Jared Evan -- About to Pop

By Ashley Iasimone Posted Aug 12th 2010 12:00PM

Who: Jared Evan
Single: 'In Love With You'
Hails From: Nassau County, N.Y.
For Fans Of: Mike Posner, Drake, Cage

Why He's About to Pop: Ask Jared Evan about music and he'll light up. The rapper-singer-musician-producer -- he does a bit of it all -- has been drumming and writing rhymes since he was a kid, and his upbringing involved listening to everything from Led Zeppelin to Method Man. Early on, he told PopEater, "I had this dream: I wanted to be like the next Keith Moon. I wanted to be a rock drummer, like on 'Behind the Music.' I wanted to be John Bonham or something like that. That was my goal. That was my dream. That was what I wanted to do."

When Evan recently visited our New York headquarters to preview his upcoming debut album, 'Fourth Chapter,' he showed his enthusiasm for his craft as he explained the process of recording it, particularly the title track. Each verse of the song pays homage to the separate eras of his musical influences -- classic rock, grunge and hip-hop -- while the final one conveys the message of being, as Evan explained, the "first artist to write the fourth chapter," a sort of genre-blending sound that he says hasn't been done yet.

"Most of them are very introspective," Evan added of the album's tunes. "I was feeling something with a specific girl in a situation, and I wrote about it. I'd say 'Love With You' [the record's first single] is like probably the broadest one. Every girl just drives me crazy. A lot of the other songs are more like, put your headphones on and listen to what I'm really saying."

Evan is now readying the release of 'Fourth Chapter.' Check out an exclusive video, interview and photo shoot from his visit below to get a taste of what's to come.

Jared Evan Visits PopEater

What drew you into music?

I started playing the drums when I was like four years old. I was obsessed with bands like Led Zeppelin and the Beatles, Emerson, Lake and Palmer and Jethro Tull and stuff like that. I was the only five-year-old kid listening to Led Zeppelin. All the other kids thought I was weird, you know -- they were listening to like, Hanson or whatever was hot at the time; the 'Macarena.' I was listening to Sublime and Led Zeppelin and s---. I had this dream: I wanted to be like the next Keith Moon. I wanted to be a rock drummer, like on 'Behind the Music.' I wanted to be John Bonham or something like that. That was my goal. That was my dream. That was what I wanted to do.

How did the hip-hop element of your sound come into play?

I just kept playing the drums, I kept listening to music and as I grew older the music I listened to evolved more. I started listening to hip-hop. Before I started listening to hip-hop, I'd never bashed hip-hop, but I was never obsessed with it like I was with rock and soul. I just didn't think much of it. I was big into instruments, not really samples. I always thought that if you didn't use instruments to make music, you were kind of cheating. But then when I was like ten years old, I saw this Method Man video -- Wu-Tang Clan. And when I saw the video, I just bugged out. I was like, "Yo, this is crazy. I love this." I was so fascinated by it. It was so intriguing to me. After I saw it, I became obsessed with hip-hop.

What was memorable about combining your influences and recording your album, 'Chapter Four'?

I didn't know what my sound was going to be, what the theme was. Ill Factor started making these beats, and there was one beat that just, as soon as I heard it I saw colors in my head. It sounds weird, but I saw yellow and orange and stuff. After that, I saw a camera panning on things. I was getting a vibe of a video of things moving. The things that I saw moving were records, different records of people. The beat just told me to make a song about all these different influences I have and reference them together, [to] talk about these references in a witty kind of a way.

What's your favorite song on the album?

'Fourth Chapter.' I have a lot of favorites, though. 'It's Better' is one of my favorites, also. It's hard to pick.

If Keith Moon were still alive and you had the chance to meet him, what would you say to him?

That he changed my life. I would tell him that. As stupid as that sounds, as cracked out and crazy as it looks, it doesn't matter. He changed my perception on trying to be someone, be a musician, stand out as something. I would tell John Bonham the same thing. I can relate to them.