Tori Evans: Minneapolis based singer, songwriter, and musician.
Interview conducted on May 19, 2021
By Dan Locke
Singer-Songwriter, Ukulele Musician, High School Student, Sugar Addict (could be drugs, mom)
You are a Minneapolis based singer, songwriter and Musician. What is your upbringing?
I was raised in the St. Paul suburbs with my older brother and sister. We moved to Minneapolis right around my thirteenth birthday. I’m very close with my family and they’re the biggest supporters of my music.
How did you discover music?
Music was always playing in the house growing up because my mom is a huge music lover. I’ve always loved to sing and started choir in fourth grade. I played Clarinet in middle school and my first couple years of high school and learned to read music, but always loved singing more.
How did you start to write music?
I started making up little songs when I was really young. I wrote my first finished song written down with a metaphor when I was seven. I started adding chords to my lyrics when I was 13 after I bought my first ukulele.
How did you get your first ukulele, and do you still have it?
I just sort of woke up one day and decided I wanted a ukulele so I bought one for really cheap online and just taught myself from Youtube videos. Yes, I do still have it, but I never play it.
I see you play a solid body ukulele. What is the make and model of it?
Vorson FTLUK-3
Describe your music.
I’d say the style of my music is mostly pop or singer/songwriter with influence from rock and blues. Most of my songs are about relationships, whether that’s romantic, friendships, family, or self.
What was your first performance like?
My first show that was not school related was Ukefest 2017 hosted and planned by Katy Vernon, another amazing Minnesota musician. I played three songs and I started vocal lessons to prepare. It was exhausting, but I crushed it and had a lot of fun.
Do you belong to any to songwriters’ organizations like the International singer-songwriter association, SESAC, BMI or ASCAP?
BMI
What makes a good songwriter?
Practice mostly.
And vulnerability
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
The first song I finished when I was 7 was called “My Song” and it will never see the light of day. It was about how I could live my life how I wanted and it’ll be different than yours but that’s okay
What is the process of writing your music?
I usually start with a progression or one line or a little melody. I sit down at the keyboard and try to figure out what I’m trying to say.
Who designed your logo?
My good friend and amazing artist Lucy Bell
How was it to play music in the snow?
Awful. It was 1 degree with a wind chill of -7. All of our fingers were numb and icicles were forming on the inside of the drums. Never again.
Tell me about the making of our album “Sonder”?
The songs were written over a couple of years. The oldest songs on the album were written in 2016 and the newest was written in 2019. My drummer and voice teacher, Jon Edington, helped a lot with preparing for the studio and deciding which songs would be on the album. I recorded at Wild Sound Studio in Northeast Minneapolis and I think they did a really great job of making my vision for the album happen. It was a lot of time in the studio and a lot of rehearsal with the band.
What is your favorite track on your album?
“Working On Me” if I’m feeling sad or “Cut Me Loose” if I’m not
What are you’re feeling about streaming music?
I think it’d be great if streaming services would pay musicians more per stream, but overall, I like streaming music. I don’t think music should just be for people who can afford to buy the songs or the albums. I think streaming is the most accessible form of music distribution so musicians will reach a wider audience and people can listen to a wider variety of musicians.
The symbol # is known as the number sign, hash, pound sign and a sharp sign in music. The symbol has historically been used for a wide range of purposes Since 2007, widespread usage of the symbol to introduce metadata tags on social media platforms has led to such tags being known as “hashtags”, and from that, the symbol itself is sometimes called a hashtag.
Are people forgetting that the # is a part of music?
No.
Sharps are everywhere in music. I don’t think anybody’s forgetting about it.
Digital vs. vinyl?
I like vinyl (you can buy mine at torievansmusic.com) but I do mostly listen digitally.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?
A song from my past in my head right now is Grace Kelly by Mika. It’s a fun song that was always playing in the house while I was growing up.
A song from further in the past in my head right now is an 18th-century Italian aria I’m learning for school. It’s called “Se tu m’ami, se sospiri” and it’s about not wanting to date this shepherd that loves you because then you can’t sleep around.
How is Berklee College of Music going?
I’m just wrapping up my first semester. It’s been really hard but I’m learning a lot and doing a lot of things I’ve never done before. I took a music tech course and learned about recording and producing. I’m learning about different types of music and different musical techniques. There are so many incredible musicians here it’s a little intimidating. All of the students are super talented and all the professors have really impressive and extensive careers in the music industry and have a lot of knowledge about how it works.
What are your plans after you graduate?
I’m majoring in Professional Music with a focus on songwriting, performance, and music business. I want to do what Lady Gaga is doing. She’s being herself, making her own music, doing what she loves, and using her platform to stand up for what she believes in.
If “Video Killed the Radio Star” do you think that the Covid-19 virus has killed live music? Do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
Covid-19 definitely hit the live music industry hard, but I don’t think it killed it. I think a lot of people are going to want live music as soon as it’s safe again. It will probably look different because the music industry is always changing and adapting, but I couldn’t tell ya how.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
I’ve mostly been focusing on my mental health and schoolwork.
How was it to be quarantined in the UK?
Boring. I was really excited to go to the UK and wanted to get out and see everything (while masked and socially distant). But It was okay because I had my boyfriend quarantining with me.
How do you stay healthy during the lockdown?
I only have contact with my “bubble” which is my family and my boyfriend and at college my roommate. I avoid crowds or eating indoors. I wear a mask anytime I leave the house, and if I see anybody outside of my bubble we’re masked and socially distant. Everybody on campus at Berklee gets two covid tests per week, and I got vaccinated as soon as it was available to me.
How was it to be in the UK doing the lockdown?
The UK locked down two days after my quarantine so it was a little disappointing but I still got to see a lot of beautiful architecture and do some touristy things when things opened back up.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
I don’t have a lot of hobbies. Most of my time is taken up by schoolwork and music so when I have free time, I mostly spend it hanging out with my family or going thrifting.
Is pay to play still a thing? Now pay to play also means thinks like playlist on the internet and opening slots for a major band on tour.
Not in my experience but probably.
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
If you can set it up, I’m down
Governments around the world are hearing the call of thousands of music creators and included protections for the music community in the omnibus bill. In addition to extended and improved unemployment benefits and small business loans for freelance creators, the package includes several bills which the Recording Academy, its members, and the larger music community advocated for. From the Save Our Stages Act, provided a lifeline to performance venues and promoters, to the CASE Act, which creates an avenue for smaller creators to defend their copyrighted works, Congress has ensured that both music creators and those who act behind the scenes to bring music to life are given the support they need during this difficult time.” Do you think this will save music venues?
I think this will definitely help. Music venues really need all the help they can get at this stage. I think it depends on the venue for whether or not this “saves” them and is the reason they will reopen when it’s safe but it will definitely help some venues that need it.
Did you know that the Grammys MusicCares can help artist? The MusiCares COVID-19 Relief has helped thousands of music industry artists and professionals during these difficult days. This is the most recipients helped, for any single event, in MusiCares’ history. The need remains great, and these unique times remain critical for music people. It has taken a community uplifting one another to get through this pandemic, and MusiCares has pulled together a list of additional organizations and resources to further support you. RELIEF RESOURCES. Have you applied for it yet?
I have not MN unemployment was expanded to help musicians so I’ve been getting support through that.
In the past if a musician stop doing music, they find a new career. For example, David Lee Roth from Van Halen became a licensed EMT in NY for 6 years, San Spitz (guitarist for Anthrax) became a master watchmaker, Dee Snider (Twister Sister) voice over work for SpongeBob SquarePants. If you can’t do music, what would you like to be doing?
Well ideally, I’d love to be a pirate, but I don’t see that realistically happening, so if I couldn’t do music anymore, I’d probably go back to college for biology and be a microbiologist.
What is your happy place?
Practice rooms
A lot of musicians such as Stevie Nicks, Bob Dylan, Taylor Swift, Journey, Def Leppard, and Shakira have sold their catalog rights within the last year. Bob Dylan sold his entire catalog for a reported $300 million. Once you get to the age of about 70. Publishing is far more lucrative than the mechanical royalties paid to artist based on sales, airplay and streams. A good example of this is Michael Jackson brought the rights to the Beatles catalog in 1985. And in the late 80’s the Beatles Revolution appeared in a Nike commercial.
The lump sums being offered by publishing firms are more tax friendly concerning estate planning.
Do you think you would be willing to sale your back catalog if someone like Universal is will to buy everything, such as all the rights to all your songs?
Only for a pirate ship.
Spotify’s ‘Stream On’ event on Monday (February 22), the company confirmed that more than 60,000 new tracks are now being ingested by its platform every single day. This means people are added new tracks uploaded to its platform every 1.4 seconds.
The figure, announced by Spotify’s co-Head of Music, Jeremy Erlich, means that across the course of this year, approximately 22 million tracks will be added to Spotify’s catalog. Spotify confirmed in November last year that its platform now played host to around 70 million tracks.
Therefore, it’s reasonable to assume that, by the end of 2021, SPOT will be home to over 90 million tracks. And that in the early part of next year, it will surpass a catalog of 100 million for the first time.
But still back at the beginning of the year Spotify deleted 750,00 songs, mostly from independent artists. What do you think what that could mean to independent artist?
I mean it’s pretty bad that Spotify goofed with the deleting of songs, but I think it’s so easy to get your songs on Spotify now that this really isn’t going to discourage anybody from putting their songs on Spotify. I’ve dealt with some Spotify issues before myself, it’s really more of an annoyance than anything. Streaming services don’t pay much per stream, so unless you’re getting Lizzo levels of streaming, it’s not really a huge source of income.
Sony Music in November and Warner Music Group in December, The ByteDance-owned video app revealed on (February 8) that it has struck an “expanded” global licensing agreement with Universal Music Group. Now that TikTok is now fully licensed by all three major record companies, will you start using TikTok more?
I watch TikTok all the time, but I don’t really post on TikTok. It’s just not really my thing. If i do decide to post on TikTok, it will have nothing to do with it being licensed.
How was it to do a couple of social distance shows? Tell me how you did you stay safe?
Most of the shows I did over the summer were volunteering to play at an assisted living facility. I played in the yard and the residents opened their windows and listened from inside. That was super fun and I got to get out and play and they really enjoyed it. At the time they weren’t able to have any family visiting or anything so it was really good to be able to bring some joy to the place. I played there about four or five times.
With these shows, I was outside and didn’t have any contact with any of the residents. They stayed inside the whole time I was there, so we could only see each other through the windows. I was masked while setting up and had nobody within 10-15 feet while I was performing.
I did a couple other outdoor shows where I was masked when not singing and socially distant from everybody all the time.
How is your drumming coming alone?
I’m pretty bad at keeping a consistent tempo so not great. The drumming was mostly just for fun. Weirdly enough though I can really only do any drumming in 6/8. I’m terrible at 4/4, which is the most common.
Anything you would like to say in closing.
With the vaccine coming out, we’re rescheduling my CD release show at 7th Street entry so look out for details on that coming soon
