LA-based musician Eva Gardner first made her name as the original bassist in The Mars Volta as well as being the longtime touring bass player for P!nk and linking up with a plethora of global superstars such as Gwen Stefani, Tegan & Sara, Moby and Cher.
Growing up as the daughter of renowned bass player Kim Gardner, who was a member of groundbreaking British bands of the 60s and 70s, the seed of passion for the bass was planted in Eva at an early age. She grew up in the setting of her family’s legendary Hollywood pub The Cat & Fiddle, where she met many famous rockers who further inspired her and began performing with live bands in her hometown at the age of fourteen before going on to further her musical studies, she attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.
More recently though, she’s been making waves as her own act, kicking off her solo career with the debut single “Dirty Bird” followed by an EP titled Chasing Ghosts. Now she brings us her latest release with the new EP, Darkmatter, a six track outing that offers the very best of Eva Gardner’s alternative rock writing and performance, with the multi-instrumentalist laying down keys, bass and guitar lines as well as vocals.
On the EP, she explores her challenges, nostalgia and gratitude for happy distractions, all tied together through the EP’s title. Blending her 90’s punk rock roots with more modern synth pop sprinkles, she delivers a journey through her vastly experienced sonic vision.
Commenting on the new release, she offers, “Before I had dreams of becoming a musician, I wanted to be an astronomer. Staring up into the night sky has always been a source of enchantment and wonder for me. What is really going on in the space between the stars in the sky? In astronomical terms, dark matter is material that cannot be seen directly, but it’s believed to account for the unexplained motions of stars within galaxies — just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there. Creating music is a deep dive within the dark matter of our own psyches.”
Taking shape during the pandemic, coinciding with Eva taking at-home music production courses, she enlisted the help of friend Josh Berwanger, whom she met 20 years ago on tour with the Mars Volta, to help produce Darkmatter. They went to Blackwatch Studios in Norman, OK to record with Jarod Evans who honed these ideas using an incredible collection of analog gear to further enhance the sound.
“It was a fantastic perspective on the power of collaboration. Since I have a home recording setup, I’m able to get my demos to a pretty good place, but when you’re doing everything by yourself, the experience is insular and it can be hard to have perspective. We can be very precious with our ideas and there is definitely a time and place for that – but a lot of growth and expansion can come with
joining forces with other creatives. Writing these songs was another form of journaling, reflection and meditation for me – another way of shining a light in the dark shadows of the subconscious. Sometimes we have to bring these feelings to the surface to heal them,” she shares.
Listen to Darkmatter below
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