In 2021, Manji launched their platform myxoxym, releasing the singles “OIL/TOO MUCH” and “EYES/NOT ENOUGH”, as well as curating the first edition of the fundraising compilation series PLASMODIUM I, aiming to raise environmental awareness and provide relief to the Greek wildlife. Since their debut performance in October 2021 at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, alongside artists such as Eartheater and Patrick Belaga, Evita has been performing in cities across Europe and at festivals such as Unsound, Borderline and Lunchmeat, where they shared the stage with Amnesia Scanner at the Convent of St. Agnes. In Summer 2022, Manji performed at the fourth edition of Rhizom Festival, which took place at Rote Fabrik in Zurich. In the same month, the Creative Europe-funded SHAPE+ platform announced Evita Manji to be part of its selection of emerging talents of sound artists and audiovisual projects, who will be offered residencies and interdisciplinary collaborations across 13 European countries in the coming year.
Last July, Nadine Lange spoke with Manji on a rooftop in Athens at night about their musical journey, influences and turning points in their creative path, as well as endless inspiration that can be found in nature and the depths of emotions. The following interview was initially published in zweikommasieben #26 and is now published online, ahead of the release of Evita Manji’s debut album Spandrel? on PAN on January 30th 2023.
Text: Nadine Lange
Images: Chanel Liang
Nadine Lange Let’s go back in time. When did you first get in touch with music?
Evita Manji I grew up being surrounded by music. Our family friends had a music studio, and my father is also into music production and songwriting, so we would spend time at the studio writing and recording songs together. My actual first recording dates back to when I was eight or nine. However, my first memory of creating music digitally was when I was six or seven at my friend’s house. Her mother had Fruity Loops on her computer, so we used to play around with that, even though we weren’t really aware of what we were doing.
NL Was it instrumental music that you made with your father?
EM No, I was actually singing. There’s a song we wrote called “Forgotten World” that is pretty much about what my music stands for today. If you dig deep enough into YouTube, you might find it! I have a long history in singing since I was part of a church choir for many years, roughly seven or eight years.
NL Did your parents initiate this, or did you discover this interest on your own?
EM I was recruited and it was my decision to join. However, my parents were extremely supportive. It was challenging to be in a religious environment as I grew up in a very open-minded family and religion never really had a place in it. But through that experience I got familiar with sounds that still influence me a lot. I stopped when I was 13 or 14–when puberty hit me hard and the religious element started to really bother me. Shortly after, I consciously tried to produce music for the first time.
NL How did you approach producing music back then?
EM I was very into psytrance around that time, so I wanted to produce that kind of music. However, I couldn’t figure it out properly. I guess I didn’t believe in myself enough, so I didn’t bother to make it work. I knew I wanted to pursue something creative but wasn’t sure exactly what, which left me confused. I tried out many different mediums. At that time, I was also into photography, so I focused more on that. When I turned 16, I started experimenting with producing again. I was dating a producer then, which kind of sparked my interest in music production again. I soon dropped it though, since I wasn’t sure what type of music I wanted to make, and it didn’t feel right. I shifted my focus to school as I wanted to get into architecture school, which I successfully did, but then dropped out of that too…
NL Did you grow up in Athens?
EM I grew up in Thessaloniki and moved to Athens when I was 15. It’s a funny story–my partner at that time was living in Athens and as the hopelessly romantic person I am, my mind was constantly in Athens, making me want to move there, which I did after a long year of trying to convince my mom. Funny enough, after moving here, I wasn’t together with that person anymore, yet I don’t think I would have ended up here in any other way. While studying in Athens, I was involved in the music and club scene since many of my friends were DJs and promoters. In this context, I started to play around with music again and after a while, my friend Babynymph and I hosted our first gig. But I would say that everything began and never stopped when I moved to Berlin.
NL What brought you to Berlin?
EM I’m a person that needs change in life to keep myself stimulated. After moving to Athens in 2015, I slowly grew tired of the city and took some time off to travel in 2018. I stopped by Berlin to visit a friend, and it just happened that I was offered to take over his flatmate’s room. I wasn’t planning on moving there. However, being offered a long-term room, which is rare in a city like Berlin, felt like a sign.
NL Definitely a rare and unique offer. How was your time in Berlin crucial for your musical path?
EM During my time there, I went out a lot on my own and that’s how I met most of my friends there. All these experiences were quite something. I also started djing in my bedroom for fun. Simultaneously, I began playing around with music production again, but I wasn’t making anything that was ready for the world to hear. I was still figuring out what I wanted my music to sound like and how to combine all my different influences.
NL What were other vital points on your musical path that shifted your focus to producing and directed you to the sound you’re making now?
EM Since I started producing in Berlin, I never really stopped. I also started djing more regularly after moving back to Athens. I was feeling very dedicated to music. I was getting closer to finding my sound, but still wasn’t ready to release anything. And then I met Sophie. In a way totally unrelated to music, I was asked to take pictures of her. Both being shy, we didn’t talk throughout the whole shoot. We had dinner afterwards and she asked me what other things I was into. I mentioned that I was making music and we clicked for many reasons, but especially due to that. We kept in touch. She wanted to hear my music at one point, so I sent her some and she loved it. She heard something in it that I couldn’t hear and listening back to these tracks now, most of them unreleased, I think I can hear it too. One of them got released, “Carica”, which was the first track I put out as Evita Manji. Until then, I never really believed in my music enough, but Sophie changed that. And I know this has been the case for many people. Many people out there are making music right now because Sophie believed in them and encouraged them in a very rare way.
NL She was your mentor.
EM She absolutely was. She opened my mind to what music can be, what you can do with it, and how far and deep you can go. It all became way too intriguing–talking about music and production with her. She taught me a lot, but mostly to trust myself and my abilities. Her musical practice had a decisive impact on mine. For instance, she was very strict about synthesizing sounds and not using ready-made samples.
NL Can you elaborate a bit more on that?
EM Synthesizing a sound is like building sound from a single wave, and then you build it up by tweaking, modulating and adding more waves. She was very vocal about that, which sort of led me to not use samples. However, we both influenced each other musically. It was very mutual.
NL A symbiotic relationship.
EM Yeah.
NL From a technical point of view, how do you make music now?
EM All of my music is made on Ableton. It’s such a powerful tool. I use it like a modular synthesizer. I have an Ableton Push ll and a midi-keyboard. That’s it. I’ve used samples in the past, like on my first EP Neptune [self-released, 2020] and for “Carica”. However, all the sounds in my very recent and also upcoming music are synthesized, with the only exception of having used pre-existing guitar and piano sounds. I really want to start implementing real acoustic instruments in my music too. To be clear, by samples, I mean pre-recorded drum and FX samples or any field recordings. I don’t use presets either. Some sounds come straight out of a synthesizer like Serum. But I do create my own samples, if you will, by synthesizing, then recording and manipulating them, as they are also a fundamental part of granular synthesis, which plays a big role in my music.
NL The soundscapes you create, especially heard in tracks such as “Carica”, “OIL/TOO MUCH” or “EYES/NOT ENOUGH”, have a very organic ring to it, while also sounding unfamiliar in some cases.
EM It makes sense that they sound to you like that. I am quite inspired by nature and natural sounds. I feel like my sounds have a lot of repetition. They remind me of the constant sounds of cicadas, for example, or birds. I enjoy being in nature and listening to all these sounds a lot. I find it extremely inspirational and comforting. Part of what I like doing is recreating that repetition and continuation in my own otherworldly interpretation.
NL Your EP Neptune fluctuates between more spherical soundscapes and tracks that evoke a kind of futuristic club nostalgia. It’s way clubbier than your recent releases. Would you say it echoes your interest in club music during that stage in your life?
EM Definitely. When I made Neptune, I was all about that. At that time, I was very invested in djing and everything revolving around clubbing, club spaces, and club music. This made me want to create music which I wanted to hear in clubs myself. Music that I could perform in a club. Looking back now, I was still searching for my sound then. Neptune is a reflection of all the influences I used to value during that phase of my life. A blend of club and experimental music. “No Fun”, for instance, is much more experimental than the other tracks on the EP. I feel like my first track “Carica” and “No Fun” were the seeds of the music I am making now.
NL This picks up on a question I had in mind: places and sources you draw inspiration from. You just mentioned that you like being in nature and how inspiring this is for your practice.
EM Sound-wise, yes. Nature is a significant source of inspiration for me. However, there are different aspects. I’d say two or more loud presences in my music constantly demand equal attention. That is, for one, the production, synthesis, the sound design–the technical aspect. Creating sound that carries emotion. In this part, inspiration comes mostly from nature and what feels good to my brain. I can feel my neurons dancing inside my head with specific sounds. I love that feeling. I want to experience that over and over again and for others to experience it. But then there’s another aspect–the singing, the vocals, and the organized thought explaining the emotion. Here, inspiration comes from things that occupy my mind and heart. Although the production carries emotion, the voice is the thought that accompanies it. That’s why I feel like the music I used to make is rather emotional because I am a very emotional person. My vocals originate from things that deeply concern and move me. Yet, it was relatively shallow compared to the music I am making now.
NL This seems well reflected in your recent releases. “Oil/Too Much” addresses the fatal effects of crude oil extraction on the planet and the exploitation of its laborers, while “Eyes/Not Enough” alludes to the wildfires that swept through parts of Europe, especially Greece, last year.
EM After Sophie passed, I felt like I had entered a new era in how I wanted to be seen as an artist. All the things I’m talking about in my music already pre-existed. My first recordings as a kid were about climate change and how people don’t care about anything other than their species. I always wanted to make music about this but didn’t find a proper way. Entering this new era allowed me to pour all my emotions into my music in the way I always wanted to. I finally stopped being afraid to truly express myself or questioning whether I found the right way in my art yet. All my pre-existing thoughts and questions on human existence, the universe, reality, self and time, and all my emotions–I started putting everything into my music and working on a new sound.
NL A kind of outlet.
EM Exactly.
NL Last year, you started your label myxoxym and released the compilation Plasmodium I, featuring artists from Greece and other parts of the world. All the proceeds from the compilation were donated to Anima, a non-profit organization whose primary mission is to care for and rehabilitate wild animals in their natural habitat. How did you curate the compilation?
EM I wanted to include people with whom I felt connected. Not necessarily only on a personal level but also on a musical one. On the one hand, I wanted to include my talented friends from Athens. I love what they do and have a personal connection with them. On the other hand, I included artists I’ve been a fan of for a while, like Minais B or others who were friends of Sophie and whose music I love, like Cecile Believe. The selection was based on feeling good about a person, their intentions, and their musical output.
NL: Is curating music something you’d like to pursue further?
EM I would love to in the future! I see myxoxym as a platform rather than a label. It’s a very slow and fluid project. Putting together this compilation and releasing my music on it as well, made me realize that it’s a lot of work. It’s amazing to be independent, run your own platform and release your music on it, but it takes a lot of time and energy. It’s something I will pursue at my own pace when it feels right and possible.
Evita Manji will play Berne’s Dampfzentrale on February 10th 2023, alongside Hatis Noit. The most recent issue of zweikommasieben, which was published last December, can be bought here.
