Ewy (they/them) is a queer, punk musician from North Yorkshire, writing Midwest Emo/Folk-punk music ‘for sad youths’. Their music often highlights themes of politics, love, gender & mental health. Our writer Isaac interviewed Ewy in 2023 and reached out to organise a catch up interview ahead of the musician’s upcoming tour in April, where they will be visiting Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds and London. In this interview, they discuss Ewy’s latest release ‘SCREAM LIKE A DOG’ and what it’s like being an independent artist.
Isaac: So Ewy, thank you for joining me today! What have you been up to since our last interview?
Ewy: Well, I’ve released a lot of music! In Spring of 2024, I released an album called ‘With Your Body Beside Me’, which was a collaboration with Say10 records. Then, a bit later in the year, I released an independent EP called ‘SCREAM LIKE A DOG’. I also hit 100k monthly listeners on Spotify at the end of 2024.
I: Last time we spoke you described yourself as a DIY artist. Has this changed since working with a label?
E: I would say I still do 90% of everything myself. Working with Say10 was a really valuable experience, as they provided the funding to get the record professionally mixed and mastered. Being signed opened a lot of doors for me, but reflecting on it, I think I do prefer being an independent musician as it aligns better with my goals.
I: Did that experience influence anything about how you approached your following project, ‘SCREAM LIKE A DOG’?
E: Absolutely, it really showed me the value in having a professional mix and master my music. I’d like to think I’m a fairly good mixing and mastering engineer, but I’m just not going to stack up to someone who’s had 10+ years experience in the field. I also think it just think that a professional is able to elevate the music to a standard which is more palatable to a general audience. So for ‘SCREAM LIKE A DOG’, I sent my stems over to a fella named Brett Romnes, who has mixed and mastered some of my favorite records. I absolutely loved what he did with the EP and he really brought my vision to life.
I: So, what are you working on right now?
E: I’m going on my first headliner tour in April, which is really exciting, but it’s also been quite a stressful experience. At the moment it’s only four dates across the UK, but I’m happy with that because a lot less can go wrong in four days! I feel like I’ve learned a lot from just booking these shows, and I feel like I could definitely book a bigger tour in the future.
I: Who have you got lined up for your support acts?
E: For Glasgow, we’ve got Lana Wild and Picturescew. For Manchester, we’ve got Gum Disease and Cheap Dirty Horse. For Leeds, we’ve got Rat Pakk and DRAAGS, who are both local acts. And then for London, we’ve got Gum Disease again and then Sunny Side Down, who are both bands that I really enjoy playing with. They’re all good folks!
I: Do you have any advice for other independent artists looking to book their own tours?
E: Definitely do things as far back in advance as you can, preferably about six months, because venues get booked up really quickly. Also, just boring stuff like follow up on emails and pick loads of venues out that you might want to play at. Just do loads of planning, make sure you know where you’re parking, stuff like that. And maybe get someone to help you!
I: Last time we talked a bit about TikTok, which is obviously quite a hot topic recently with the non-ban in the US. Do you still rely on TikTok for your promotion? And did the threat of the US ban affect that at all?
E: Well, I think short form content is invaluable as a promotional tool, but I’ve become quite indifferent towards making it. I’ll try and do it where I can, but it’s just so draining on myself that I just would rather not, even though I know that I should. Regarding the ban, I was a little bit worried about it, but I was just going to follow wherever the Americans ended up. Also, Instagram Reels wasn’t going to be affected, so I knew I could still share content over there and on YouTube shorts.
I: Would you say your relationship towards content creation has changed at all since we last spoke?
E: Yeah, I mean, I used to be fairly okay with doing short form content, but I think the algorithm has changed a bit and has become a little bit less democratised. In the past few years, I’ve noticed creators honing in on what makes short form content successful and making it more of a skill to master, which has resulted in TikTok being more specific in the content it uplifts. It feels more and more draining to play into that now, especially when trying to strike a balance between being authentic and being engaging. You know, it’s kind of hard to find that line. And I think it’s also extremely exhausting. I know some musicians really enjoy doing it, but I just do not.
I: That’s totally fair. And I suppose like, as you said last time, there isn’t really a comparable form of promotion nowadays because everything is online.
E: Yes, social media is definitely the main tactic. I mean, we’ll see how the tour goes because that might be a great promotional tactic, because when people see you live, it’s the most authentic version of your music that you can possibly get. Even with the studio recordings of songs, you know, there’s still that barrier of production behind it. But with live music, there’s this sort of a raw authenticity that you genuinely feel the music rather than just it being promoted to you or having it pushed to you by Spotify or whatever.
I: That’s really lovely. Well, thank you so much for your time today, Ewy. It’s been lovely to catch up with you and good luck with your tour in April!
E: Cheers, thanks for having me!
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Tickets for Ewy’s upcoming tour in April are available here.
Keep up to date with what Ewy’s getting up to by following them on Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube, or listening to them on Bandcamp, Spotify or Apple Music.
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