Where did you get the name The Evelyn Situation? What does it mean?
Who does the songwriting and arrangements?
How did The Evelyn Situation get together?
How many songs do you guys have?
What other bands were Andrew and Jill involved in?
Where was your favorite place to play?
Be honest-- why did you really break up?
Will you be getting back together?
What are the band members doing now?
How can I get a tape of The Evelyn Situation?
How can I get a tape of your older material?
What is the fastest land animal?
Where
did you get the name The Evelyn Situation? What does it mean?
Most people hope there's a juicy story behind the name, but there simply
isn't. In 1993 and 1994, Andrew and Jill worked idiot jobs in a mid-sized
law firm to make some money. The band was forming during that time
and was tentatively being called Tolstoy For Fun. Since that's a
stupid name, it was time for a change. Many hours were spent in diners
brainstorming new names, but doing so usually just made us tired and punchy,
which yielded names like "Donut Time" and "Satan and the Pool Cleaners."
Finally, we created a list of decent names, and Jill peddled it around
the law office asking her co-workers for opinions. When she reached
this one hilarious lawyer's office, he said, "You need band names?!
I have a giant list of them. Every time I hear a weird phrase that
sounds like it should be a band name, I add it to the list." He printed
it out, and "The Evelyn Situation" was on that list... along with other
winners like "Abra Cadaver" and "Chickenator."
Who
does the songwriting and arrangements?
Andrew did almost all of the songwriting. Other band members
were encouraged to write songs, but only one of them came to fruition:
"They" by Paul Badalamenti, our guitarist. Paul wrote some other
songs that we were working on when the band broke up. Jill wrote
a song called "Piss off, Lunk-head!" which for obvious reasons wasn't performed.
Donna was a Music Theory/Composition major in college, and though she composed
many songs, they weren't performed by the group. Danielle was working
on some songs as well, but none of them were completed. As
for arrangements, the band arranged the songs, for the most part.
Sometimes Andrew would have a specific arrangement in mind and would teach
the harmonies as he heard them; and other times he would ask us to do what
we wanted. He always wrote songs for specific singers, however, since
he knew how each singer might handle the tone of the song.
Which chick
sings which part?
That varies from song to song, but the general rule of thumb is, Jill
sings the bottom, Donna/Carolyn sings middle and Danielle sings the top.
However, Danielle and Donna/Carolyn often switched off, with Danielle being
in the middle, depending on the mood of the song. On a few rare occasions
Jill sang the top part, but only for a few phrases in a given piece.
For example, on "Guilty Pleasures", Danielle sings the lead vocal. When
we arranged it, Donna sang a harmony above Danielle, and Jill didn't want
to muffle Danielle's lead by singing below her, so she chose to sing a
top part.
How
did The Evelyn Situation get together?
To make a long story short, Andrew and Jill were in a bunch of bands
that didn't quite work right. After the breakup of their previous
band, they started working on some tunes that eventually required another
voice. Jill suggested that Donna join the group because she is easy
to work with and incredibly talented. Donna and Andrew worked very
well together, and the band was just the three of them for a while.
One night, Danielle dropped in on their rehearsal after a hard day of work.
Since Andrew had played for Danielle's senior vocal recital, he was familiar
with her big voice and her vocal skills. So he asked Danielle if
she was in a rush, and if she wouldn't mind singing the top part to a three-part
arrangement just so he could hear how it sounded. So he taught us
all the parts and we sang together, and it just felt right. Paul
and Leo didn't join the band until later on; we first had Steve Bergamini
playing guitar; and he can be heard on our four-song demo. As for
Paul and Leo, Andrew and Jill had been working with both of them on and
off since high school, so it just seemed natural to invite them to work
with the group once Steve went off to college.
How many
songs do you guys have?
Lots and lots. So many of the songs overlap band incarnations,
so it's hard to keep count. I would venture to guess somewhere around
150, but that's just a rough number.
What
other bands were Andrew and Jill involved in?
Andrew and Jill worked together for the first time in 1987, where she
recorded two songs he wrote. Later that year (which was his senior
year in high school) Andrew wrote a full-length rock opera called Dancing
Days in which Jill played a role. In high school, Andrew
was working with a band with Jill's brother Jeff called Area Code
(201) which began as a performing group doing mostly covers, but
eventually moved towards almost exclusively recording originals. The band
broke up since many members graduated high school, and Andrew and Jill
started to work together and record songs, usually two at a time.
They separated for a year or two as Andrew began college, but he soon transferred
to a local, private school that was closer to Jill's college. They
eventually added two other female singers and formed Brooklyn Ferry,
which was popular among the people who knew of them, but as Jill describes
it, was "the whitest group in the world." Brooklyn Ferry recorded
a four-song demo (containing "The Balance", "Ugly" , "Parent's Day" and
"Life Without The Hero") and sold about 50 copies at gigs and through various
BBSes. Brooklyn Ferry broke up in the summer of 1993 due to personal
differences between the singers, and Andrew and Jill decided to take the
remainder of the summer off and start working again in the fall.
They soon formed Tolstoy For Fun, and then The Evelyn Situation.
Jill and Andrew are now working together again, and using the name The
Lester Years.
Does anyone have
any gum?
Yep, I'm pretty sure that somone, somewhere has some gum. In fact,
I think I have some stale Cinnaburst in my backpack...
Where
was your favorite place to play?
It's so hard to say... we played two shows per month at the Common
Ground Cafe in Summit, NJ during 1994, and we were considered regulars
there. We pulled in such a big crowd that the owners asked us to play two
totally separate shows per night so they could turn over the tables, and
so we could get another round of cover charges. It worked well. We also
played at Cafe Newz in New Brunswick a few times which was an outdoor venue;
that was kind of cool; however, we needed to use a synth instead of a piano,
which is always a bummer. My favorite place to play was at the Minstrel
Coffeehouse in Basking Ridge, NJ; the audience was attentive, intelligent,
polite and very gracious. We only played there twice; once at an open mic
night, and again as an opening act for Bob Franke, who is a cool folk singer/singwriter
from Massachusetts. That was an honor, and a great deal of fun.
Be
honest-- why did you really break up?
The main reason is because Andrew received a full scholarship + stipend
to earn his doctorate degree at the University of Southern California.
He deferred it for a year, but in 1995 he had to either accept the scholarship
or throw it away. It was a difficult decision for all of us, but we decided
it was the right thing to do. I personally don't think we would have broken
up had Donna not left the band; but I can't really blame her for leaving...
she left the band because we were getting some minor label interest and
the pressure was getting to her. After she quit, Leo soon followed. I think
another reason we broke up was because after Donna and Leo left the band
in early 1995, the vibe was just never the same. That isn't to slag Carolyn
or Paul at all, because they picked up the parts in no time and executed
them professionally, with style and flair! But I felt guilty for asking
Carolyn to "sing it like Donna;" it just wasn't fair to her. We never let
Carolyn develop into an Evelyn; we just kept trying to turn her into Donna,
which was obviously impossible. I often feel like Carolyn got a bum deal;
but the audience loved her and she did an awesome job.
Will you
be getting back together?
It's funny. All of us agree that we would love to get back together,
either for a reunion or for something more permanent, but right now, our
geographical locations and collective financial situations keep us from
doing that. However, if any record label wants us to pay us to get back
together, we'll gladly accept. :)
What
are the band members doing now?
Carolyn finished up her last year of college and is now teaching music
in a public school in New Jersey. Andrew went off to school in California
and is still there working hard; Paul moved to Korea with his friend to
teach English but has returned and is now working various jobs in academia;
and he's also playing in a band with Robert Oakes. Donna is working a cool
job in northern NJ and spending time with her boyfriend and family; and
Leo got a new job and is playing in a few local bands. Danielle moved to
Arizona with her boyfriend in January of 1996, and has a job in Music Therapy,
and Jill moved to Arizona in October of 1995 and is working various computer
consulting jobs in the western U.S. Andrew and Jill are also working together
to form a new one-vocalist band called The Lester Years.
How
can I get a tape of The Evelyn Situation?
Email Jill and grovel. :-)
No really, tapes are available; just drop Jill a line and a few bucks for
postage and a tape and she'll get you one.
How
can I get a tape of your older material?
Uh... why do you want that?! I suppose you could grovel for that too
when you email Jill.
What is Tolstoy
For Fun?
Tolstoy For Fun is the name of the band that preceded The Evelyn Situation.
It was comprised of Andrew, Jill, Donna, Danielle and Steve Bergamini.
Eventually we realized the name was stupid, so we changed it.
What is Brooklyn
Ferry?
Brooklyn Ferry is the first "real" band that Andrew and Jill formed.
The singers were Jill, Linda Onorevole and Kristen DiBella, (all Montclair
State University alums) and Paul on guitar. One show also had drums and
bass, and it was WAY too loud for the venue and the music. Hey- we were
young and dumb. :) It is also Yrref Nylkoorb spelled backwards.
What is The
Lester Years?
The Lester Years is the working name for Andrew and Jill's new musical
endeavor. Andrew is challenging himself by writing in some different
styles - ragtime, blues, dixieland, country and jazz. In L.A., Andrew
is playing piano for an awesome dixieland band who will be playing on some
of our new songs. Cool, huh? We are planning on recording over
the summer, so we'll keep you posted.