With his solo project as Holy Oker, Vancouver’s Greg Bevis has taken a bit of the sound of Bear Mountain, for whom he plays drums and contributes to the songwriting, while adding his own personal touches. Specifically, whereas Bear Mountain is focused on creating music that will move you physically and mentally with their synth-pop, dance beats, Bevis applies a mellower, dreamier approach on his debut EP, Diamonds, that attempts to move the listener emotionally . It’s a formula that works, as Bevis’ voice is more fragile than that of his identical twin brother’s, Ian, who provides lead vocals for the Vancouver quartet.
As Holy Oker, Bevis, who has a music degree, is also given more freedom to showcase his wide array of skills. Specifically, Holy Oker has allowed Bevis to step in front of the drum kit and also produce the synth beats and melodies and write songs about his personal experiences. The entire EP is an intriguing and promising. With “If I Go”, Bevis sticks to a familiar pop sound and refrain, but “Love Like a Gun” subtly shows ingenuity with Bevis combining the R&B-infused synth that Dev Hynes (a.k.a. Blood Orange) has perfected with the synth-pop of New Order. The most emotionally charged song is the closer, “Diamonds”, which sees Bevis stretch himself as a musician, focusing on a synth-pop sound but using orchestral arrangements. It’s arguably the best and most challenging track on the EP.
“Diamonds” is probably also the one song that best describes Bevis’ approach to music. The video, as well, is symbolic of Bevis. As he explains, “The “Diamonds” video explores a young woman who lives in one world but longs to be in another. She transitions to the new world and finds that it’s not what she thought it was going to be, and she’s lost the place she came from. She is left in the rubble of her crumbling and imagined future that was never meant to be – wondering what happened.”
Diamonds can be purchased on iTunes and Amazon. Also, don’t be surprised to hear some new music from Bear Mountain in the near future.
Website – http://gregbevis.com/
Facebook – Holy Oker
Twitter – @gwbevis
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