Always Into It, and Never Over It with Evan Weiss

by Lo-Fi Lauren

Before she was lo-fi, she was misunderstood. An outcast. She spent her time sitting in the grass at lunch doodling. Listening to her music. Walking from class to class with her headphones in, imagining the days to come when things would make more sense. Too bad she didn’t realize how simple life was back then. Spoiler alert: she was me. But hey, I’m sure you all could have guessed that without an introduction right?

Playing the Part

Why am I explaining my angsty high school persona? Because amongst all the artists on my purple iPod Nano, one of the ones I related to the most back then was Into It. Over It. Aka, Evan Weiss. Specifically the album “Proper.” From the moment I first heard the song “Where your Nights Often End,” I knew I was hooked, not even just because of the music, but because the incurable romantic in me fell hopelessly in love with Evan’s poetic lyricism. Almost 10 years later, I can honestly say that some days I still wake up and think to myself that I truly am “playing the part of a thoughtless romantic in my busy rotation of what goes wrong.” What a great possible tattoo…am I right?

Thank you to Evan, who, for those of you who are unfamiliar, fronts not just Into It. Over It, but also bands Pet Symmetry and Their/They’re/There. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to make 17 year old Lauren happy through this interview. Maybe she wasn’t so misunderstood afterall.

The song & video for “The Shaking of Leaves” lives rent free in my mind because of how much I love it. What was the inspiration behind it, specifically for the video?

Thanks - That’s probably my favorite IIOI recording.

In 2010, my friend Mitch Dubey was murdered in his apartment during a home invasion in New Haven, CT. The Shaking of Leaves is a song about grappling with the fact that despite the feeling of “justice” I felt when it was announced that they had found his killer (who actually didn’t turn out to be the killer at all), it doesn’t change the fact that what we really wanted was to have our friend back: we just miss Mitch. With that in mind, myself and the folks who helped me bring that video to life based it on reuniting with a loved one; in this instance, a dog. It’s something Mitch would have loved. I think of him anytime I hear those songs or see that video. I wept pretty hard the first time I watched it.

Would you say that being in love has an effect on your music/songwriting? What about heartbreak and loss?

Great question.

For how simple of a question that is, the answer is enormous! I mean the answer is quite literally everything. Love and loss are at the center of everything; the human experience. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Love is such a huge shared human experience and one that folks from all over the world can relate to. I’m somehow fortunate enough to have made a career out of singing songs about my real life experiences, mostly focused on love. Proper and Figure are two records that are very pointed examples.

One of the reasons why I became a fan of yours years ago was because of your unique and intricate lyricism. Does it come naturally to you?

I don’t know if it comes naturally to me. I generally need to block out dedicated time for lyric writing. It’s the part of my songwriting process that comes last. Sometimes I’ll get little phrases or ideas in my day to day living and write those down. Whole songs can be built around a good turn of phrase.

What is your happy place (Mentally and physically) when times are tough?

In the woods. Behind the wheel of an automobile. In the recording studio. Cooking a meal. Often with something nice to drink or smoke. Some level of mind alteration is likely in play. If I’m needing to detach for a little while those are a few things that will help me clear my head. Reset.

Is there a specific message that you try to convey through your music?

No, not particularly. The trick with what we write and release for any of the bands I’m in is to be making music that’s interesting to listen to and interesting to play. My personal favorite is writing music that sounds easy to the crowd but is actually very difficult to play musically. Only real musicians pick up on it. We are always chasing that rabbit.

My favorite songs by you are “Obsessive Compulsive Distraction” and “Where Your Nights Often End.” What inspired them?

Obsessive Compulsive Distraction: is lyrically a song about how my long term memory is not very good. Almost disturbingly so. Sometimes it keeps me up at night.

Where Your Nights Often End: is a love song about being interested in someone out of your league, then slowly realizing the out-of-your-league-ness is mostly an act. The folks who appear to have it all together rarely do. It’s almost always a grand illusion. Don’t be fooled by the greener grass.

Being the person you are at this very moment in time, what is something that you wish you were able to tell your younger self?

No one owes you anything. Take that chip off your shoulder.
Go solo sooner. Stay solo longer.
Seize the means of production.

Out of your entire discography, all bands and albums considered…what is your absolute FAVORITE? The one that you will always be proud of no matter what?

There was a 2-3 year period where our collective consciousness buttoned up three of my favorite records I’d ever made. They were all part of a similar moment in time and they all came out exactly as I wanted them to. That moment in time sticks with me as probably the most fully realized, firing-on-all-cylinders moment in my adult life. These were the records:

Into It. Over It. - Figure
Pet Symmetry - Future Suits
Their/They’re/There - Their/They’re/Three

How many great loves do you think we get in a lifetime?

I believe we get somewhere between 5 and 10. All of them represent different stages in life and it takes time and failure to get the one that really counts.

Would you say that life is a lot more like the movies and tv shows than we admit?

More than we give it credit for, that’s for sure. I always wonder if people stop to appreciate the poetry in the mundane. Some of my favorite storytelling is embracing that. Having the bravery to make poetry out of the mundane.