by christina wagner
Niam is another guy I met through Rob Roy. Always colorful, always busy and I swear he is a petite blonde trapped in a large black man's body. One of these days I swear we'll make some tracks together, but the problem is the overwhelming mass of projects I'm involved with, he has twenty times that himself. It was a fun interview, all in all, although I must apologize to Therapy for, "Wasting his time entirely." He did give me some great advice and prompted me to, "Do my interviews in the nude." Hmm, maybe then people will start treating me like a professional.
EU: You were born Niam, but musically go by Willie Evans Jr. What's up with that?
Niam: Hahah Well, I was in a project before Asamov and the Alias Brothers (the ABs) called Deep Rooted. We were working on stuff and it got to a point where being in a group is like being in a family and sometimes you fall out, and I just wanted to make music. So I recorded this project and I needed a name other than the one I was using at the time. And I read comics and I found this character and in something, I don't want the same thing that happened with Asamov to happen to my name. At any rate, I've had that name for a long time and it's a reference to an obscure character in a story and it just kinda stuck.
EU: You're a busy dude. How many projects are you currently working on?
Niam: I do have two projects that are coming out right now. I did a remix of a collection of songs with this guy, Mr Lif, which I'm extremely excited about, It's gotten a lot of positive response. On the heels of that, my second actual album and really my first official, I don't know if you would call it a national release, because it's all digital. But it will be my first official solo release. So I'm doing that and I'm also working on a project with Christina Wagner.
EU: Haha.
Niam: It's going to be a thing where I'm going to handle a lot of the music, and we're going to work on the songs together. She completely admitted to it, and now that it's in print, she's going to look like a jerk if she doesn't do it. I'm very excited about that. Oh, and also I have a friend, Flat Foot, that's working on this stuff with this cat, Jesus Brown, and I'm doing some of the production on that. So be on the look out for that.
EU: What are some of your influences?
Niam: I'm sure that, much like everyone here, I could go on for days. Major influences like, DJ Premiere, James Brown, and honestly, the portion of the music that sounds most like me is influenced by the people that I work around that I consider to be cats that I artistically look up to. Like Liquid Man was in the first group I was in, and literally one of the funkiest human beings I've met personally. Therapy, I really feel. Like lyrically, with rhymes. It's not even a matter about being on top of your game, that's what he does. You know what I'm saying? That's how he gets down.
EU: Who is your least favorite hip-hop artist, national or local?
Niam: Oh man. (Laughing) Wow. There was this guy that we opened for in Seattle, and if he's still there and a major part of the scene I'll take all of this back, but I just really didn't like what he was doing. I can't remember his name though. Very convenient for me. (Laughing) Very convenient for me, I know, but I honestly don't remember his name.
EU: Your name popped up on Wikipedia. You produced some tracks for the hip-hop group, The Perceptionists. how did you get hooked up with that gig?
Niam: Yes! Wow, are you serious? I'm fixing to look that up as soon as I go home. The two guys in The Perceptionists, Akrobatik and Mr Lif, are both from Boston, and it so happens that Therapy is also from Boston. As far hooking up with them, through Therapy, they got beats of mine in their hands. They were feeling it and we started contacting each other.
Therapy: Niam. Are you doing a solo show for Summertime in the City? Or are y'all prerequisiting, for like, fucking, or something?
Niam: What are we talking about right now?
Therapy: That was just a long time and I'm sitting here for like a half-hour and waiting for you to answer back and forth questions.
Niam: I'm just long winded.
Therapy: That's ok, I'm just a professional. I'm out though.
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