The Evanora Unlimited Interview
On renegade raves, life in Croatia, getting six languages on one EP, and more
There are many characters in the world of music. Almost every artist has one. To a greater or lesser degree, musicians today are obligated to craft front-facing personas associated with their sound. The avenues to do this are numerous. The thrust of the process, self-branding, is as old as time.
Because character-construction is so often uninteresting and imitative, we forget how impactful it can be when an artist commits to the process with intention and care. Few are more intentional than Orion Ohana, the person behind the music of Evanora Unlimited and Marjorie -W.C. Sinclair.
Originally from the Bay but living now in Dubrovnik, Croatia, Ohana’s musical practice began in production and has grown into a branching sound that requires more than one alias. Evanora was initially developed as part of a film project, and Orion’s keen visual sensibility has gone a long way in creating and differentiating his projects, but the distinction is also clear to anyone who listens to the songs. Marjorie -W.C. Sinclair’s Bay-style rap will not be confused with Evanora Unlimited’s more difficultly categorized and experimental discography.
Much more to the point: the music itself is excellent. Portraits from Memory, the latest Evanora Unlimited EP, is a six-song rock project, more acoustic and melodic than some of his previous work. It’s a must-listen, as is Beimax Chessclub, the most recent Marjorie -W.C. Sinclair album.
You might consider listening to one or both of those projects as you read the following conversation, in which we spoke to Orion about the music and much more. Read on.
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Welcome: What’s your story?
Evanora Unlimited: Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss but mix it with that Percy Jackson.
Welcome: You’re from Oakland. How long did you live there, and where are you now?
Evanora Unlimited: Yeah, was born and lived all over the East Bay till I was 22. Around then my friend Angus had offered to organize what would be my first show in Europe, but my living and work situation in the Bay at the time didn’t really allow me to travel so I sold all my stuff to float around and tour, and have been here ever since. I settled down in Berlin for a bit to get a visa but eventually moved to Greece then Croatia where I’ve been for the past year or so.
You started with production. When did you get into that?
My parents both make music and DJ and threw underground raves back in the day. My dad would try to get me to play with Ableton on his computer when I was like 6 years old, which I messed around with throughout my life but didn’t really get super into it. A core of me always saw music as the only option but I didn’t get truly serious about it till around 16 or 17 when I started producing for others from the area.
What motivated you to move from production to creating your own music as an artist?
I had always written lyrics and poetry, probably even longer than I’ve produced, just didn’t have the confidence. Towards the tail end of high-school, like 2018, I was producing my album “Lustful Expanse”, which initially was just going to be instrumental and soundtracking for a short film project, when I came across some things I’d written. I tried recording and liked it so I kept going with it.
Tell us about the rave days. What was that scene like?
For the most part it was like renegade generator raves, some beneath highway underpasses, in forests, or in caves. I floated around a lot of the different music scenes in Oakland and was independently very immersed in the different worlds. It always felt weirdly separated though at the time so when I got into throwing shows myself, my goal was always to connect it all. I’d take a few punk bands my friends were in, a few of my favorite rappers, and rave DJ friends and throw them all on one show.
One event I remember that will always stand out was this big new year’s rave that some friends put together at an abandoned military base. That’s where my final DJ set before I shifted to performing was. They had these four half-dome hangars within like 10 feet of each other, all hosting their own lineups by different organizers & promoted separately, only to realize they’re all in the same place upon arrival.
When did you distinguish between the two alter egos, Evanora and Marjorie Sinclair?
Evanora started around the end of high school. Although not fully realized at the time and even to this day, it has somewhat of a specific vision, but I always made other types of music for fun. So the Marjorie project was where I dumped everything else. It started as just the username of a secret account meant to never be found but it slowly took on a life of its own.
At first when it started popping off I was in denial that I cared about it, being more focused on the Evanora stuff. But I slowly embraced Marjorie upon realizing that it did hold a lot of importance to me in its own way. Evanora became the overbranching world, like a film title or philosophy, whereas Marjorie is a specific person within that world.
I’m kind of happy I suppressed it at first thought because I always wanted them to be two separate entities. It’s fun to hear from people at shows who are into both projects independently that they only realize Evanora and Marjorie are the same person when they’re at a performance.
I’ve seen you describe the Evanora world as erotic sci-fi religious horror.
Hahaha yes, “based on true events, psychological, erotic, religious horror epic.” I went with using film descriptors when I was asked for something in the past, as song to song across the discography can of course be broken down into genres but to try to describe everything overall would be kinda annoying.
Sometimes your music is associated with avant-garde movements. Do you see yourself as an avant-garde artist?
I don’t know if I’d consider myself such. I don’t really like that term in general. Maybe over time I’ve gotten a bad taste from it. Much labeled as “avant-garde” today is stuff that’s just weird or cryptic for just the sake of being weird & cryptic. Which is totally fine. I’m absolutely not opposed to stuff without “meaning.” Things “meaningless” often mean the most. I more so just mean a specific concentration of masturbatorily making stuff strictly for the pseudo-intellectual flex factor and nothing else. Everything has its place and serves a beautiful purpose though.
Your new EP with Evanora Unlimited is a real departure from past albums. Tell me about the evolution in Evanora’s sound and what made you go this route.
There wasn’t any real conscious shift, I’d just been making that kind of stuff for a while and finally put it out.
How did you approach writing songs in so many languages?
I don’t know if there really was an “approach”, as with everything it comes out how it comes out. On the project I sing in English, Croatian, and Polish, and the features are in Spanish from Alles Catalan, Arabic from Thoom, and Russian from Ushko. I’ve always been really into language, and a big part of it is due to music. With this album, I started with making “Ciao Ciao, Slatka Fantazija”, which initially actually was just a language learning exercise I wanted to try, but then once recorded I liked it too much for it to just be for that.
Were there other media or aesthetics influencing this album?
I really try to intake as little as possible media-wise when working on music to keep inspiration pure to life. There’s definitely much that amalgamates but not anything single that I can really list off the top of my head. I mean for sure where I currently live has had its influence.
What’s life like where you live in Croatia?
Definitely a change of pace from places I’ve lived in the past, it gets busy with tourism in the summer but the other 80% of the year it’s very much a Ghibli-esque ghost town which is one of my favorite aspects. We live a five minute walk from the sea, wake up to swim & sometimes fish every day before going to this studio my partner hooked me up with through her friends who run the Communist Museum of Yugoslavia where the recent album was recorded. It’s funny thinking that I can legitimately say I spend five hours almost every day at the Communist Museum. I got my International driver’s license relatively recently as well so we’ve been driving around through the surrounding countries a lot, mostly Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Montenegro, and Serbia. The extended stretches of almost complete isolation also makes when I do visit other places, socialize, or see loved ones all the more special.
Speaking of visiting other places: do you have a tour experience that sticks out?
Overall I’d say my very first international tour in 2022 is still the most nostalgic & formative to me. My only real connections out that way at the time were three friends from Oakland living in Berlin, including Angus who organized my first show which quickly stitched itself to becoming a nearly two-year straight tour that felt like an entire lifetime of its own.
There are infinite standout memories from this time but a funny one I have is from this three day event put together by some friends in Poland called “Mazury Club.” It was in the middle of nowhere at this cabin resort. You had to take a bus deep into the forest to get to. Everyone stayed in scattered small cabins. There was a rec center where upstairs the stage was going almost 24/7, and downstairs there was a hot tub, gym, and sauna.
The hot tub had a sign that said ‘six people max,’ but like 20 people were constantly crammed into it. The morning of the second day the water was half drained and green. We were like, damn, that’s unfortunate, but then remembered they had these large floor-drain shower rooms. So I dragged 3 chairs there and sat under the shower with Angus & Tea for like 3 or so hours. Various friends came by our shower office.
What’s an experience you’ve had that makes you believe in the power of art?
When I was 16 I went to a show in Downtown Oakland my friend Cherokee was performing at, which was like the “first show” I ever went to. It was inexpressibly impactful on me, I had very little social life up to that point which maybe made it all the more so, but it showed me such a concrete example of what can be done with little to nothing but belief and others who believe.
I started going to every show with a camera I stole from my high-school video class and unprompted started documenting & making archive videos of them, wanting to do anything to contribute to what meant so much to me. This got me into doing music videos, producing for others, and eventually throwing shows myself, all which would be a foundational building block in so many ways, from which I can trace nearly everything I’ve done and everyone I know to.
Now looking back alone holds almost just as much if not more power to me, in recognizing how such a small experience led to inspiration and community that has unrecognizably changed my life as well as lives around me, and reminds how through these small butterfly effects, true and massive change can be made in the world.
Do you read manga or watch anime?
Haven’t really in a while, but def used to heavy, in middle school I learned most of what I know now video editing from making AMVs to Lana Del Rey lol. Favorites off top are Gantz, Elfen Lied, Monster, Akira of course, and Suzuka.
Favorite time of day? Hardest?
Favorite is early mornings. Hardest is maybe mid-evening or end of day.
Last question: what is a piece of bad advice you’ve received?
You don’t tend to remember bad advice and I’m having a hard time remembering any right now.