Q&A
AYVAH BY LIV MARTIN
I got the chance to sit down with four out of the five members of AYVAH, an energetic and down-to-earth Twin Cities-based band. AYVAH’s music is simultaneously funky, jazzy, soulful, rhythmic, and completely original. Read on to hear how these five talented, young musicians found each other, learned how to cultivate their own, unique sound, and became true friends in the process.
: How did you come up with the name AYVAH? Ava: I wanted to start a band when I was at college and one of my friends was like, “If you keep the band your name you should spell it AYVAH.” I like it, and it’s a little more dynamic on paper, too. Joey: Yes, and it’s phonetic. A: It’s cool… It’s like the symbolism of the name being my name but longer, because that way it looks like an actual band name. : And there are five letters for each of the band members. A: What? Wow!!! That’s amazing. I never really thought about that but you’re so right!
: How did you guys find each other and
establish your group?
Sam: So, I met this guy Mike who went to St. Thomas and he was a producer who was making his own beats. And he was like, “Hey, there’s this really dope singer that goes to St. Thomas!” [referencing Ava] A: Yeah. At first, we did a couple shows just the three of us. S: Basically, Ava and I met DeCarlo, our former bassist, who knew Joey from high school. That’s
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Images courtesy of Ayvah
how it started. A: And, Andy, who is our new guitar player, and Sam have been best friends for a long long time. From there, it was like one phone call to Ethan and then “cha-ching.” And now we all sleep in the same bed every night. [laughing]
: How would you describe the genre of music you create? A: I say neo-soul with influence from jazz, hip-hop, R&B, indie. J: Like alternative R&B maybe… S: It’s always a hard question. A: Alt-Soul? S: I think really simply put it’s neo-soul rock with a little bit of indie. We have songs that tailor more towards one style than others. A: Like… Neo-soul rap? S: Hell yeah! A: That’s tight! Ethan: I think that the concept of genre was more prevalent in the record label industry. And, we’re in a new type of industry with younger people.
OCT 23—NOV 5