Dave Evans had a rather short career with AC/DC – meaning, he recorded two singles in 1974 before he was replaced by Bon Scott, who sang on seven AC/DC records until his death in 1980.
After Evans‘ departure from AC/DC, in October of ’74, Evans went on to join glam rock band, Rabbit, who were active for four years before disbanding.
Now, he has a solo career. One in which he released a compilation record which contained Evans‘ version of one of the AC/DC tracks he was on.
When asked of his opinion about the state of rock n roll, and the general public’s lack of interest in it, Evans didn’t hold back: “It’s about the people who buy the records. And they’re not playing it. The reason why it’s not big is ’cause they’re not playing it on the radio.
“The last rock band signed by a major label was about 20 years ago… I’m not talking metal; I’m talking about rock and roll, rock music. There hasn’t been a rock act signed for 25 years. So if people are not hearing it, how can they like it? You play it to them, they love it.”
… Forgive me for a rather controversial take here, but – rock n roll hasn’t been popular because music evolves. Music will never stay the same, and it will never stay the same.
A multitude of factors have occurred in the last 25 years – radio and television became a more obsolete version of technology due to the introduction of the smart phone, therefore depleting the power radio and television have over the music their listenership consumes. So, not only do they not have as much power, but then they have less power dictating the cycles and trends the general public follows. Hence why micro-trends now exist – so many exist, all at the same time, because people get their information and inspiration from so many different, varied sources.
But – that’s besides the point. Kind of.
If Evans was so inclined to dig, he would be able to find bands like The Darkness or The Struts – which seem to be the kind of bands he’s claiming don’t exist – however, it doesn’t feel like that is his priority as he takes a further dig at metal, and the success the genre has been seeing in the last few years.
“Rock and roll is an attitude – a real attitude, not a pretend one. Metal is a pretend attitude – they get up there and go, ‘Rahrahrahrahrah’ – it’s bullshit. They get up there and paint their face and ‘Yeahyeah’ and they go home to their mamas: ‘Mama, what’s for dinner?.’ But rock and roll is real.”
At this point, it feels like his attitude is far from rock n roll because it feels as if he’s attempting to cause a divide in the overarching genre of rock. Rock n roll is about just feeling and doing what feels right, regardless of what other people think. God forbid someone wants to explore and push the boundaries because rock n roll was done for, what, nearly 30 years?
Well, you know what – I’ll give Evans this – he definitely had a lot to say about ‘sexy ladies’ in the interview with Mexico’s Rock111, making some rather unsavory faces and disgusting noises. So, that’s pretty rock n roll, I guess?
Buckling down on his rather narrow view of modern music and its capabilities, Evans explained he felt that, “this music today, it’s boring to me because there’s no humanity…
“It might be clever and dexterous and play all the chords and that sort of stuff, but there’s no feel… And those guys, who do all that stuff, there’s no humanity in that what so ever. It’s just a fact.”
“Like, Santana, he plays one note – one note! – that’s the humanity in music.”
Evans makes sure to lean into the mic for this next part, “[Complex music is] what you’re supposed to do at home so you can play melody… that’s not music.”
Alright, just say you’re jealous you can’t play more than four chords and move on, buddy. And what is so disingenuous about the human imagination? And it’s creativity? Yes, one note can convey human emotion, but there’s also an element of our lives being so overwhelming and complex that complex music resonates and makes us feel something?
What do I know, I’m just another metalhead.
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