Today we’d like to introduce you to Comply or Evict. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Comply or Evict started, with a move, a move of cities for the founding members Evan Alexander (guitarist) and Tristan Pierce (drummer). These two members had given up hope of finding a fitting lead singer for their band in Las Vegas, NV and decided to take their talents and auditions elsewhere. After visiting a few of your typical music cities and not feeling at home there, Evan and Tristan decided to move to a city under-recognized for a lively music scene. They moved to Salt Lake City to continue their search for a lead singer there after having been tipped off by a few producers that Salt Lake actually had a talent pool that was teeming with young, aspiring, and hardworking musicians. Within a few short months of balancing work, soundproofing their new place, and holding auditions for lead singers, Evan and Tristan found Chris Ixtlahuac, who was to be their frontman. Chris had just joined Vampr, an app for musicians to get connected for the purposes of helping musicians like Evan and Tristan hold auditions and find new members. Within a day of Chris joining Vampr, Evan, who was on it consistently, reached out to him. It wasn’t normal for Evan to review every singers material that he reached out to because he contacted so many a day that there just wasn’t enough time. However, for some reason he took the time to listen to the music Chris had included on his profile and after hearing his voice on his song Red Moonlight – Xipe Ollin (his rap artist name) Evan was blown away and knew for sure he had to get in touch. Tristan and Evan were able to get a phone call in with Chris that night and after a formal audition with Chris the very next day the deal was sealed, Chris was the new frontman. Finding Chris concluded a seven-month search for a new lead singer. A few weeks following Chris’ addition to the band, Evan came across a video of someone he had met at a concert in Salt Lake City, singing on Instagram. The video was of Dinho Demoura singing a cover of Blackbird by the Beatles. His cover was so stunning to Evan that he rushed it over to Tristan to take into account his opinion on it as well. “Dinho’s voice would pair perfectly with Chris’” Evan told him. So Evan called Dinho up and had him come audition for the band. Dinho was added following his audition as a singer and bassist for the band. Day in and day out these four guys spent all their time writing and perfecting original songs. It felt almost effortless to write music together because the band dynamic was so strong. For the next month, they did nothing but work their day jobs and write music together. After that month they decided that it was time to name the band. After struggling to find the perfect name for a few weeks one of the members offered up the name idea “Comply or Evict” because of a conversation, he had with their current landlord about the band rehearsal noise complaints during practice sessions. The members all loved the name because to them it symbolized their attitude and desire to make good music for themselves, with no regard to what was popular, and with no regard to trying to please anyone but themselves. They felt that the name “Comply or Evict” meant if you don’t like our music then get up and get out. The next step Evan, Dinho, Chris, and Tristan took was to take the strongest songs they had written so far to the studio. They recorded their first five songs at Nic Kartchner’s studio, Grotto Audio, which was an awesome studio with a very talented sound engineer. The first song that was finished was “Underwater” which was promptly released August 12th, 2022. Evan sent this song to a producer whom he had closely followed and whose works he absolutely loved. It was the band’s pipe dream to work with him. This producer was grammy award-winning producer, Jason Perry. The last album he produced, Amazing Things by Don Broco won the number 1 album in the UK. Within a few short weeks of the single’s release, Jason Perry responded and said that he loved Underwater and would love to travel to Salt Lake City to work with the band. Ecstatic at the news and the huge opportunity the band continued to prepare for him to come by releasing their second single “Heavy Rain” on September 17th, 2022, and by writing the best batch of songs they had written yet to record with him. Jason Perry touched down in Salt Lake City, UT on October 8th, 2022 and the band got to work with him starting October 9th. They first hit one long day at their practice space with him. Jason took this time to make sure the songs were in the best possible, order, tempo, key, and arrangement for recording. Comply or Evict and Jason headed into June Audio, one of the best studios in the Salt Lake Greater Area. They then spent 8 days straight recording at June Audio for 10 hours a day to get all the tracks perfect for their 5 song EP with Jason. Almost the entire first day was spent placing, cabling, and patching the 22+ drum mics used to record the drums on the EP. The remainder of the first day and the whole of the second day were used to track and record the drums for the five songs. The third and fourth days in the studio were slit evenly between tracking the rest of the drums as well as the percussion overlays and laying down vocal tracks. The fifth and sixth days were spent recording vocals and the bass on the songs. And the seventh and eighth days at the studio the guitar for all five songs was tracked as well as the remaining vocal harmonies. After the eight days straight recording in the studio the band’s work recording their EP were done, but there was still much to do. The band still hadn’t released three of the songs they had recorded with Nic at Grotto Audio, prior to Jason coming. So while Jason took the song files back to the UK to mix prep them from home, Comply or Evict was busy creating stunning album art for their next release, “Smoke” which came out December 10th. They have another following single, called “Ten Toes” which is expected to release soon, followed shortly by an EP which will be the final collection of songs they recorded with Nic. The EP they recorded with Jason the band expects to release song time around March of 2023. But for now, the band is hard at work booking shows and making their mark on the music industry.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Comply or Evict, as new as they are has already faced many daunting challenges, starting with moving the band 400 miles from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City to get a new start. But even after moving, the road still had many bumps in it. In an attempt to be respectful to their neighbors, they spent almost $2,000 and 30 hours soundproofing the apartment for rehearsals. On top of this, they spent many hours reaching out to neighbors and offering contact info so they could stop playing if it was a bad time for them. Despite their attempts, there were still some neighbors who complained about the 55 dB escaping the apartment walls (the legal limit is below 70 dB). There were repeated noise complaints over the course of two months despite their attempts to get in contact with the complainers. The band joked about receiving a comply or evict notice, but after an unfortunate stop by the regional manager, the paper showed up on their door for real. This happened mere weeks before the arrival of producer Jason Perry, when rehearsals were of utmost importance. The poorly timed notice provided that band rehearsals at the house were to stop immediately, or they would have to move out. This forced the band to scramble to find a new place to practice during the few remaining days before Jason’s arrival. They were able to accomplish the feat and moved all their equipment into a nearby indoor storage unit, where they finished rehearsing before his arrival.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Comply or Evict is a rock grunge band. They specialize in keeping every song unique and energetic. They have their first show coming up on January 16th at Kilby Court. They are most proud of their tight-knit friendship within the band and their creative writing process. What they feel sets them apart from other bands is their ability to draw from their various influences and blend their unique styles so that their music is reminiscent of the 90s rock grunge, when music was something that came from the heart.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.complyorevict.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/comply.or.evict/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ComplyorEvict/?ref=pages_you_manage
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjvz_ZIekMnrS7Ns1p30xHQ
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/track/1HBPnwcF0slTa1r34wkVMy
