Diandra Interviews Eves Karydas: Life Gets Complicated

I remember being really little and oddly obsessed with 80s romantic films, despite being a kid of the 2000s. It may have been 20 year old graphics and cheesy/ sexist storylines, but I gobbled it up because I love glamorous, happy endings devoid of complication. Yet, as I spoke to Eves Karydas, I kept on thinking of an old, 80s film called Tex where a kid who will always “stay” in town falls in love with a girl destined to go “away” from it. In life, our towns feel divided between the “stayers” and “awayers;” each observing each other in wonder. There to capture is an “awayer” songwriter called Eves Karydas, whose most recent hit, Complicated, totally encompassed feeling so stuck you oddly feel free. In our interview, we discuss the excitement of carrying an adventurous spirit, but really wishing you could feel more at peace in one place .

Diandra: How are you feeling inspired in these time?

Eves: I am finding ways to bring in my upbringing in a folksy way with pop music. Being stuck inside, I am going back to the guitar and re-exploring my roots. I am being very experimental with myself. I am being very direct and not trying to break any “mold” beyond my own mold. I want my lyrics to be inescapable and front and center. So, in a way, it is kind of nice to be stuck at home because the lyrics have to be nice….. because I am stuck at home.
Eves Karydas – Complicated

Diandra: “Confessional” is often a word used to describe your lyrics. Any new confessions that people should expect?

Eves: (she laughs) I guess so. My next single explores the ugly version of myself and being obsessed with somebody. So, it is kind of a love song but I am the problem. It is me being real with myself and checking myself, and realizing that I was on some bad patterns. It is about a toxic relationship I was in last year where I was really ignoring the red flags.

I have been focusing on one topic, but a lot of my upcoming lyrics are a deep-dive into my psyche and what makes me tick. I usually sing about where I am generally in life, but this next single is an exposé on where I was in this one, particular relationship.

Diandra: In looking at that relationship, have you noted any deal-breakers for you?

Eves: You know, I think it is about how I am acting. I have seen that I can be in a space where I am constantly worrying if they like me. It is about being comfortable about being myself, and, when I am with someone that doesn’t provide that for me, that is a deal-breaker.
Eves Karydas – Wildest Ones

Diandra: People often aim for acceptance in a situation, but it seems like you are aiming for accountability.

Eves: It is interesting that you say that because I have been listening to Blue by Joni Mitchell, and I have been listening to that album for years now. The more you listen to it, the more it grows on you and changes its meaning. “I’m selfish and I’m sad /Now I’ve gone and lost the best baby/That I ever had.” I remember listening to those lyrics and being really struck by them when I was 14, and now, more than 10 years later, I understand them more. She is not trying to put herself in some rosy light. She is saying, “It was me,” and I would say I am in that state right now. It is really stunning.

Diandra: Which song of Joni do you feel most matches your personality?

Eves:”Last Time I Saw Richard” I love how weirdly descriptive it is. It talks about a coffee percolator. (she laughs). But I say Amelia would be more my essence, and that is in the Hejira album.

Diandra: I would be a “Both Sides Now.” And I feel like that song’s wisdom does hit you differently depending on the time you are living in your life. It seems like “Complicated” came out in this time, the pandemic, and doubled in importance and relevance.

Eves: I think music really does get people through everything. I am obsessed with BTS “Dynamite” and it is such a good song: a much needed burst of goodness. I like that that was their intention, and I don’t know what it would have done without the pandemic. It just feels so needed right now, and that is kind of what is going on with “Complicated” right now. I didn’t want to make it a “preachy” song. I just wanted to say “this is life” and you just got to keep going. I didn’t want it is to be “things are really bad, but don’t forget to smile.” (she said heightening to a chipper voice.) I just wanted its to say “sh*t sucks and yeah!’ (she shrugs and laughs). It is never been about coffee-table philosophy. I just wanted to be real with myself, and, hopefully, that helps people.

Diandra: I know you “yiayia” is notoriously superstitious. So what is one superstition of hers that, in perspective, you are like, “She might be right?”

Eves: She used to do all sorts of stuff when were kids. (she laughs) She would pin the evil eye on our clothes to ward off evil spirits. Actually, I wish I still did that. It is almost like how people use crystals to ward of evil energy. So, it is not so weird or random; when you think about how drenched in history the evil eye is.

Actually, I was cooking the other day, and I was laying some parsley and bashing it on the table to get the water out. I remembered that the bishop of Queensland would come over to her our house and bless it with water and basil, which is nice. Growing up around that, it made you feel oddly protected. Maybe, I need to get some Holy Basil and an evil eye pin.Eves Karydas – Complicated (Acoustic)

Diandra: Is there a complication you would evil eye out of your life?

Eves: I think it is facing my demons. It is a life-long journey. I think it is, for me, balancing my ambitions and having a peace of mind, especially with this year, where I have really had to stay in place. I have always wanted to be on the move, and wanted to be as far away from home as possible. So I would hope that the powers of the evil eye would help me to feel simplicity and peace.

Diandra: That is definitely a theme that I felt in your music: the struggle to carry your ambition and wanting more but trying to enjoy what you have.

Eves: Mhm! The struggle of my life! I don’t know why, I just always wanted to be somewhere else. With the idea of living in my hometown, I just wanted to live overseas. I lived in London for a few years, and, last year, I felt like my feet got swept up in living in a “global way,” but this year has been the opposite. This year I moved to Byron Bay, and it is nice to appreciate nature and I can walk to the beach. It is paradise, but I am always looking for something better. You know, always thinking, “Where’s next?”

Diandra: I totally get it because I feel like that is a side-effect of being a dreamer and I know you have been diagnosed as an HSP.

Eves: I am definitely a dreamer. I am always here but not here, which is really annoying because I am always split in two somehow. I am never just nice and quietly sitting somewhere. (she laughs) And, yeah, my therapist diagnosed me as an HSP, which is a Highly Sensitive Person. It comes out in all sorts of ways. I get so engrossed in stories that it almost blurs the lines of what is real or not. Even if it is a 20 second ad selling me vitamins, I will just start crying or feeling so taken by the story.
Eves Karydas – Couch (Official Video)

Diandra: What is your favorite childhood memory with music?

Eves: I would make these demos with my brother’s guitar and amps, and I would make CDs and sell them to backpackers. I loved the memory of how confident and carefree I was. It was so sweet and I love that I was able to grow up that way. You get so excited that you jump from like, “Someone wanted me to sign the CD” to “I am going to have a private jet!” I was obsessed with Hilary Duff so my idea of success was having a perfume line and your own clothes at Target. (she laughs) .

For More Information On Eves Karydas Click Here.