Eva Walker of The Black Tones Shares Her Thoughts About "Brain Brain"

Described as a musical Batman and Robin, twin siblings Eva and Cedrick Walker are the embodiment of trust and having each other's back. As the two leading members of The Black Tones, the band wouldn't exist without either member. Seven years after their critically acclaimed debut LP, Cobain and Cornbread, The Black Tones are moving forward with a new process, with Eva taking the reins of their latest project, Diamond Ruby Night.

So far, the band has released two singles, "Bombs" and now "Brain, Brain," which signify a new era. Stepping away from the garage rock sound of The Black Tones' earlier work, Eva transmuted her experiences into a series of songs deeply inspired by her "gothy state of mind."

I spoke with Eva about the making of the song "Brain, Brain," the new direction of The Black Tones, how she incorporates her brother in her creation process, and what to expect from The Black Tones' upcoming new album.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Adriana Gomez-Weston: I really like your new song, "Brain, Brain." I listened to it, and I'm loving it. I also liked "Bombs" too. Can you tell me more about the process of creating "Brain, Brain" and how it evolved from a nursery rhyme?

Eva Walker: Actually, it was my husband's idea. We have a two-and-a-half-year-old; we've been watching a lot of kid videos and things like that, but I'm a kid of the '90s. I was born in '89. He was born in '83. So, we both are very fond of rapper Nelly and how he would take old nursery rhymes like "Down, baby, down by the roller coaster," and make it into a hook for his song. I just thought that was so cool, and it was also really nostalgic. My husband was like, "What about brain, brain, go away?" I was like, "That's genius!"

I knew I was going to have some sort of song about mental health, and just adding that kind of humorous twist on that nursery rhyme, I thought it was a good idea.

AGW: Since the song references mental health, how do you see your work in relation to that? And also creation as a means for your mental health?

EW: We originally had our second album already done. That was supposed to already be out, but after some life events, some pretty big life events, I had to think about it and told my manager, "I don't want to release these songs because I don't want to have to play them. I want to rewrite the record all over again."

The one that was supposed to be released sounded similar to Cobain and Cornbread, and I was just kind of done with that era of garage rock for myself, and also was on the other side of these life experiences I've had.

I went into the studio with Don Farwell, who produced the album, and we started everything from scratch. I kind of just word-vomited on him- everything I was going through mentally- and I felt the best way to kind of cope with that and to honor these experiences I had. I wanted to create the songs on the spot. So, I actually didn't have the band in the studio. I didn't allow them in the studio. I said, "I need to figure this out by myself, you guys."

I played pretty much most of the instruments on the record, and I took everything one by one. I started with drums and then would add bass and then would add guitars and just kind of add on in the moment. None of this was pre-planned, pre-written music. That was a way of healing and dealing with mental health. I felt really good after the first session, and the songs that came out were honest. They felt good. I still love them now.

That's how I dealt with that because I was also slowly wondering, "Am I not interested in doing this anymore?" I like performing music, but it was because I didn't want to perform the first second record that was going to be released. It wasn't that I didn't want to do music anymore. I didn't want to do those songs. Once I abandoned that and just let myself trust myself and play what I wanted to play and experiment, the flame relit. I was like, "Yep, I love music. I love playing music."

I need to do it how I want and not worry about what people are expecting of The Black Tones sound because it's allowed to change, and it did. And if some people don't like it anymore, that is totally fine. They don't owe me by liking it, but it has been getting some good responses. So, I'm happy about that, but I'm at the point now where I have to make music for me. 

AGW: Do you think you'll approach more songs in the future without having them written when you go into the studio, since it's so cathartic?

EW: Yeah, I liked this process a lot better. And you know what? When I used to write songs before, with Cobain and Cornbread, I enjoyed doing that, and with other singles, I enjoyed doing that. It worked for that time, but this is a new era. Now, this is what I prefer, and that's where all this music's coming from. That's really where some of the best music comes from... if you don't even think about whether anyone's going to like it or think about the outside world, just make it and believe in it and love it, and then shit'll happen. Either they'll love it too or they won't, but it doesn't matter. I'm so proud of this record; if no one hears it, I'm super proud of it.

AGW: I know you and your brother, Cedric, are the main faces of The Black Tones. How was he a part of this process? Did you decide to be more the primary creator this time?

EW:  I've kind of become more of the primary creator, which he loves because he is very busy. He learns his parts on the drums. He'll give me feedback. I'll say, "Hey, is there a song you don't like, bro? You're 50-50 of this band. I also don't want you to play anything you're really not into."

But he trusts me, and he loves my ear. Anytime I recorded the demo for all these songs, I sent them to him, and he would just say, "You're my favorite musician, Eva." ... Just really sweet, you know?

My brother has always wanted to be the person to back me up and uplift me because even when we started The Black Tones, he always saw himself as the Robin to my Batman. He's always trusted my songwriting. He influences the music more than he realizes, even when he's not in the room. The song "Last Day" that's on the record is directly inspired by him and a conversation we had. He's also just always in my head and in my process, just because I know his drumming style and we talk all the time, and some of those things I turn into songs.

In the studio, we do this process with his demanding schedule. He says, "I trust you. This is amazing. If you want to do it this way, I am happy to." I told him, "If you ever change your mind and you want to be in the studio and on certain songs, just tell me and join."

We have an LLC. We both own the band. I made that clear to him that I don't want him to feel left out of anything, but he was really all for this process. It just makes his life a little easier. I've been writing a lot of the songs for years, and he loves them. He's naturally a fan, and he naturally sees himself as more of a supporter.

We put ourselves as the face of the band because we're the two most consistent members ever since it started. There would be no Black Tones if Cedric was not in it. There would be no Black Tones if I wasn't in it. So, if I'm doing these songs and Cedric's not in the band, we're not The Black Tones. If he's not performing with us, it's not The Black Tones. It'll just be Eva Walker, but as long as he's there, the project is me and him. 

AGW: Are there other inspirations you can cite for your new songs, whether it be local, abroad, or anything else you pulled from?

EW: Oh yeah! I love U2 and the album War. This record, specifically, was influenced by a lot of different music I wasn't really listening to before, except U2. I've been listening to U2 for years, but Joy Division, Sharon Van Etten, PJ Harvey, The War on Drugs... Depeche Mode, New Order...

I've got this gothness that I'm putting into the music more, which kind of reflects who I really am, which is more of a melancholy person. I come across as really energetic and extroverted, and I am not like that. I am extremely introverted. I know how to socialize and communicate because it's part of my job. I'm a master of disguise. I can socialize with people, but I get exhausted and would rather be alone for the most part, except when I'm around my family. I'm extroverted with my family, but introverted with literally the rest of the world.

Those new wave, gothy songs have inspired a lot of this because it perfectly represents my state of mind lately. 

AGW: Why did you choose "Brain, Brain" as the second single after "Bombs"? I read that the upcoming album has a variety of genres, and "Bombs" had a different tone.

EW: I wanted to show the range early on. "Bombs" isn't necessarily the whole energy of the album. Some songs sound like The Smiths. Some songs sound like U2. When I was doing this, I wasn't trying to sound like another band. I pretty much wanted to be Eva Walker doing this music, but was still heavily influenced by all these artists. I thought "Brain, Brain" was a good second song because of the range between that and "Bombs." They're pretty different songs.

AGW: I know you mentioned you're not as concerned if people like the new direction, but if you have any hopes that people get out of this album, what are you hoping for, or at least for yourself? 

EW: For myself, I'm just hoping to keep trusting myself, and if I want to change again, then allow myself to do that. When I did that, I created this album, Diamond Ruby Night, and I love it. So I just want to trust myself, make the music I want, for as long as I want, and if I want to move on and do something different, then I'll go ahead and do it, because I don't work for anyone but myself. So that's as far as this music thing goes.

What I want is just to continue to trust myself because look what happened when I did, you know? Yeah, I want people to like it because I'm normal. I'm a human being, kind of normal, but I'm a human being. You're a musician, and you put your art in the world. Of course you want people to like it, but it's not going to dictate anymore what I decide to do with music moving forward because I'm much happier just doing what feeds me personally.

Diamond Ruby Night will be available on October 30th, via Eva and Cedrick's own imprint, Reptar Records.

For more information about The Black Tones, visit theblacktones.com.

Eva Walker is a former Hollow Earth Radio DJ and hosted the show "Spaceship Radio."