{"id":41191,"date":"2014-01-22T16:20:18","date_gmt":"2014-01-23T00:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/?p=41191"},"modified":"2017-12-11T07:38:53","modified_gmt":"2017-12-11T15:38:53","slug":"nightmares-on-wax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/nightmares-on-wax\/","title":{"rendered":"Nightmares on Wax"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nightmares on Wax<\/b><\/p>\n

Interview with George Evelyn AKA DJ E.A.S.E.<\/p>\n

Interview and introduction by Ray Stevens II<\/p>\n

Photography by Patricia Fung<\/p>\n

“I use music as that channel to raise the vibration and that vibration is to remember who we really are.” – <\/i>DJ E.A.S.E. – Nightmares on Wax<\/p>\n

George Eveyln aka DJ E.A.S.E. aka Nightmares on Wax founder has released his newest and quite possibly best release on the WARP label. He has been producing his musical art for them for 23 years now. Feelin Good is the title and “the sonic soundscape into feeling good.\u201d The album has ambient moments in the meditative ‘Om Sweet H(Om)e’, the rubber funk of ‘Eye (Can’t See)’ and the super uplifting ‘Be. I Do’ (The Planty Herbs remix of this tune is also worth seeking out.) As good as the music is deep, George is deeper. Reflecting on all kinds of topics in over thirty minutes, our conversation was one of the highlights of my year. George talked about the right to feeling good, “It’s simple in a complicated world, and recognizing ourselves through musical vibrations. I use music as that channel to raise the vibration and that vibration is to remember who we really are.”<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This new record is so good, and it’s always positive. You have a cool message that most artists don’t have. I look forward to your new releases like, “What’s George going to say now? How is he looking at things?”<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m just trying to remind people, in the world that we live in, it’s easy to forget about ourselves, and worry about the outside too much, when it is the insides that need the attention. That’s really what this whole Feelin Good<\/i> thing is about. It\u2019s only a thought away. It’s just if we choose to have that thought or not. We all have tests in our lives. We all have challenges, but we still have a right to feel good, no matter what\u2019s going on. That\u2019s the real thing that’s been opened up to me, which I want to share with everybody else. You have a right to feel good. It’s really simple in a really complicated world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You live in Spain now. Has that shaped the way you look at things now compared to where you\u2019re originally from?<\/b><\/p>\n

Your environment definitely affects you. You’re a product of your environment, aren’t you? Your reality and surroundings are a reflection of you as well and affect your thinking. Moving to Ibiza has changed my life. The George Evelyn that left Leeds, I don’t know where he is now. The George Evelyn that sits here right now, I don’t know who he is ever, but I am going to enjoy finding out. I don’t think the importance is in knowing. The importance is in discovering yourself. That’s why I say that. I think we spend our adolescence trying to build up to be something, or trying to be that, then we find out later that that’s not it at all! That’s not what we really believe or that’s not what we really think. We all grab little bits. “Oh yeah, I will have a bit of that and a bit of that.” Later on, it doesn’t fit in to anything.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We just keep evolving.<\/b><\/p>\n

The only thing that’s constant is change. Change can be frightening. I am not gonna say that it’s not, and that’s what most people are afraid of, even when they are in their secure state of living, but they are not happy. They\u2019re afraid of change, because they think their security is what is looking after them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They get used to their comfort?<\/b><\/p>\n

Yeah, but they are not comfortable! This is the bizarre thing! They are not happy where they live. They are not happy with what they are doing! Is that really secure? It’s just a really, really funny, twisted way of looking at things. It’s like securing the future, invested in fear. But no, this journey is just about reminding that there is a lot of healing going on in this tour. I don’t think it’s just what we are putting out there. It\u2019s happening within ourselves as well. As much as you want to go, “I wanna shine the light! I wanna raise the vibration!” And then you find out, “I need this to check myself. It’s an all around thing. It\u2019s not a one-way thing.” It’s about raising the vibration. To me, it’s important to believe in the good! People can go, “You can’t be positive all of the time.\u201d Well, that’s your choice! If anything, we have a choice. You can say we don’t have a choice, but then you have chosen to not have a choice! It’s still a choice! You know what I mean? I believe in this planet that we live in. I believe in this world that we live in. I also believe it is up to individuals to change it. I don’t believe it’s anything to do with government. I don’t believe it’s anything to do with authority. It\u2019s none of that! If you’re looking out there for somebody to sort it out, it’s not going to happen. It\u2019s up to us individually. I chose music as the channel to raise the vibration, and that vibration is to remember who we really are, right, good. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here. I mean, this planet provides for us. We are here. We are meant to be here. We can celebrate that and enjoy that. Then that can only create more of the goodness. The more we sit and complain about it, like, “This is bad, this is wrong!” We are just feeding all of our energy and attention into the negative realm. And that negative realm will exist as long as we invest our attention in it. That doesn’t mean we don’t have to have compassion or that we don’t have to recognize suffering, but our recognition of it doesn’t mean that we need to sponsor it. What’s our perception? What’s our next step in this reality? What’s yours today, when you get up? Is it going to be one of good? How are you going to see things and let things affect you? I don’t believe any thing is not meant to happen. If that were so, it would not have happened. I just think that we easily get into this victim role, which the media feeds to us. We see all the problems in the world and think the government has got to sort it out. We have bought into the habit of doing that. Then the government does tell us what we need, and that we don’t know how to look after ourselves, but they are trying to protect you and make you secure. While they do that, they are going to take every little piece of you away.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yeah, there is some strange stuff going on.<\/b><\/p>\n

Do you know what I’m saying? What’s freedom? What’s liberty? It’s all inside us. It\u2019s not out there. As long as we keep thinking that all of these policies and all these things, are the things that are going to sort us out, I just think we are being lazy really. You think it\u2019s up to somebody else, or it\u2019s somebody else’s fault. Either way, you\u2019re still giving all of your power away. That\u2019s why I don’t believe in leaders. I don’t believe there should be any leaders. It’s up to us. It really, really is up to us. It’s not about people following us. It\u2019s not about us following people. It’s a collective movement in that sense. That’s why we say, “If you come to a show and feel what you’re feeling, take it out on to the streets and spread it around!”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That last show that you played in S.F. in 2009, I was buzzed for weeks. All of my friends were that were there. And I told more people about you than ever before. <\/b><\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"George<\/a><\/dt>\n
George Evelyn AKA DJ E.A.S.E. – San Francisco, CA. 2013. Photo by Patricia Fung<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I would tell them about anything that you were putting out new, like re-mixes and everything. It\u2019s for real. And you had a great message last time that I talked to you. I can feel it every time you put your tunes out. It\u2019s super dope ambient stuff and then the funkiest shit out there with Bootsy and stuff. You\u2019ve got all kinds of styles.<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s about making music with freedom. It\u2019s all about freedom. When I said there has been healing going on, it was therapy for me, doing this album. I was asking myself, \u201cWhat is this relationship to music? What is my connection to it?\u201d I wasn\u2019t asking myself in a way that I expected a logical reaction to be there. I\u2019m asking myself on a deeper level. What is my relationship to music? On top of that, what have I got to say for myself? It\u2019s not like, I want to say this or do that. As that process was going on, it was being revealed to me. It\u2019s like a therapy thing. Through doing that, I started to reminisce about certain memories I\u2019ve made or certain scenarios that have been in my mind, whether it\u2019s live shows or Djing or partying with friends, whatever they were. Whenever I started reminiscing, I slipped into this state of feeling good. I started thinking about that and I was like, \u201cThat just shifted where I was from into that. The moment I shifted into that memory of feeling good, I was in a state of feeling good.\u201d I started to think about feeling good. It\u2019s like everyone deserves the right to feel good. It\u2019s everyone\u2019s sovereign right to feel good. It doesn\u2019t matter who you are. Then I started going into this whole thing, of thinking that\u2019s not even that far away. Surely, we\u2019ve all had a moment in our lives where we felt good. It doesn\u2019t matter how long. It could just be that moment, when you laughed at something or whatever. So, therefore, if you think about that moment, immediately you shift your whole being. Our body is a conscious thing. It doesn\u2019t know about past, present and future. Whatever it experiences, it experiences right there and then, so that\u2019s what we feel. If you can shift yourself into that zone of feeling good, then you\u2019re already there. When I think about these magic moments in music, I remember feeling good at those moments. That\u2019s when I realized that this is what I have to say for myself. I want to make my sonic soundscape to feeling good because that\u2019s where I am. I believe that anything you make with a pen or making music is a reflection of where you are. I wasn\u2019t going to call the album Feeling Good<\/i> at the time, until this revelation started happening. Then I was like, \u201cThis whole idea of feeling good, imagine taking that to the stage.\u201d Then you can get people feeling good. Then I imagined doing interviews like now, and I started to talk about where we are right now. Are we in the state of feeling good right now? We are. I\u2019m like this is a snowball. This is it. This is the shit. This is what is meant to be happening. It\u2019s not like I have a master plan. Whatever the inspiration, and what I\u2019m channeling now, I just have to go with it. This is what is going to be it. It\u2019s actually trusting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

People are going to try to shoot down the idea of feeling good. Do you have people that are critics like that?<\/b><\/p>\n

Even that\u2019s been really good. Some of the interviews I did in Germany, people were like, \u201cDon\u2019t you think that the idea of feeling good sounds a little bit cheesy and clich\u00e9?\u201d I\u2019m like, \u201cWell, that\u2019s up to you. It\u2019s not up to me to decide what it might seem like to someone else.\u201d If I thought like that, I wouldn\u2019t be able to make music. If I were making music wondering what people were going to think, that\u2019s not the way to make music. That\u2019s what I\u2019ve learned. You have to make it for yourself 100% and then you share it. It\u2019s not a preconceived thing. It was good being in interviews where I was being cross-examined about what I was saying, because, as I\u2019m talking to you now, I\u2019m talking to myself and I\u2019m learning about the way that I interact with them in that situation. What are my responses? Is my ego going to step up or do I even need to react? Do I need to protect what I\u2019m saying? Nobody has to believe this. The importance is not in that at all. It\u2019s more about what you feel now than anything. The words of me getting this across are on such a basic level that when you experience the show, it will be beyond the words that I\u2019m trying to put out there in this interview because it\u2019s what we\u2019re going to feel.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBe. I Do\u201d might be one of my favorite tunes on the record. I\u2019m not totally sure of all the lyrics, but I dig it. I feel it, that beat. It\u2019s killer. That \u201cPlanty Herbs\u201d <\/span>remix is killer. I don\u2019t know what else you have going on with that tune, but can you talk about that?<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s interesting that you picked that tune, because I was in the process of writing songs, and I met Wolfgang Haffner,<\/span><\/b> the jazz drummer from Germany. The way we met was random. He was playing in Ireland and he came over to jam with me at Wax Da Beach, and then we got in the studio, and did about five tunes, but that was the first tune that we did. Then I sat on the tune for about two years. Then I was coming back from travels with my family and I was in the Madrid airport and I was listening to the loop on that track and then the lyrics came to me. What happened was that I was thinking of different people to get to do it and then I was like, \u201cYou\u2019ve got to do this yourself.\u201d When I came to deliver all the demos for the album, I held that track back, because, I\u2019ll be honest, I was nervous delivering the album, and I\u2019ve never been nervous in my life. I was like, \u201cWow. This is amazing. After 23 years of being at Warp, I\u2019m nervous about delivering an album. But it felt good.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Were you nervous they would say no or they wouldn\u2019t like it?<\/b><\/p>\n

Whatever that is, that fear that was brought up inside me was good to me, because I wasn\u2019t taking it for granted. It felt like my first album.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sure.<\/b><\/p>\n

So I delivered the album and the label was going crazy about the album. Then I sent \u201cBe. I Do\u201d and the reason I didn\u2019t send \u201cBe I Do\u201d was because of my vocals. Now the irony of this is that I am writing a song about being myself. [Laughs] Here I am being nervous about giving them the track about me singing about myself. I delivered the track, and they went ballistic over that track and they were saying that it was the best thing that I\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wow. <\/b><\/p>\n

I just went from there to there. Like I said, it\u2019s like a healing thing. It was a self-realization of the old me and how I would be in process of making an album or how I\u2019d been in the past about my music, and just how much I\u2019ve changed. I\u2019ve always been super protective. I\u2019ve always been a control freak, and all of that started to disappear. Whether that was working with the composer and trumpet player, Sebastian Sadavinski, I never go in the studio with anybody that I don\u2019t know. That came out of a conversation with Wolfgang Haffner. Wolfgang needed to get him over to co-produce his Heart of the Matter album. I said, \u201cYou know what? I want to get some orchestration on this album.\u201d He said, \u201cI know an amazing keyboard player and an amazing trumpet player. Maybe we can both get him over here.\u201d I said, \u201cOkay, then.\u201d I went into the studio with someone I didn\u2019t know, which I\u2019ve never done before, do you know what I mean?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yeah.<\/b><\/p>\n

We just clicked. It just happened. That was a new release for me. It was cool. Ashley Beadle mixed \u201cNow Is the Time\u201d because I couldn\u2019t get the mix. I always mix all my own shit, and I couldn\u2019t get the mix right. I was like, \u201cI should be able to mix this.\u201d But he did it exactly how I wanted it. That was another thing that just dropped way. That goes back to what I was saying earlier, about trying to control stuff. It\u2019s less controlling. There\u2019s more control in no control. It\u2019s true. The opposites are around us. There are loads of things like that in doing this album. The \u201cBe I Do\u201d thing was kind of a revelation for me really. I\u2019m speaking my truth, but I still have my ego trying to step in the way and saying, \u201cAre you sure you want to deliver that?\u201d It was really good to recognize that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Was it just your vocals or your lyrics that you were most nervous about?<\/b><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no hiding place when you\u2019re on vocals. It\u2019s as simple as that. I can make beats and hide behind my beats all day long. I think that\u2019s the truth of it. You\u2019re on the line. When you put your heart and soul into something and then it\u2019s being questioned, not by anybody else, but by yourself, it\u2019s very scary. The week before I delivered the finished album, I booked the delivery date to go to Warp and I\u2019m not even finished. I booked the delivery date because I needed to put this shit to bed. I remember I finished mixing one track, and the first few seconds, I was like, \u201cIs this any good?\u201d The moment I thought that, I wanted to shit myself, because I was like, \u201cOh, God, I can\u2019t believe I just thought that.\u201d So I had to wait for the answer. But to confront yourself with that after all this time, was like, \u201cWow. This is another new experience.\u201d I\u2019m used to going, \u201cHere\u2019s the box. It\u2019s done.\u201d Now I\u2019m going, \u201cIs this any good?\u201d There were lots of grand revelations.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"George<\/a><\/dt>\n
George Evelyn and Ray Stevens II in San Francisco, CA. 2013. Photo by Patricia Fung<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

There For You\u201d, I love that tune. Home Sweet Home\u201d is great. It\u2019s all there. It\u2019s a great album.<\/b><\/p>\n

Thank you very much. Thank you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019m stoked you\u2019re here in the city. I hope you get to come back soon again.<\/b><\/p>\n

Yeah. I\u2019m sure. We have a lot of unfinished business here I believe. This tour is showing us lots of things. He\u2019s always up to something new. Unless you\u2019re here, you don\u2019t really know. Then you\u2019re here. It\u2019s been four years since we came here.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Do you favor DJ or live band?<\/b><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t favor. If you would have asked me a few years ago, I probably would have a different answer, but now this is everything about making this album. As I was making this album, I was testing tracks out at the club, and I was like, \u201cOh my God, that\u2019s how I started in 1988, when I was running clubs. When I first started out in the clubs. Then you sign a record deal and start touring and you\u2019re DJ-ing all over the world, but no residency. No base. I never even thought about it. Next thing you know, I\u2019m the Best Club DJ for the last three seasons in a row. I\u2019m making this album and I\u2019m testing this shit out and I\u2019m playing with the drummer in clubs and doing loops and then going back in the studio. That was influencing what I was doing in the studio. Then I was like, \u201cOh, how can I forget this bit?\u201d I had my studio and all my records in one room. I\u2019ve never had that in 20 years, so my life is around me. I\u2019m touring and Djing more than I have done in a long time, and I love DJ-ing. With the album project and the live project, the last time we did the sound system with the live show. With the album, my goal has been to make the perfect marriage between analog and digital. They need to appreciate each other, and that was my mission with this album, sonically. With the live show, I\u2019m a DJ, so I come from a sound system background. I\u2019ve done the live bands and the little string sections and all that kind of stuff. Now I have to find the marriage between the sound system and the band. That\u2019s what the mission is there. That\u2019s what this show encompasses. There\u2019s even further that I want to go, and hopefully, when I come back, I will be there. Now I\u2019m looking at the marriage between all the things I do instead of saying, \u201cI do this.\u201d Or \u201cI do that.\u201d It\u2019s like where\u2019s the marriage? Once you start going into that, you discover even more and you\u2019re like, \u201cOh, shit.\u201d I\u2019m not even thinking of this, but now it\u2019s being revealed to me because these are all the things I grew up doing. Now it\u2019s time to bring it all together. I don\u2019t really segregate it out that much. It was interesting. I went to DJ in Denver when I was in the middle of a tour, and took a step out of the band to go and DJ and it was such a great gig.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You loved it just as much.<\/b><\/p>\n

Yeah. It was amazing. And getting the fans that came for that show was just mind-blowing to me. You just don\u2019t know. I have no idea about the anticipation. Then we\u2019re here and the shows are selling out. I\u2019m like, \u201cShit, man.\u201d I\u2019m really glad I don\u2019t know because it\u2019s really beautiful to experience it and be oblivious to it because you can really appreciate it more. There\u2019s something happening here.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

America loves you.<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just that. I see it in the movement as well. Everyone can talk about the EDM thing, and it\u2019s always been in music. There\u2019s always a hype going on. Over here, there is some amazing shit going down always. It doesn\u2019t matter how bad the charts say. It doesn\u2019t really matter. As long as you have something amazing going on underneath, always, generally, with people, I feel like there is a conscious shift going on. It\u2019s like a calling. People want something more. They want to feel something. That\u2019s when you have everyone standing up and saying, \u201cIt needs to be this.\u201d There\u2019s a collective consciousness that has shifted that way and it\u2019s good to come here and experience that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yeah. Thanks for your time. Have a great time tonight. I know we\u2019re looking forward to it. <\/b><\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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