Life & Work with Evan Roth

Today we’d like to introduce you to Evan Roth.

Hi Evan, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’ve always been drawn to making music since an early age and remember my mom taking me to music classes before I could even walk. My grandparents bought me my first keyboard and I started taking private lessons at age 7 with a classical piano teacher from St. Petersburg, Russia. After becoming immersed in this classical world and competing in lots of regional piano competitions, I learned the clarinet and played in as many music ensembles at school as possible, from Big Band to Orchestra. I also took jazz lessons and learned how to relax more as a musician through improvisation. I grew up listening to the piano greats like Billy Joel and Elton John and wrote my first song at 14 about my childhood crush. This really opened my eyes to the power of songwriting and it was the moment I found an outlet where I could truly express my emotions honestly.

After that, I really hit the ground running and haven’t stopped writing since. I’ve really been immersed in a lot of different genres writing for myself and other artists and have been in these two separate worlds as a singer/songwriter and a composer. I first got involved with film scoring after attending Chapman University and becoming friends with a lot of talented directors in the film school there. I always dreamed about working with movies because visual storytelling has always been a powerful medium that speaks to me. I’ve since started my own music production company (Momentum) and have scored about 25 films ranging from short feature to documentary and many national commercials for well-known brands. The last few years, I’ve been saving up songs for my solo project and finally started releasing them this year, the first one being ‘Fairytale’ in August.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Just like any journey, of course there’s been lots of ups and downs. Pursuing your dream is not always easy and if it was then nobody would be able to benefit from the struggles along the way and then having your dreams filled would be somewhat meaningless. It’s taken a lot of self-sacrifices, a lot of support from family and friends and fans. This is what keeps me going and makes it all worthwhile. I love making music and couldn’t imagine doing anything else, but the encouragement I get to keep going makes me never want to give up. I know I have a lot of people who are counting on me to succeed and I want to make them proud. When I first started out, I turned down a few label deals that weren’t going to take my career in the direction I wanted and I’m happy I didn’t go that route because I feel like I’ve been able to discover my own sound through experimentation and lots of trial and error. I’ve also been promised a lot of things and had some big opportunities fall through that would have elevated my career, but not to be cliche, I truly believe everything happens for a reason. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been able to learn so much about my industry being behind-the-scenes the last few years working as a songwriter, composer and session pianist. It’s definitely been challenging at times to gain momentum having such a small team working with me, but I believe there will be a breakthrough soon with my music. I’ve learned if you can’t count on yourself to be successful, how can you ask others to do so?

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a singer/songwriter, composer and pianist. As of right now, I’m most known for my music you’ve heard on national TV commercials (Hobby Lobby, Gold Peak Tea, Honest Tea) and in film, having had many films premiere at festivals around the world. I’m most proud of playing piano for President George W. Bush in 2016, that will always be a highlight of my career and life. Also, getting to write the theme music for a Gold Peak Tea commercial with Ron Howard was pretty special too. I think what makes me unique is my passion, versatility and endless drive to create. I have learned so many styles that I can now source by ear now when I sit at the piano. I want to inspire and connect with people through my music and I really live and die by the song.

Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
I’m releasing a new song on December 4th called ‘Let’s Have A Merry Christmastime.’ It will be out on all streaming platforms Friday. I’m going to be releasing another new song in January called ‘We Live And We Learn’ so check back then!

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.evansroth.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/evansroth
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/evanspencerroth
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/evansroth
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR_VX_dtkrRK6b5Hsa4ZrQg?view_as=subscriber
• SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/evansroth
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ypsL8O7vhyRcaqBUCA8xw?si=aag2GbIbQz69zuqEDUfZBw

Image Credits
Photos by Mitchell Zaic