Eva & Her Virgins
Some of the biggest and best bands in the world right now are foreigners. Arcade Fire is Canadian, Radiohead, Coldplay and Mumford and Sons are British. TV on the Radio are fortunately a band formed in the States. Hopefully soon we will be able to add Eva & Her Virgins to the shortlist of great American bands. This NYC based group is on the verge and they are the artist currently featured as Daily Maxam’s Independent Spotlight Artist.
I was fortunate to sit down and discuss the group’s origins and ambitions with lead singer and primary songwriter Emily Powers. Powers originally hails from central Florida by way of Little Rock, Arkansas. Emily originally migrated to New York to pursue acting and she desperately wanted to avoid artificial Los Angeles.
The electronic dark pop of Eva & Her Virgins is inspired by a myriad of artists including Bob Dylan, Trent Reznor, Tupac and Lil’ Wayne. The band’s unique name has very interesting origin. Eva is the Spanish version of Eve while the virgins represent her whores. The name is meant to represent the sexual frustration of humanity.
Emily Powers knows that the group, whose current line-up has existed for four years, has many obstacles to overcome beside just competitive with the many Brooklyn bands aiming for worldwide dominance.
E.&.H.V. have to overcome the stigma of being a female fronted band. Rock music is seen as man’s profession especially the aggressive in-your-face performance that Eva & Her Virgins engage in. Powers acknowledges “There’s so much groupie love for male rockers. We as a band with a female lead must work much harder to prove we’re just as talented.”
The novelty of being a band with a female singer wears off very quickly so it is quite impressive that this still rather new band has developed a passionate following of fans who consistently turn out to their incredibly energetic ruckus live shows. This is evidenced by them recently opening up for Linda Perry in March.
Eva & Her Virgins – Hammer:
Powers brings a unique perspective to the band. She describes herself as mentally insane, determined and random. Her dad worked as mime and she is trained in the Stella Adler school of acting. These various elements create her unpredictably entertaining stage presence. Emily doesn’t want her distinct showmanship to be compared to current female acts like Lady Gaga. She says “Every artist who dresses up isn’t trying to being Lady Gaga” and notes that artists such as herself have being dressing up way and being “different” before they even heard of Miss Gaga.
Powers wants her band to “big as humanly possible” although once she and her fellow band mates achieve super-stardom her biggest fear is being misunderstood. For now she’ll continue to enjoy her fleeting anonymity with her new dog Dexter and sister Holly (who by the way plays bass in the band).
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Dear Daily Maxam readers are you already fans of Eva & Her Virgins? Been to any of their shows etc? If you’re new to E.&.V.H. are you excited to hear interesting music from a new NYC band? Comment, Share and Subscribe below. Thanks for reading!
