. I don’t want to give touring a bad rep, but it’s been intense at times. It’s all character building I suppose. I mean, I love seeing new places and people and it has facilitated this. Going to WA was fantastic. I can’t wait to go back over there. However I feel the other parts of Australia aside from Tasmania, I’m fairly done with at this time. I’m ready to head overseas ahead. But not before rooting myself back in Brisbane eventually for some grounding and writing and a bit of routine with earlier nights, less bars and more salad!
Can we expect an album from you in your future?
Absolutely. It’s in the works. Possibly not for a couple of years however. I did a track with some friends from Adam Eckerlsey Band earlier this year following Tamworth Festival. The keys and bass player call themselves “green beads production”, it’s a folk/country ditty called “Thorns” You can view it on my Soundcloud. I’d say that’ll end up on the album. I’m booked to record a couple of tracks I wrote with Bill Chambers at the end of last year, in October this year also, so they’ll work their way into the album mix as well. But I want to take this one nice and slow. Build it out and then up. Working with different producers for a bit of cross networking and changing up the sounds. I’ll be releasing a new single “cold feet” that I’m about to launch a crowd funding campaign for once this tour wraps up in September. It’s currently in Love Hz Studio in Sydney with a producer/engineer called Josh Schuberth (he used to play with Josh Pyke till he had a little one). I play banjo and guitar but I’ve grabbed a couple of other friends to jump on board including my fiddler mate from Brisbane, Gareth Mewes. My friend Mike Haydon on percussion (Thelma Plum, Matt Corby amongst others) I’ll be doing the film clip with Astro Video, the same guy that did the one for “Take Me Home” which resulted in a Queensland Music Design Award. So I think this will be my approach to singles for the next twenty-four months before I drop an album. I want to make sure I have all the resources and time and energy to push it once it’s dropped as you only get one shot with an album. And a debut album is a fairly large milestone.
Thanks Sian for taking the time to chat to me!
You can catch Sian on these following dates left of her “Take Me Home” tour:
Aug 29-30 – Maleny Music Weekend – Maleny QLD
Aug 21-23 – Townsville Culture Fest – Townsville QLD
Sept 6 – Carnival on Collins – Cairns QLD
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