These are some questions I had after listening to Evan's sprawling anthology. I have e-mailed Evan the questions.
1. Let's talk about the early keyboard instrumentals. Did you use MIDI at all for these?
2. Did you record them all at once or one part at a time? (drum machine, bass line, melody line, etc.)
3. Were you listening to a lot of keyboard instrumentals at the time?
4. More generally, how much does the music you listen to influence the music you write and record?
5. What made you start adding lyrics to your music?
6. Most of your early songs are very direct and concern love. How "true" were these songs when they were written?
7. Your later lyrics become increasingly sophisticated and more open to interpretation. How and why did that transformation take place and how intentional was it?
8. When was the music on the Anthology recorded?
9. Where was the music on the Anthology recorded?
10. Disc five of the Anthology seems to me to have been recorded before disc four. How strictly chronological is the Anthology?
11. The Anthology gives the impression that you were initially primarily interested in the keyboard, then when you picked up the guitar it gradually took over. How accurate is this picture of your musical evolution?
12. Have you played in any bands?
13. What effect, if any, did touring with Great Uncle Helmer have on your songwriting and your music in general?
14. Has being a video producer had an influence on your music?
15. What did you think of my titles for your instrumental pieces?
16. Did you have any titles in mind for any of these when you wrote them or when you compiled them? (When, for example, did "Christmas 1963" get its name?)
17. I seem to remember recording a live show on your Tascam four track in Ellsworth. I played bass and Karl played harmonica and our version of "Shine" was particularly memorable that evening. I was hoping to find those recordings in the Anthology but I did not. Is it possible that such a tape exists?
18. More generally, what is the state of the documentation of your music archives?
19. Have you recorded any other live shows besides the one on Stealing Stage Time?
20. I found the Anthology demos for the How Could I Know material particularly enjoyable and revealing. I was surprised to find no early versions of "Jo Jo Take Me Down", "Tonight", and "Aphrodite Breathes". Do any demo recordings of those songs exist and if so what kept them off the Anthology?
21. How much recording have you done that does not appear on the studio album, the live album, or the Anthology?
22. Sometimes after I finish an album or a compilation I am inspired to write and record more right away. Have you done very much writing and/or recording since compiling the Anthology?
23. When might we expect a second studio album?
24. Please comment on the following list:
Seemingly obvious choices for Evan Johnson studio album 2:
w/member(s) of GUH:
You've Heard Those Words Before
You Call Me Baby
Sister Sara
Dar Song
Communion Song (preferably w/toy xylophone)
Long Distance Line
The Stars are Wishing on Me
Real Rocket Man
Shine
Nothin' Ever Really Seems To Change
solo:
The Bells
Quirkier, possible choices for Evan Johnson studio album 2:
The Nickel Song
The One About Monkeys/What About Us Here In Between?
From the Anthology:
Disc One:
29. Slice of America
47. Little Things
Disc Four:
8. Love In A Bottle I
34. Nothin' Like You (I've Seen Babies)
40. Dickens' Age
Evan Johnson Anthology Index