What happens when you mix post-punk, goth, rock ’n’ roll, a little blues and some Oakland flair? You get Everything But the Everything, a five-piece alternative rock outfit putting out tracks that conjure nostalgia and excitement for the future of music all at once. Lushly layered instrumentals and strikingly soulful vocal deliveries create an immersive and unforgettable listening experience.
With Izzy the Gent on bass, Tobias Hawkins and Sophia Prise on vocals, Andrew Lund and Ian Dowed on guitar, and Kirk Baugh on drums, the quintet has found a unique chemistry and bond that shines through in their cohesive releases. Their newest release, an 18-track compilation called Never Said Goodbye, is a testament to the band’s impressive range yet creative control over their sound. Mystifying, alluring and a little haunting, Everything But the Everything successfully captures a gothic spirit in a modern world.
The band began as a solo project from lifelong musician Izzy the Gent, after feeling like he could not execute his full creative vision with other projects. Prise and Hawkins were the first members to come on board, and their duetting vocals quickly became irresistible. In the beginning, Izzy described the songs as rough and unfinished, but it didn’t take long for the band to find its footing.
Lund responded to a Craigslist ad with fully written guitar parts and notes, and was instantly added to the lineup. Dowed was the first guitarist added after a long musical history with Izzy, and Baugh is the newest addition on drums. The band has cycled through several iterations, but their current lineup feels most aligned with the direction they are heading.
Izzy says, “Everybody’s, I think, hitting on all cylinders, and the band as a collective is now starting to get its stride.”
The band cites gothic rock and post-punk as major genre inspirations, with comparisons of their sound often being drawn to the likes of Siouxsie and the Banshees and Depeche Mode. However, they don’t feel obligated to conform to specific genre conventions or label their art as any one thing.
“There’s just a broad-enough umbrella there that it’s more about finding the hooks, finding the riffs and the various harmonic layers that keep building our sound,” Prise says. “So I’m glad that there’s some flexibility there, personally.”
Their songwriting process differs and has evolved over time, but often begins with a simple melodic idea in the studio. They build a bare-bones, punk-ish instrumental arrangement, and Prise’s lyricism is often the missing puzzle piece that brings everything together. She says she and Hawkins are often able to bring clarity to the idea for a project.
“I really do think that Tobias and I make the sound because we’re bringing a huge musical idea into what was sort of an amorphous instrumental,” Prise says. “And the tone quality of the voice—that’s what we’re building the song with. Then after that, guitars and things might stretch around it.”
To Everything But the Everything, being an Oakland-based band means finding inspiration everywhere. The members gush about the liveliness, diversity and rich artistic community to be found in the East Bay. Hawkins says that their creative niche in Oakland has often been more fruitful than musical endeavors in San Francisco.
“We don’t have to carve and mold ourselves into the ‘hip band’ that might get signed at the club,” Hawkins says. “You know, we’re playing for ourselves, we’re playing for our friends, we’re just trying to do what we do best—and we all come from different influences.”
Prise says, “You meet people, you go to clubs, you go to all the little shows and everyone has a little project. And if you want to explore that genre, you usually can. So over 13 years being here, one of the sort of hallmarks of Oakland is that’s kind of how we all bumped into each other.”
The band encourages young, aspiring artists to work hard on their craft and not be afraid to start small when sharing it with the world.
“There seems to be a lot of open mics happening, and I think a lot of people get their start there,” Baugh says. “It’s a great place to meet people and get your safe presence going.”
Prise adds, “I think it’s really important to remember that music isn’t something that’s going to do something for you. It’s not your tool to use. What’s going to make you happy and keep you going through that long stage where you’re developing is loving music and serving music and being excited about music.”
For more info visit everythingbuttheeverything.com.
