Jessie Evans
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Jessie Evans

São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Solo Jazz Cabaret

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""Are We Ready?""


“Are we ready?” was the question Jessie Evans put to her drummer Toby Dammit right before she dropped her heavy, black winter coat to the Bordello stage floor, causing the crowd to inhale collectively at the sight of her costume underneath.

Never has a country-western marching band leotard been put to such good use as it was last night on the body of Jessie Evans—she was all tassels and glitter and screaming red satin in an outfit so snug it may as well have been painted on. Evans and Dammit, although they introduced themselves as being from Berlin, spread their musical talents all over the US, their home terrain, before packing it up for Deutschland. Evans, also played with new-wave revivalists the Vanishing and all-girl dance-punk quartet Subtonix in the San Francisco area before developing Autonervous, her other recent project, a two-piece group with Bettina Koster. And Dammit’s career is dazzling—Tex and the Horseheads, Iggy Pop, SWANS, even The Residents—his list goes on and on. But you wouldn’t have to know about any of Dammit’s major career moves to appreciate his skill last night. Watching him work his magic was like watching a turn of the century steam engine rolling over its tracks—you have to stand back and marvel at the power, and prowess, of such a beautiful machine. His stoic. forceful ability was the perfect canvas for Evans, who was all over the place, literally.


You had to hand it to the girl—she really put on a show. She was on stage, she was off stage, she was running, she was jumping, and she made good use of her bottled water, although the people down in front may have not been overly ecstatic when they got sprayed with her backwash.

Overall, the music was decent. Her opening and closing gothic-calypso single “Scientist of Love” is a smash. Total hit. It’s an unexpected and pleasant saxophone and percussion-led get up and move surprise of a song. When her girl-punk vocals beckon “Come over explorers/Let go of your horrors and love” you picture some magical dark paradise, perhaps located nearby, but not necessarily in, Jamaica.

Evans knows how good this song is, as she played it for her opener as well as her closer, which was fantastic. It was like getting to listen to your favorite track again at the end of an album. But that’s precisely the problem with synth-pop performers who sing over a pre-recorded track—the performance can get tiresome, like trying to listen to a dance hall album in your living room. Some people enjoy that kind of steady consistency, but me, I’m more partial to musical instruments that respond to touch, pressure, variation, emotion. I like to know that what I’m listening to is a living, pulsating organism. I love watching videos of Nick Cave in concert, because he and his Bad Seeds rarely play the same song exactly the same way twice. When Evans was playing her saxophone, I was spellbound. And when she wasn’t, and the music started to sound a bit too repetitive, I watched the blissed-out gay Latino gothic boys dance at the front of the stage, and I realized that for them, Evans was their “Deanna.”

Rena Kosnett, La Weekly

- LA WEEKLY


"From "Songs for Psychotic Children" to "Scientist of Love""


The last thing you might expect from Jessie Evans, sax-hooting frontwoman for brooding SF darkwavers Subtonix and the Vanishing, would be that she'd move to cold, gray, rainy Berlin — and then re-invent herself as a sunny, uptempo cantante swinging to Afro-Cuban dance beats. But that's exactly what happened. And, as one listens to the clattering drum syncopations that twirl around her new songs like a Tijuana street party, it somehow seems like the most natural thing in the world. It's far closer to Ricky Ricardo than Siouxsie Sioux (well, maybe not if you count the Creatures...), and yet Evans pulls off the stylistic transformation with sass, style, and — most importantly — a clarity of purpose. — John G., SF WEEKLY

- SF WEEKLY


"Live Review San Francisco"

Former dark-wave daughter Jessie Evans (of defunct goth-punks Subtonix) returns to the coast after roosting in Berlin, where she channeled the German capital's infamous cabaret and post-punk pasts into various musical projects with the help of Atari Teenage Riot's Hanin Elias and '80s cult group Malaria!'s singer, Bettina Koster. Another frequent collaborator, Toby Dammit — who has worked with everyone from Iggy Pop to Rufus Wainright — joins Evans on this tour as her percussionist, helping to bring her Sally Bowles-meets-Siouxsie Sioux brand of electronic chanson to the stage.
– Matt Sussman

- Flavorpill


Discography

JESSIE EVANS DISCOGRAPHY

•Autonervous: Bettina Koster & Jessie Evans
Cochon Records 2006
•Girl Monster Compilation
Chicks on Speed Records 2006
•Asia Argento DJ Sampler
2006
•Hanin Elias “Future Noir”
Invisible Recordings 2005
•Glass Candy-“Life After Sundown” 12” Single
Troubleman Unlimited 2005
•Glass Candy- 5 song EP
Self-Release 2004
•Berlin Insane 2 Compilation
Pale Music 2005
•Autonervous “Fetalities” 12” EP
Duchess Archive 2004
•Autonervous/Zonetech split cassette EP
Self-Release 2004
•Vanishing Remixes CD
Self-Release 2008
•Vanishing “Still Lifes are Failing” LP/CD
Gold Standard Labs / Fatal Recordings 2005
•Witches of the West Compilation
This Starcraft 2004
•Nostalgia del Buio Compilation
Cochon Records 2004
•The Vanishing / Sixteens split 12”/CD
Gold Standard Labs 2003
•The Vanishing / The Phantom Limbs split 7”
Hungry Eye 2003
•Naked Kiss of Vanity split 7”
Release the Bats 2004
•The Vanishing “Songs for Psychotic Children” LP/CD
Gold Standard Labs 2003
•Skyscraper Magazine Compilation
Gold Standard Labs / Skyscraper 2003
•The Vanishing / Lost Sounds split 7”
Cochon Records 2003
•The Vanishing 10” EP/CD
Cochon Records 2002
•The Knives - Cassette EP
Self Release 2002
•Troubleman Mix Tape Compilation
Troubleman Unlimited 2004
•Troubleman Sampler
Troubleman Unlimited 2004
•Subtonix “Tarantism” LP/CD
Troubleman Unlimited 2002
•Subtonix / Glass Candy split 7”
Troubleman Unlimited 2002
•Subtonix “Rich Boys 7”
Vida Loca 2002
•Subtonix “Trophy” 7”
No Love 2001

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Bio

A brief history....

From 2000-2002 Jessie played saxophone in free wave noise terrorists SUBTONIX, an all girl garage/goth quartet whos screetching bass and sax driven escapades released 1 album and 3 singles.

In 2002 she formed THE VANISHING, a trio lead by her on her bass, voice and sax. Their dark futuristic sound was excelled by her wild, shimmying stage presence and their live shows never failed her the opportunity to put the dance floor on its heels. Several US and European tours, three albums, and numerous singles left audiences crying for more.

In 2003 she formed AUTONERVOUS as an outlet to explore a more electronic sound. First incarnation was with BILLY BATES (ZONETECH, VANISHING). A split cassette release, later issued on 12" entitled "Fetalities" and several shows in warehouses ensued. The music was lo fi and captured in spirit the decadent exstacy one could imagine dancing their heart out in dark basements under strobe light with saxophones lulling circus freaks into a frenzy.

Later in the year she collaborated with Portland Legends GLASS CANDY, and in 2004 she moved to Berlin where she teamed up with HANIN ELIAS (singer of ATARI TEENAGE RIOT) for some remixes and the release of the final VANISHING album "Still Lifes."

She then went on to form a moody cabaret duo with BETTINA KOSTER, (singer/sax player from the 80's cult group MALARIA!) who she had met 20 minutes after arriving off the plane. The chemistry on stage was so great between the two that they decided to postpone their respective solo albums to make one together. The resulting: AUTONERVOUS: BETTINA KOSTER AND JESSIE EVANS was recorded in the winter of 2005 in Berlin and connects these two women from different generations and cities in a whirlwind heat-wave of passion and violence. Some might say that this project was the climax of her interest in new wave music, since growing up into this climate, yet having "missed the boat" by about 20 years, it was through this collaboration that she found the connecting spark which was able to close this chapter.

JESSIE is currently living in Berlin and playing live shows with drummer TOBY DAMMIT (IGGY POP, SWANS). This summer she traveled from the former broadcasting and communications center of the DDR in Berlin to the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico to produce her first solo album. TOBY DAMMIT joined her in (and out of) the studio with his exotic array of live drums and percussion. The album mixes many genres from disco to jazz, afro beat and latin. Other guest musicians so far include BUDGIE (SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES, THE CREATURES), NAMOSH (Berlin), MARTIN WENK (CALEXICO), CHLOE GRIFFIN, SUN CHOIR OF THE HIMMEL (Berlin), NINOS DEL SOL (Tijuana), and THE EXTRA ACTION MARCHING BAND (Oakland/San Francisco). The album is still in the works, being recorded both in Berlin by THOMAS STERN (CRIME AND THE CITY SOLUTION/EINSTURZENDE NEUBAUTEN) and mixed in Tijuana by PEPE MOGT (NORTEC COLLECTIVE, FUSSIBLE, LATINSIZER).

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