Richard Schertzer Interviews Musician EVIL

Evil is a country singer and musician and I had the pleasure of interviewing her about her music.

Richard: This is going to be one of those, like, shorter brief interviews.

EVIL: Cool.

Richard: So what’s your name?

EVIL: My name is Evil. E-V-I-L.

Richard: Okay, and you’re a musician?

EVIL: I am. I am an alternative country musician.

Richard: Alternative country…and what made you get into that genre?

EVIL: I’ve been surrounded by country music all my life. I’m from southern Virginia — Shenandoah Valley to be exact. It’s just something I’ve always been surrounded by and inspired by, so I wanted to be able to make my own version of it.

Richard: So what projects do you have coming up?

EVIL: Right now, I recently, as of today, put out the second single of my upcoming project. I don’t want to reveal the name just yet. It’s a collection of works about God and my relationship with God and the complexities of that and all of that heavy stuff. [Laughs]

Richard: So it’s a religious album?

EVIL: Yes it is.

Richard: So you grew up very religious, I assume?

EVIL: Yeah, I would say so. I definitely have attended church from a young age and continue to do so into my adulthood, which I don’t do it right now, but I am still close with God and it’s a very complex relationship. So I wanted to make songs about it.

Richard: Okay. Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?

EVIL: I don’t know, Hopefully, with a big farm and lots of wild animals and playing my banjo and making better artistic worlds for queer people and black people. Yeah, I don’t know. That’s a really broad question. I guess I typically try to take things day by day.

Richard: So being in this music industry, I noticed there aren’t a lot of black artists in country music, specifically. What makes you stand out as an artist?

EVIL: I don’t know. I don’t really, typically think of music in terms of standing out. It’s just an artistic expression. I think what makes me différent from other people is that I’m a non-binary person. I also happen to be black. I also happen to be from a rural community and all of these things intersect when I’m making music, which I find isn’t something that’s hit on, in general, much less in the music industry. So I would say that’s probably what makes me différent. Just my own personal identity. That’s reflected in my work.

Richard: How long have you been in this music industry?

EVIL: I’ve been making music for some years now and I would say about 10 years I started out making rap music and transitioned into making country music. I think…gosh I guess it was 2016.

Richard: So what do you think you’d be doing with your life if you weren’t a musician?

EVIL: I’d probably be a chef or a voice actor for cartoons because I really love animation. Working with animals maybe. Something where I was able to be as cartoony and bright and chaotic as possible for the betterment of the world

You can see her video “Wrecked” here: