Everfish opens up about his origins, influences and latest track ‘Vanquish’

Inventiveness and craft is in high demand in today’s fast selling dance music industry and San Francisco based producer Ryan Fish is the man behind the desk who is rife with these traits. Better known by his Everfish moniker, the budding producer, who began producing in 2017, has already released three highly impressive tracks and is set to capture his output into a debut EP. While December 2018 saw him release ‘With Me‘ featuring Melissa Kaplan, 2019 was studded with the charting of ‘Odyssey‘ featuring guitarist Daniel Gilbert, and ‘Vanquish‘ – both of which showcase his talent and ability to variate while producing true to his sound.

While the release of the ‘Odyssey’ EP, a partly conceptual release, is in the pipelines, we sat down with Ryan to talk about his career’s beginning, the influence of his father Ron Fish – the man behind the Orchestral scores on some of the most famous games of our times, the latest releases, his musical style and what guides him as an artist while producing tracks. Moreover, Ryan tells us about his upcoming EP and what the future holds for him, all part of this exclusive We Rave You interview.

How long have you been a producer/DJ for? Tell us about the origin of your music. What inspired you to pursue your career as an artist?

I started producing in July of 2017, actually pretty much a decision I made overnight. Music runs in the family – my father, Ron Fish, is an orchestral composer – he’s written the scores for games such as God of War and Batman: Arkham Asylum – and I’ve played piano from a young age. After years of listening to artists such as Seven Lions, Porter Robinson, and Griz, I decided I wanted to try my hand at this world.

Who do you consider to have been your biggest influences throughout your career that have made an impact on your productions?

My main musical influence is Seven Lions. What initially drew me into his work was the sheer versatility of his catalog, and what kept me coming back is his pension for combining brilliant effect-work with strong musicality. You also never know what he could do next, and that’s something I want my listeners to feel, both within a track and when it comes to my future productions. Expect the unexpected.

Tell us a bit on your latest record ‘Vanquish’. Could you describe us the process of making it? What were the inspirations and main idea/s behind it?

Vanquish was a blast to make. Vanquish is part of an EP called Odyssey goes through multiple genres, and I knew I wanted Psy-Trance to be one of them, and that this track represents the victory of the war being fought in Odyssey. Going into the song, those are the only things I knew. I almost always have a general outline in mind when starting a track, but that wasn’t the case for Vanquish – I just went along for the ride, improvising as I went. I was also focused on how Vanquish­ would work in a live setting – with long build ups, and long high energy sections. The main influence was After Dark by Seven Lions and Blastoyz – between the effect-work, rhythmic development, and melodic finale, I knew that was something I wanted to capture in the EP.

Looking at your musical catalog, tracks such as ‘With Me’, ‘Odyssey’ and your recent one ‘Vanquish’, are very different in their sound. How do you manage to variate your style yet keep a signature sound intact?

This is a great question, and if you’re going to produce in multiple genres, I think this is something that producers need to be actively striving for. Keeping specific goals in mind is important – what am I trying to achieve with this track, and how does it contribute to the greater picture (certainly in the context of an EP)?

Part of it is using similar sounds – for me, this largely means similar bass sounds. Also, to some extent, using similar techniques (i.e. unique sound design manipulation) between songs helps with this as well.

As an aspiring producer yourself, how has the journey been so far? What challenges did you face throughout your career and how did you manage to overcome them?

It’s been a blast, and it’s been incredibly rewarding. I am quite proud of the work done thus far – I have ten completed tracks, and I can both feel and hear the improvement from my earlier work. The biggest challenges for me have come with certain tracks, and deciding where to take them. For example, one of the unreleased songs in the EP, To War, went through five completely separate middle-section drops before I settled on something I’m happy with. And the way to overcome it, for me, is grinding. Grind on that track that’s been giving you trouble. Maybe take some time moving to other tracks to give your head a breather, but that track is not going to finish itself. Get in there, and experiment till you find something that thrills you.

You have been teasing a forthcoming EP ready to be released. Could you tell us a little bit more about that?

Something I really wanted to do is tell one connected story told over multiple songs, which I personally feel isn’t done enough. When writing the lyrics to the vocal tracks in Odyssey, I had that main goal in mind. The result is one story – that of two lovers going to war together – told over the course of six inter-connected songs. It goes through multiple genres, and is cinematic in scope. I want the listener to be put into the scene itself – whether it’s a ship in a storm, riding to war, or fighting the enemy, and to feel that they themselves are part of this odyssey.

What does 2019 hold in store? Any hints or clues that we could get about future productions or collaborations? Any interesting gigs in the pipeline?

My focus right now is wrapping up Odyssey. Once that’s done and published, I’m going to bring it live, and I think it’s going to translate to something special on stage. I have a few other singles ready to go that’ll I’ll be dropping in those shows as well. And when it comes to long-term plans, well, let’s just say that Odyssey only tells half of the story…

You can purchase ‘Vanquish’ on iTunes here, ‘Odyssey’ here and ‘With Me’ here.