If there was a stencil for a life spent growing up in Britain, it would look a lot like me.
We’ll be honest. Ipswich might not be the kind of place you’d expect to turn a rapper up. But within every satellite town run deep seams of creativity. Within every quiet estate lie young men waiting for fast cars, close mates and the possibilities of a Friday night. Evan Scase was one of these searching people. Plugged into social media, the laptop, living for the weekend, he spent a decade as a lorry mechanic in Suffolk, working on a dance-injected sound in his spare time. In 2023, Ev uploaded a new track, ‘20 Something’ to TikTok. This acceleration into weekend culture and the lairy side of small-town life and the working-class Britain Ev was born into earned him a producer and laid the blueprint for ‘Sirens’, which racked up 10 million streams and a major record deal. We visited Ev to find out about his memories of early raves, Britishness, writing about life, and the culture that made him.
Some artists you could describe as culturally ambivalent. With you its different. Your look, your sound, your visuals, they’re all situated proudly in a working-class British context. But lyrically you interrogate Britishness and what it actually means. We wanted to ask, what is Britishness to you?
I think with me, I’m a classic example of a working-class British upbringing. My mum and dad fell in love in a chicken factory. Britain to me is living for the weekends from early on, putting your life on the line for your favourite football club, getting in trouble, getting out of trouble, then falling back into trouble from childhood right through into your teenage years. If there was a stencil for a life spent growing up in Britain, it would look a lot like me. The older I get the more of a love-heart relationship I have with it. It’s the place I'm from. It’s grey and it’s grit, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
To build on that idea of Britishness, you seem to sit within this country’s history of social realist art. We’re talking films like Fish Tank, the music of Mike Skinner, Kano, the Smiths, the poetry of Lemn Sissay, the photography of Tom Wood. Art that has something to say, basically. Would you agree with that? Do you think art in this country should serve a social purpose?
I completely agree with that. Some of the names you’ve mentioned acted like a third parent to me growing up. 100%, British films played a big part in my craft. This Is England, Tower Block Dreams, Trainspotting. I became totally obsessed with Banksy from a young age. His art and messages are beautiful, then there’s music… When I first heard Original Pirate Material, it changed me as a person. I had been listening to a lot of American rap, which really didn’t resonate with me. I couldn’t relate to a thing 50 Cent was saying. Hearing The Streets was a real wide-eyed moment. Mike Skinner was talking about me, my brother and my dad. He’s talking about my dad’s mates down the pub and all the good and bad that comes with it. I attached myself to those songs as I had lived them. This was also a time in my life when I was starting to fall in love with UK Garage, spinning MJ Cole, Artful Dodger, DJ Luck and MC Neat, but The Streets just did it differently.
You spent your twenties working as a lorry mechanic, working on your music evenings and weekends. How did you become a mechanic, and how did that pivot to the breakout moment in music?
I became a mechanic purely through not knowing what to do with my life. My mates were all off to uni. I was working part time in a supermarket and barbershop. I needed something to get me started in life. In classic old school fashion, a family friend offered me a job fixing lorries. I went for a trial day, chucked on some overalls and got my hands dirty. I was there for the next 10 years, working 60+ hour weeks, early mornings and late finishes. I’d be lying if I said I hated it, I loved it. Proper graft, proper people, proper banter. Working as a mechanic I was hustling for music on the side. Every spare hour, I was in my bedroom making tunes, mostly shit tunes but after 8 or so years of experimenting and putting music out, something clicked… I started talking about real life, family, mates, the ups and downs of living in Britain. I remember sitting on my lunchbreak at work. I made a couple of TikToks, posted them up. People loved the tunes and related to the music and my message — the rest is history.
Can you tell us a bit about a typical week in those early days? Give us a sense of what life was like when you were trying to make it as an artist. What did your mates and colleagues make of your ambitions? What did you make of them?
People were pretty supportive. Coming from a small town there was obviously that classic mentality of ‘this thing’s never going to take off,’ but it did, and when it happened I think my friends, family and work mates couldn’t have been prouder. I managed to achieve something that doesn't normally happen to people like me. A typical week back then consisted of working my arse off all week and waiting for Friday night then getting on it basically. I then had 48 hours of escaping reality until I touched down to earth Monday morning, usually feeling worse for wear. But you know what, these times gave me the stories and experiences that I talk about with my music.
Dance music and rave is a big part of your sound. What are your best memories of getting into dance music and club culture? It would be great to hear about a formative experience.
My first rave was at a warehouse on an industrial estate in Thetford, Norfolk. I went with my mates and my brother Luke. Franko Fraize was playing (big up Franko because without him, I’d have never started making music), Oxide and Neutrino, a bunch of jungle, breaks and DnB DJs. I wasn’t old enough to be there but I’m glad I was! It gave me the bug which got me going to clubs, raves and free parties, which in turn landed me in Fabric London, which to this day is my favourite club, then onto Ibiza… and on and on… without my experiences in these sorts of places I would never make the music I do now. Then there’s rave culture. The fashion, which was way better in the 90’s, I loved all that. Schott jackets, Moschino two pieces, Reebok Classics, Kickers and Clarks Wallabees. What a time.
There’s a great documentary about the early days of dance music that came out a few years ago called Everybody in the Place. It says that ultimately, dance music was way more ‘punk’ than punk itself ever was. Does that resonate with you? if so, do you think dance is still punk today?
I’ve seen that documentary, its class. I think nothing will ever be as punk as punk. Maybe rap to some degree. I think dance music culture used to be more punk and have more meaning from the ‘90s to the early ‘00s. Unfortunately everything has been commercialised now. It seems much more geared towards making money, which I get, especially during the times we live in, however I think dance music culture has lost its magic a little. Yes, the sound and production has never been better, but the 90’s just had that free spirit. If you lived through raving culture in the’ 90s, you were lucky.
Your brother Liam is your DJ and musical partner. How did that come about? Was he always on board? How does he influence the Ev sound?
Without Liam there would also be no Ev. From early on, he put me onto all kinds of dance and rap. He turned me onto the Prodigy, Chase and Status, Skepta, Mike Skinner. To be able to tour the world with him as my DJ, genuinely is a dream come true. From rapping in our living room as kids to shutting down raves across Europe, I honestly wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else. Also being brothers, the chemistry on stage is unreal. He’s my best mate, the best drinking partner and all-round top geezer. Shout out to Liam. Without him the show doesn't go on.
Tell us a bit about your creative process. When and where do you write? Do you have a studio? Does getting down to record change the songs much?
I think subconsciously I’m always writing songs. It doesn't matter whether I'm down the boozer, in the chippy or at the park with my daughter, I'm always observing and absorbing real life. I think that’s the sweet spot in my music. It always comes from a real place in one way or another. Sometimes I’ll voicenote an idea to Liam. Sometimes I’ll write them in my notes app. Other times they’re just there, absorbed weeks ago from my waking life. They’ll burst out when I’m in the studio. That’s my process. It’s a natural thing. I live in a constant state of observation.
What about playing live? What have your most recent gigs or tours been? Any highlights?
I opened up for Giggs a few weeks back in Bristol. He’s another childhood hero of mine. To be able to stand on stage and scream “Who’s ready for Giggs” was absolute madness. Other than that I played Latitude, my young daughter came to the show, which was in a packed-out tent at 12 on a Friday (oi oi) That was pretty special, and I’ll replay that moment until one day my lights go out. Another honourable mention goes to Sziget festival in Budapest. I played their last summer. I brought a bunch of mates out and we went at it for the weekend. I ended up playing one of my biggest shows to date. That was super special even though the aftermath was like something from the Hangover films.
Tell us about the new project and what you want to achieve with it. What’s next for Ev?
I’ve just come out of a major label deal so I’m now a free man, free to go whatever direction I choose. I can drop any tune I want to drop — it feels good! I’m going on a UK tour this April and I’ve got a packed summer playing in Europe. It’s going to be the biggest and hopefully best festival run to date. That should keep me busy.
In the meantime, me and Luke will be dropping our first single of the year, after a pretty successful feature record with ‘Super High’ we’re following it up with my favourite record to date, ‘Tell Your Mates You Love Them’. It’s a love letter to the rave and all the people we met along the way. I hope it sits in the hearts of others. Got a great feeling this year, it’s all about making my own luck, working as hard as humanly possible and staying true to the mission.
This last part is where we ask you to send some cultural inspiration out into the world, recommending 5 Good Things and the reasons why you chose them.
A restaurant or cafe you like in your city.
Go to PECK in Bury St Edmunds, proper bit of scran, get the Buff Bun, combo meal with a Rio. Proper stuff.
A film everyone should watch.
Human Traffic. You’ve all probably seen it, but it’s a British cult classic. The speech on the phone before the lads go out on a night out still gets me fired up every time I see it.
A book everyone should read.
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.
A musical album or artist who means something to you.
You know what’s coming. I’m going Original Pirate Material by The Streets, it’s been the one constant in my mad life. Its timeless, its gritty and it showed me that the everyday geezer has something about him. Mike Skinner is so relatable to someone like me and where I'm from.
Where you’d send someone if they were visiting your city or hometown for the first time.
I could say my local pub or a favourite hometown restaurant, but on this occasion I’m going to say Abbey Gardens in Bury St. Edmunds. It’s beautiful. It’s gardens set inside the ruins of an 11th century Abbey. It’s very peaceful. If you ever find yourself here, take a second, sit on the benches by the flowers and take it in. It’s a version of heaven for me. It’s where we played as kids. It’s where I smoked my first spliff. It’s where we hung out as teenagers, and now it’s a place my daughter loves to go and see the birds and play on the park. It’s lovely.
Ev wore our 3049 Evo shell coat in midnight blue, a 6011 Timber Leah shirt in pebble blue plaid, and a set of 5020 Utility pants in ivy green.
5 Good Things - Evan Scase - Bury St Edmunds, UK
If there was a stencil for a life spent growing up in Britain, it would look a lot like me.
We’ll be honest. Ipswich might not be the kind of place you’d expect to turn a rapper up. But within every satellite town run deep seams of creativity. Within every quiet estate lie young men waiting for fast cars, close mates and the possibilities of a Friday night. Evan Scase was one of these searching people. Plugged into social media, the laptop, living for the weekend, he spent a decade as a lorry mechanic in Suffolk, working on a dance-injected sound in his spare time. In 2023, Ev uploaded a new track, ‘20 Something’ to TikTok. This acceleration into weekend culture and the lairy side of small-town life and the working-class Britain Ev was born into earned him a producer and laid the blueprint for ‘Sirens’, which racked up 10 million streams and a major record deal. We visited Ev to find out about his memories of early raves, Britishness, writing about life, and the culture that made him.
Some artists you could describe as culturally ambivalent. With you its different. Your look, your sound, your visuals, they’re all situated proudly in a working-class British context. But lyrically you interrogate Britishness and what it actually means. We wanted to ask, what is Britishness to you?
I think with me, I’m a classic example of a working-class British upbringing. My mum and dad fell in love in a chicken factory. Britain to me is living for the weekends from early on, putting your life on the line for your favourite football club, getting in trouble, getting out of trouble, then falling back into trouble from childhood right through into your teenage years. If there was a stencil for a life spent growing up in Britain, it would look a lot like me. The older I get the more of a love-heart relationship I have with it. It’s the place I'm from. It’s grey and it’s grit, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
To build on that idea of Britishness, you seem to sit within this country’s history of social realist art. We’re talking films like Fish Tank, the music of Mike Skinner, Kano, the Smiths, the poetry of Lemn Sissay, the photography of Tom Wood. Art that has something to say, basically. Would you agree with that? Do you think art in this country should serve a social purpose?
I completely agree with that. Some of the names you’ve mentioned acted like a third parent to me growing up. 100%, British films played a big part in my craft. This Is England, Tower Block Dreams, Trainspotting. I became totally obsessed with Banksy from a young age. His art and messages are beautiful, then there’s music… When I first heard Original Pirate Material, it changed me as a person. I had been listening to a lot of American rap, which really didn’t resonate with me. I couldn’t relate to a thing 50 Cent was saying. Hearing The Streets was a real wide-eyed moment. Mike Skinner was talking about me, my brother and my dad. He’s talking about my dad’s mates down the pub and all the good and bad that comes with it. I attached myself to those songs as I had lived them. This was also a time in my life when I was starting to fall in love with UK Garage, spinning MJ Cole, Artful Dodger, DJ Luck and MC Neat, but The Streets just did it differently.
You spent your twenties working as a lorry mechanic, working on your music evenings and weekends. How did you become a mechanic, and how did that pivot to the breakout moment in music?
I became a mechanic purely through not knowing what to do with my life. My mates were all off to uni. I was working part time in a supermarket and barbershop. I needed something to get me started in life. In classic old school fashion, a family friend offered me a job fixing lorries. I went for a trial day, chucked on some overalls and got my hands dirty. I was there for the next 10 years, working 60+ hour weeks, early mornings and late finishes. I’d be lying if I said I hated it, I loved it. Proper graft, proper people, proper banter. Working as a mechanic I was hustling for music on the side. Every spare hour, I was in my bedroom making tunes, mostly shit tunes but after 8 or so years of experimenting and putting music out, something clicked… I started talking about real life, family, mates, the ups and downs of living in Britain. I remember sitting on my lunchbreak at work. I made a couple of TikToks, posted them up. People loved the tunes and related to the music and my message — the rest is history.
Can you tell us a bit about a typical week in those early days? Give us a sense of what life was like when you were trying to make it as an artist. What did your mates and colleagues make of your ambitions? What did you make of them?
People were pretty supportive. Coming from a small town there was obviously that classic mentality of ‘this thing’s never going to take off,’ but it did, and when it happened I think my friends, family and work mates couldn’t have been prouder. I managed to achieve something that doesn't normally happen to people like me. A typical week back then consisted of working my arse off all week and waiting for Friday night then getting on it basically. I then had 48 hours of escaping reality until I touched down to earth Monday morning, usually feeling worse for wear. But you know what, these times gave me the stories and experiences that I talk about with my music.
Dance music and rave is a big part of your sound. What are your best memories of getting into dance music and club culture? It would be great to hear about a formative experience.
My first rave was at a warehouse on an industrial estate in Thetford, Norfolk. I went with my mates and my brother Luke. Franko Fraize was playing (big up Franko because without him, I’d have never started making music), Oxide and Neutrino, a bunch of jungle, breaks and DnB DJs. I wasn’t old enough to be there but I’m glad I was! It gave me the bug which got me going to clubs, raves and free parties, which in turn landed me in Fabric London, which to this day is my favourite club, then onto Ibiza… and on and on… without my experiences in these sorts of places I would never make the music I do now. Then there’s rave culture. The fashion, which was way better in the 90’s, I loved all that. Schott jackets, Moschino two pieces, Reebok Classics, Kickers and Clarks Wallabees. What a time.
There’s a great documentary about the early days of dance music that came out a few years ago called Everybody in the Place. It says that ultimately, dance music was way more ‘punk’ than punk itself ever was. Does that resonate with you? if so, do you think dance is still punk today?
I’ve seen that documentary, its class. I think nothing will ever be as punk as punk. Maybe rap to some degree. I think dance music culture used to be more punk and have more meaning from the ‘90s to the early ‘00s. Unfortunately everything has been commercialised now. It seems much more geared towards making money, which I get, especially during the times we live in, however I think dance music culture has lost its magic a little. Yes, the sound and production has never been better, but the 90’s just had that free spirit. If you lived through raving culture in the’ 90s, you were lucky.
Your brother Liam is your DJ and musical partner. How did that come about? Was he always on board? How does he influence the Ev sound?
Without Liam there would also be no Ev. From early on, he put me onto all kinds of dance and rap. He turned me onto the Prodigy, Chase and Status, Skepta, Mike Skinner. To be able to tour the world with him as my DJ, genuinely is a dream come true. From rapping in our living room as kids to shutting down raves across Europe, I honestly wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else. Also being brothers, the chemistry on stage is unreal. He’s my best mate, the best drinking partner and all-round top geezer. Shout out to Liam. Without him the show doesn't go on.
Tell us a bit about your creative process. When and where do you write? Do you have a studio? Does getting down to record change the songs much?
I think subconsciously I’m always writing songs. It doesn't matter whether I'm down the boozer, in the chippy or at the park with my daughter, I'm always observing and absorbing real life. I think that’s the sweet spot in my music. It always comes from a real place in one way or another. Sometimes I’ll voicenote an idea to Liam. Sometimes I’ll write them in my notes app. Other times they’re just there, absorbed weeks ago from my waking life. They’ll burst out when I’m in the studio. That’s my process. It’s a natural thing. I live in a constant state of observation.
What about playing live? What have your most recent gigs or tours been? Any highlights?
I opened up for Giggs a few weeks back in Bristol. He’s another childhood hero of mine. To be able to stand on stage and scream “Who’s ready for Giggs” was absolute madness. Other than that I played Latitude, my young daughter came to the show, which was in a packed-out tent at 12 on a Friday (oi oi) That was pretty special, and I’ll replay that moment until one day my lights go out. Another honourable mention goes to Sziget festival in Budapest. I played their last summer. I brought a bunch of mates out and we went at it for the weekend. I ended up playing one of my biggest shows to date. That was super special even though the aftermath was like something from the Hangover films.
Tell us about the new project and what you want to achieve with it. What’s next for Ev?
I’ve just come out of a major label deal so I’m now a free man, free to go whatever direction I choose. I can drop any tune I want to drop — it feels good! I’m going on a UK tour this April and I’ve got a packed summer playing in Europe. It’s going to be the biggest and hopefully best festival run to date. That should keep me busy.
In the meantime, me and Luke will be dropping our first single of the year, after a pretty successful feature record with ‘Super High’ we’re following it up with my favourite record to date, ‘Tell Your Mates You Love Them’. It’s a love letter to the rave and all the people we met along the way. I hope it sits in the hearts of others. Got a great feeling this year, it’s all about making my own luck, working as hard as humanly possible and staying true to the mission.
This last part is where we ask you to send some cultural inspiration out into the world, recommending 5 Good Things and the reasons why you chose them.
A restaurant or cafe you like in your city.
Go to PECK in Bury St Edmunds, proper bit of scran, get the Buff Bun, combo meal with a Rio. Proper stuff.
A film everyone should watch.
Human Traffic. You’ve all probably seen it, but it’s a British cult classic. The speech on the phone before the lads go out on a night out still gets me fired up every time I see it.
A book everyone should read.
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.
A musical album or artist who means something to you.
You know what’s coming. I’m going Original Pirate Material by The Streets, it’s been the one constant in my mad life. Its timeless, its gritty and it showed me that the everyday geezer has something about him. Mike Skinner is so relatable to someone like me and where I'm from.
Where you’d send someone if they were visiting your city or hometown for the first time.
I could say my local pub or a favourite hometown restaurant, but on this occasion I’m going to say Abbey Gardens in Bury St. Edmunds. It’s beautiful. It’s gardens set inside the ruins of an 11th century Abbey. It’s very peaceful. If you ever find yourself here, take a second, sit on the benches by the flowers and take it in. It’s a version of heaven for me. It’s where we played as kids. It’s where I smoked my first spliff. It’s where we hung out as teenagers, and now it’s a place my daughter loves to go and see the birds and play on the park. It’s lovely.
Ev wore our 3049 Evo shell coat in midnight blue, a 6011 Timber Leah shirt in pebble blue plaid, and a set of 5020 Utility pants in ivy green.