An interview with Eve Christina: songwriting and social media

10/11/2024

Isobel Waugh interviews rising singer-songwriter Eve Christina

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Image by Image by Nikisha Garrett

By Isobel Waugh

In a time when acoustic singer-songwriters armed with a guitar and heartbreaking lyrics dominate the popular music scene, it is becoming increasingly difficult for new artists to stand out. Eve Christina, however, seems to be carving her path to popular fame successfully. Her debut EP Call Me Baby came out last summer, followed by several shows as Eve supported Alessi Rose on her UK tour just last month. If you’re looking for a new ‘I knew her first’ artist to claim, Eve Christina is exactly that.
I was lucky enough to chat with Eve over Zoom this October about all things music.

So, after spending last month touring with Alessi Rose, what was it like being able to see your music connect with people in real life?

Eve lights up: “It was amazing. It was the first time I had shows and there were people in the audience singing the words back, which is always crazy and just so cool to see.”

It’s clear just how important audience reception is to Eve as she reflects specifically on the Alessi Rose gig in Glasgow: “There were different people all around the room just singing my words… that was a crazy feeling. All of the audiences were so nice and made me feel so welcome and relaxed. I was just playing all of the shows acoustically, just me and the guitar. People were pretty silent for most of the shows, which was amazing and always a blessing because that’s not always the way for a support act.”

What was your favourite song to play live?

“My favourite part of each set was when I did the surprise song. Basically every show I did a different cover and I combined it with one of my songs.”
As a support act, Eve was determined to engage everyone in the crowd: “Not only did the audience who didn’t know who I was get excited about their own cover song they were getting, but then the people who did know my music [were] excited about one of my own songs as a surprise song.”
She reflects: “also I really enjoyed playing a song of mine called ‘On The Brain’, which is unreleased… I really like it and I’m excited to release that one because people seem to really enjoy it as well.”

With so many highlights from performing live, Eve reminisces on performing her song ‘Family Business’, which received significant attention online: “‘Family Business’ was really fun because people tended to know the words to that one and some of them had made a little dance so that was cute to watch them do that in the audience.”

It’s evident just how much this relationship with her listeners makes performing live the wonderful experience it is.

Did you get a chance to meet fans face to face and have a conversation?

“Yeah, after every show I went to the merch stand and I was just standing there the whole time when people were coming out. So many people were saying hi to me.” She continues: “After the first show in Nottingham I was so shocked! I had so many people coming up to me and I sold way more merch than I expected, everyone was so sweet.”
It’s clear just how much these direct interactions with fans mean to Eve: “Even when the show was done I was like, ‘right, my favourite part is about to come up anyway because I’m about to have such nice conversations and meet all these sweet people.’”

It is refreshing to find an artist who values her fans so highly. This is absolutely what sets Eve apart and has allowed her to build a community of loyal listeners.

What do you hope people can get out of your music?

“I pride myself on my lyrics being honest and raw and not trying to be anything that they’re not. So, I always just hope that people can listen to them in a way that is cathartic, the way that I feel about other artists – the feeling of ‘nothing is putting into words how I’m feeling right now except for this song’.”
Eve clearly aims for relatability in her lyricism: “[That’s] always the goal… to have a place that people can go and listen to one of my songs if they need to just… let any emotion out.”

Despite this, it is clear that Eve does not sacrifice the honesty of her songwriting in order to be more relatable to her audience – in fact, she feels no need to. “My songs tend to be, in my opinion, quite specific to situations that I’ve been through, but I always love it when people can interpret them in their own ways and find their own connections.”

Is it ever hard to put out songs that are so vulnerable and true to your own experiences?

Eve laughs: “I think I actually find it too easy!... I should try and keep more stuff to myself.”
The ease of uploading on a TikTok can make you forget the personal story you’re sharing with the world. “I’m like ‘this isn’t even real’ but then when I was singing some of them live I was like ‘this is kind of deep’.”
Eve recognises the tendency to not hold back in her songwriting: “I’m actually just kind of outing myself on every single song, like name-dropping people and stuff.”

Writing such heartbreakingly vulnerable lyrics, a skill which defines Eve’s songwriting, seems to come naturally for her: “I just don’t think about it, I find it really easy but then I’d find it difficult to talk to someone and have a conversation about that sort of stuff in my life but for some reason when it’s in song form, I never really think about it.”

In awe of her talent, I can’t help but point out the skill of writing so honestly yet still being relatable to her listeners.

Amused, Eve concludes: “we’re all just going through it.”

In regards to the EP, what was the writing process like? Were the songs written with the EP and production in mind?

“I wrote them all over a period of maybe two years. They were all songs that I wanted to release or that I’d posted small clips of on TikTok and people had resonated with them in the past.”
“They weren’t necessarily written at the time like ‘this is gonna be a six song EP in relation to each other’, but after I’d written them and when I was choosing the EP I just thought that they worked well together in terms of thematically.”

For example, the songs ‘Family Business’ and ‘Marie’ were written over two years ago and ‘You Stay I’ll Go’ was a year old by the time Eve was compiling songs for her debut EP.  Reflecting on the writing process of track five ‘You Stay, I’ll Go’, Eve reveals: “there’s a part at the end of that song that I wrote in the studio when we were recording it”. The original ending was just a repeated line “You stay I’ll go”, over and over which she remarks as “boring”. This perfectionism paid off as Eve discloses the added final verse is “[her] favourite part of potentially the whole EP.”

As ‘You Stay, I’ll Go’ is a personal favourite, I ask whether the reference to Normal People was deliberate.

“Yes, yes it was.”
Eve describes how “[she] was going through something in [her] own personal life." She continues: “It’s so brutal the thought of ‘we need to break up. This needs to end. You stay, I’ll Go’ [when] there’s nothing necessarily wrong that’s happened, it's just sort of bad timing.”

Eve tells me how she “can’t even watch that show, it’s too much.” (This is your reminder to check in with any of your friends rewatching Normal People, like Eve says “it’s torture”).

Whose music do you love listening to? Who would you like to collaborate with?

“I’m so obsessed with Adrianne Lenker, but I don’t know if I could collaborate with her. I’d be too impressed with her raw talent…like I don’t think anyone should collaborate with her.” Clearly a role model for Eve, she notes how intimidating a collaboration with Lenker would be: “I would just be terrified, anything she says I’d be like ‘yes, you’re right’.”

Discussing Lizzie McAlpine, Eve tells me: “I’m a huge fan of hers. But again, all these people that I look up to, I’d just be intimidated…I don’t think I’m confident enough in myself to say my own ideas.” This confidence is something that will surely come in time, as Eve continues to gain the recognition her talent warrants.

I point out a collaboration with Gracie Abrams would be incredible.

“That would be crazy. She’s the coolest.”

Of course, nowadays, platforms like TikTok play a huge role in acquiring an audience, with charts becoming less and less important. Do you think this is beneficial or more challenging for up and coming artists like yourself?

“It’s such a tricky one. I wouldn’t have got to the point I am without social media. I’ve built such a strong connection with listeners through TikTok and Twitter and everything, so I’m so grateful for it.” Eve notes the complexity of social media: “it definitely is a bit of a love-hate, bitter-sweet relationship because it can be so impossible to not compare yourself to everyone else and the success other people are getting. And also the pressure on yourself for a video to go viral when really you don’t have a lot of control over it.”
Speaking of this unpredictability, Eve reveals: “the couple of videos that [she’s] had that had more likes, [she] never would have guessed that those would be the ones to go viral. It’s so random, what works and what doesn’t.”

Eve is a completely independent artist, with no team working behind the scenes to promote her music, she therefore recognises the opportunities platforms like TikTok provide for independent artists like herself – “without social media that’s… impossible… I don’t know how else I'd gain fans.”
“It gets addictive as well, you find yourself just scrolling and searching for validation all the time. I’m working on that.”

What can fans expect in the future? What are you looking forward to?

“It’s such an exciting time, since the tour I’ve felt a shift in terms of my audience… and I feel really excited... I’ve got loads of people in my corner.”
Building her relationship with her fans will clearly continue to be as important as ever to Eve: “I’m doing a hangout in London in a couple of weeks… I’m just gonna sing some acoustic songs and chat and eat cake.” “I’m hoping to do a lot more of those sorts of things, to connect with everyone and get to know the people that are listening to my music.”

Ultimately, Eve hopes to play her own headline show in London. “That’s the goal, so hopefully not too long until I can do something like that. I’m just trying to put myself out there and make my name known.”
New music may also not be too far away as Eve reveals: “I have so many songs that I’ve written that I want to release so it hopefully won’t be too long a wait until I release new stuff.”