Naveed Ahmad Khan Photo Raja Farid
islamabad: With his extreme talent and hard work, Evan Hatfield has become an inspiring new talent within the world electronic music scene. He has become known for his high-energy live performances, where he combines his sitar with a variety of synthesizers, drum machines, and sequencers for a truly exquisite and unique musical journey. Recently, he visited Pakistan at the invitation of the Foundation for Arts Culture and Education (FACE). He performed at a Face Music Mela 2024 held at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA), Islamabad, Pakistan.
Evan Hatfield’s explorations of North Indian Classical music and deep electronic beats have gained the support of DJs and producers throughout the world such as Goldcap, Lee Burridge, Mercan Dede, and many more. His music has been released on a variety of record labels such as Desert Trax, Do Not Sit On the Furniture, Inward Records, and Pink Turban. Being a genre-defying artist, Evan Hatfield is not one to miss as he dazzles audiences with his sitar and mesmerizing grooves.
In an exclusive interview with Daily the Spokesman he said, “I play sitar and study the music of northern India. I incorporate classical Indian music and the ragas of India with my electronic music and create a unique fusion of ancient melodies and futuristic music production.” He shared his passion for music and started a career.
Adding further to this he said, “I grew up in a very musical family. Thinking back, I had no choice but to pursue a music career. From a young age, I studied classical piano, as well as saxophone and guitar. When I was a teenager, my grandparents traveled to India and bought me an electric sitar they found in a music store in New Delhi. When they brought it home, I fell in love with the instrument, although at that point, I had no idea how to properly play it. I tried to play it like an open-tuned guitar and just enjoyed the sound of how the strings resonated. A few years later, I was referred to Paul Livingstone and began taking lessons from him. I eventually moved to LA to study more intensely with Paul, and during that time began to go to warehouse parties and electronic music shows. For quite some time, I have been interested in electronic music.”
Expressing his thoughts, he said “The thriving underground music scene in LA opened my eyes to what is possible. The more I studied and practiced that sitar, the more I could see the worlds of electronica and sitar intertwine and began producing my electronic music. During this time, things were rough for me financially. I lived in an old broken-down RV outside Paul’s house. To make ends meet, I busked on the streets of old town Pasadena. Eventually, I managed to gain recognition through my work and began gigging with many LA bands. Among these bands were Paracosmic, TV Broken 3rd Eye Open, The Blood Moon Howlers, Matt Koelsch, The Bash Dogs, and many more. He concluded with comments that while playing with all these different bands, I learned what it takes to be a musician. It is a tough road, but highly rewarding.