Eves Karydas’ life is pretty wild right now. Fresh off the release of her debut album summerskin in September last year, she supported Dua Lipa and Cubsport on their Australian tours. Now, she’s just about to head off on her own headlining tour with a number of sold-out shows – something she can’t quite wrap her head around yet.
“It’s so weird to me that people are buying tickets to hear me sing songs that I wrote in such a secluded space”, she explains.
“I was supporting Cubsport at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne less than a year ago, now I’m headlining and it’s sold out. It’s pretty wild.”
When you listen to the songs off of summerskin, it’s no wonder Eves is selling out shows. Listening to her music feels like listening to someone on the brink of superstardom. Any of the songs off her debut album could easily be played on commercial radio. There’s an originality to her songwriting and production that feels refreshing and effortlessly cool.
Eves Karydas performing at Splendour In The Grass in 2018. Image source: Bianca Holderness
Eves wrote summerskin in London. She is a Queenslander and made the move to London ‘for music and life reasons’. During her time in London, she didn’t put pressure on herself to make an album.
“I was just living and experiencing new things”, she says.
“The album for me was about the time in my life when I was experiencing all of these things”. She describes summerskin as “…a momento of that time in her life. A direct line straight back into those memories.”
“Life things start to happen in your twenties: you fall in love, you’re away from home, you’re finding your identity, and I was feeling it all. That is what the album is about and what it documents.” – Eves Karydas
Prior to her move to London, Eves had been writing and releasing music under the name Eves The Behaviour. She chose to change her name to Eves Karydas (Karydas being her own last name) for the release of her debut album. This name change also marked a change in the way Eves approached songwriting.
“Before, I tried a little bit too hard to be something,” she explains, but with summerskin she says she decided to “…write songs that I like, that are direct responses to things I’m going through”.
Eves believes that summerskin is ‘way more honest and unfiltered’ than any of her earlier music, and ‘that’s where the magic comes from’.
“I decided to write songs that I like, that are direct responses to things I’m going through” – Eves Karydas
Eves Karydas supporting Dua Lipa on her Australian tour in 2018. Image source: Ashley Mar
This “magic” that Eves is talking about is authenticity. Throughout our conversation she references authenticity a number of times – it’s clear this is incredibly important to her because of what she has experienced in the music industry.
“It’s surprising how many situations you can find yourself in where someone is pushing you to be something that is not you, which is scary”, Eves says. “I’ve been down that road many times, but no more!”.
On the day we are talking, she had just released a video for her track, Wildest Ones. She tells me it’s her “…favourite video ever, because it is so me!”. She shot the video in a couple of hours with one of her close friends.
“We didn’t have anyone else involved, it was just the two of us”, she says. “She knows me, and nothing got lost in translation because someone was involved that didn’t know who I was or how I operate”.
The process felt so liberating and authentic to Eves that she explains, “…it’s what I’m going to do moving forward, keep things as close to home as possible.”
The next big thing for Eves is her headlining Australian tour.
“I’m gonna have a really good time and I want everyone else to have a really good time!”, she exclaims.
She walks me through what the album is about and how she wrote the songs. For her, the tour grants the opportunity to give context to the record a little bit more, because she believes that telling stories behind the album is really special.
“I’m stoked that I have the opportunity to do that in a big way”, she tells me.
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Eves has big goals for the future.
“I definitely want to be a cross-over artist and start getting commercial radio play, internationally as well”, she explains. “It’s just about working hard”, she says.
“Anyone can achieve their dreams, you just have to have a bit of luck. Luck is just when preparation meets opportunity, so I’m just trying to be as prepared as possible, work hard, and always believe in myself, wherever that takes me.”
My conversation with Eves is ended when her next interviewer calls her. I thank her for her time and hang up. For the rest of the day I’m left feeling like I’ve spoken to someone on the path to greatness. This is just the beginning for Eves. With her attitude, work ethic, and unshakeable commitment to authenticity she’s only going up from here.
Buy tickets to Eves Karydas’ Australian tour here.
Listen to summerskin here.
