The music is described as “buttery smooth” and delicate, appealing to wide cross-sections of music tastes without abandoning indie uniqueness. Importantly though, for Rantings of Eva, it wooed Spin Magazine judges enough to award the Atlanta-based band the best un-signed act in its nationwide competition, Hot Pursuit. The perks are incredible, an album deal with label Original Signal-Epic Records, a stage at the end-of-year bash hosted by Spin and the kind of exposure money can’t buy. For singer Ryan Flanagan, the reality has yet to set in.
How did you guys get started? My brother and I started in 2002. We found the guitarist through his wife, who was working in the same restaurant and kept him around. The guitarist had a strong relationship with someone in Birmingham who had a recording studio. The relationship really helped develop the band. We developed a three-song demo for places around town in 2002 and got our first show playing at Music Midtown that same year.
How was the band developing prior to the award? We recently recorded our first (full, self-titled) album in March, which was also self-produced. We put it on iTunes and Amazon.
How did you guys learn about the Spin contest? Our drummer said, "let’s do this, it won’t hurt." I was a little bit like "Ok, we can do this, whatever." So we went to practices and he kept bringing it up, but I didn’t really think about it for more than a minute.
Tell us about your reaction to finding out you’d won. Well, one day someone called us up and said that we’re in the top 25. Later, I was driving and received a call saying we’d won. I can’t really wait to see what comes from it.
The recognition must feel surreal. Things always seem to happen in the twelfth round for us. It’s a big boost for our morale. After the competition, we received 433 plays in one day on MySpace.
Part of the award includes a record deal. Are you going to transfer the songs from your original album onto the new label? I believe they’re going to let us record another one under theirs. Hopefully it’ll all come together in the wash, probably in the next month.
Does the award signal another success for the Atlanta music scene? I think we have good bands in Atlanta. We don’t want to be a poster boy for it. There are bands like Snowden and Manchester Orchestra, and we’re just glad to be in the same family as them. Hopefully this will pinpoint Atlanta to prove there’s good music coming out of here.
What advice do you have for fledgling bands? Don’t be afraid to ask for help, and stick with it. Locally, Trances Arc and Red Letter Agent are good friends and we’ve always helped each other out.
Rantings of Eva play the Star Bar August 8, at 8 p.m., with Part Bear and Gift Horse
