Name: Evi Filippou
Nationality: Greek, Berlin-based
Occupation: Vibraphonist, percussionist, performer, composer, improviser
Current release: Evi Filippou is part of the ensemble on Julius Gawlik's new album It's All in Your Head, out now via unit. Alongside Evi on vibes and percussion as well as Julius on saxophone and clarinet, it also features Phil Donkin (double bass) and Jim Black (drums).

Tool of Creation: The Vibes
Type of Tool: Percussion instrument / metallophone
Country of origin: America
Became available: 1924
Developed by: Herman E. Winterhoff

If you enjoyed this Evi Filippou interview and would like to stay up to date with her music, visit her official homepage. She is also on Instagram, and Facebook.



What was your first encounter with the vibes? What was it about it that drew you in?

I started taking classical percussion lessons at the age of 7, for fun and kind of stuck to it- also for fun. When I turned 11 I had to play a Bach air on the vibes and that was the first moment of true love.

It took a bunch of years to decide to get deeper into it and honestly, I feel like I just started.

Just like any other instrument, the Vibes have a rich history. What are some of the key points from this history for you personally?

Good question. Haven’t really thought about. Let’s talk about it some months.

What, to you, are some of the most interesting vibes recordings and -performances by other artists in terms of your personal development?

I love Lem Winchester in both Another Opus and With Feeling and Bobby Hutcherson especially in Grant Green‘s Idle Moments.



In terms of my personal development though I feel that mostly piano recordings have influenced me more, like Monk solo and the last years pretty much everything by David Virelles.
 


What are some of the stand-out features of the  from your point of view? How would you describe its sonic potential?

I mean for me, when played intentionally it sounds like a warm bell and makes me feel like everything is gonna be alright.

It’s a very limited instrument in a way, like most well tempered instruments. But I love the challenge!

Instrument design is an ongoing process. Are you interested in recent developments for the vibes in this respect?

I‘d love to make it more practical if that’s what you mean! that would be great. There are definitely some adjustments to be made.

I’m very happy to have MUSSER endorse me and help them make the perfect vibes. Haha
 
Tell me about the process of learning to play the instrument and your own explorations with it.

Coming from classical percussion, always between drums and mallets, I was mostly looking for a voice, the right instrument to say as much as I can. In the vibes I found a lot of my fascinations.

It’s a percussive instrument, you can play amazing lines on it, sometimes it sounds like a synth, you can play chords, it can be super loud but also soft like a whisper. You accompany yourself singing (somehow!).

Pretty great in its three octave limitations.

What are specific challenges in terms of playing the vibes?

I mean it only has three octaves, no bass really and you can’t play microtonally.

So I would say yes, there are challenges!
 
How would you describe your personal style of playing the vibes?

Never really think about these things. I am practicing standards and transcribing old school solos but I would never say I am a straight ahead player - not at all.

I play with a lot of interesting German musicians that flirt with modern jazz, contemporary music and free improvisation but I would never call my self a new music vibraphonist, neither a musician of the free improvisation scene.

I am trying to play what I hear and compose the music that heals my soul and excites me, which always changes and evolves. I practice and follow what moves me like a child. I guess my personal style is trying to be me?!
 
If I wanted to start learning to play the vibes as well – what would be some of your recommendations?

Everything sounds beautiful on the vibes! Play around make shapes, enjoy yourself.

Play a Bach tune and enjoy the beautiful resonance of the instruments!

Listen to Lem Winchester and Bobby H.

Listen to Monk.

Repeat.

What interests you about the vibes in terms of it contributing to your creative ideals? How do you see the relationship between your instrument and the music you make?

In a way I feel like me and the vibes were an arranged marriage that really worked out.

How it contributes to my creative ideas is a work in progress because a lot of times I get musical ideas away from my instrument and then try to apply it on the vibes, trying to solve problems etc.

And other times I discover something I like while playing and then it turns into a piece or so, that’s already very organic.
 
For It's All in Your Head, what did you start with?What role did the vibes play in it?

We tried some things out with Julius and always looked for ways to make the compositions work.

The record is one version of a million that could be and we are still discovering.
 
When performing live or in the studio, how do the vibes interact with other instruments?

I guess like any other instrument. Be there.

And hopefully the technical part, the understanding of the tunes can be at such a level, that listening can be the active part and playing the passive one like my friend Hayden Chisholm once said.

[Read our Hayden Chisholm interview]

The vibes can be an accompanying instrument, but they can also be the lead instrument. In as far as it is possible to generalise, what do you think changes in terms of the composition or overall performance in these situations?

For me the world of comping is a kingdom on its own and playing lead is also one. So what changes when you are a guitar player in a band or the singer?

As an accompanying instrument you are painting a harmonic picture and mixing with the colors of the main instrument and as lead you are the singer. Does that make sense?

What makes the vibes sound great on record and in a live setting? How did you approach that for your new release?

A good mixing engineer is key. People still don’t know how to mix percussion instruments, it’s funny.

As for live settings, listening?
 
Are there other vibes players whose work with their instrument you find inspiring? What do you appreciate about their take on it?

Joel Ross, he carries so much tradition in his playing, I just love it.

Taiko Saito. She also carries a lot of tradition and I can hear a thousand influences in her playing but also her. She plays who she is.