Q&A With Evan Cummings
September 23, 2005 | Men's Soccer
Sept. 23, 2005
For Husky senior Evan Cummings, soccer is just a drop in the bucket. A midfielder from Spokane, Cummings has stepped into a starting role this season and currently is tied for the team lead with three assists. In Washington's last game at Air Force, Cummings assisted on the equalizing goal as the Huskies stormed back from a 2-0 deficit with three goals in the final eight minutes to win. But during his first years on the team, when he felt stunted by lack of playing time, Cummings began to delve deeply into the world of music creation and sampling. Cummings talks with GoHuskies.com correspondent Mike Bruscas about the recent comeback, his passion and vision for his music, and obtaining what he wants through any unconventional means.
GoHuskies.com: How is the team feeling after last weekend's wins?
Evan Cummings: "We're feeling great, morale is high."
GH: Have you ever been part of such a big comeback like that?
EC: "Probably not, actually."
GH: How was the team able to fight its way back into the game?
EC: "We just persisted and didn't stop. They kind of helped us out by giving us an own goal, and when we got that...We just didn't let down the whole time. We didn't lose faith that we were going to be able to come back. They gave us a goal and then we got the next one and after that we knew we were going to win pretty much because they were super scared. 2-0 is a really dangerous lead in soccer because you can lose it so fast."
GH: Do you think Air Force settled on going to overtime once you tied the game?
EC: "I don't think they expected to go to overtime at all. I don't think they expected us to even score at all and then once we scored it kind of scared them because they knew we only needed one more and once we got the second one then it really scared them."
GH: Does that win boost the team's confidence moving forward?
EC: "It boosts your confidence but that team really wasn't that good. So you don't want to get too much confidence from something like that because if that was an amazing team that was higher ranked that we came back on it would be a lot more of a confidence boost. But it does boost our confidence because we didn't let down and we kept on fighting until the end and were able to come out with a good result. But that team wasn't the best. They weren't bad, they're as good as any we've played so far, but we're going to play a lot harder teams than that."
GH: Did the Denver altitude bother you?
EC: "I didn't notice it at all. I don't think anyone really did. I heard it's not really a big deal the first couple of days."
GH: Do you expect the momentum to carry over to this weekend?
EC: "We definitely hope so, we've got momentum ready to go somewhere with it. Hopefully we'll use it on this game."
GH: Is the team excited for the home opener?
EC: "Definitely. The field looks nice, it's always nice to play in front of our fans. We've been on the road for awhile and such, but me personally I kind of like playing on the road better."
GH: Why do you prefer playing on the road?
EC: "I just think that when you're at home you kind of stay in your comfort zone and you're too relaxed at times. You go on the road and you know exactly what you're there for. You treat it more professionally, like business, you get the job done and come home. I don't know, I think it's just easier for me to be more focused on the road."
GH: You're tied for the team lead in assists. How would you assess your performance thus far?
EC: "I've been doing alright. There's always room for improvement. I'm not satisfied with my play, but I'm not dissatisfied. I've been doing what I've been wanting to do and it's been going well and I feel comfortable and hopefully it will continue that way."
GH: As a senior, did you approach this season any differently than ones in the past?
EC: "Not really. I always want to play well every game. The goal is to win and go further than we did last year, mainly. Some people get motivated by the things they've already done, I get motivated by the things that we haven't done yet and the things we're striving for. Because our school still has not been very successful overall in the postseason."
GH: How close is this year's group of seniors?
EC: "Pretty close. We're as close as any of the guys I guess. Our whole team has really good morale and a tight bond. Sometimes a little bit too tight if you ask me."
GH: How can it be a bit too tight?
EC: "I don't know, you can lose your focus a little bit from having too much fun but the fun always makes you want to play better so it's a give and take relationship."
GH: You've started most games this season. Is it gratifying to have more responsibility now as a senior?
EC: "I think I've been able to contribute previously but there've been other people they thought were more qualified for the job. I feel like I've been deserving to play and now I'm getting to and it's going well. You always want to play more. Even this year I never want to come out of a game really. So you're always going to be a little bit frustrated. But I've got playing time here and there the last couple years so it hasn't been too bad."
GH: So you're a comparative literature major?
EC: "Comparative literature, cinema studies, only because they didn't have a film program or an audio engineering program. For the past four years I've vaguely taught myself film and I've produced three albums of experimental music in the last three years. So I've been teaching myself. The most I've learned has been self-taught really."
GH: So is it also the audio aspect of film that you're interested in?
EC: "I'm still kind of testing out the waters. I'm definitely interested in film and audio engineering and making music, but of the non-commercial sort. And the overall goal of all of my visual and audible expression is to unite the world upon peace, love and consciousness."
GH: That's quite a big concept.
EC: "Yeah, you know some people say it's impossible, but I say that's a defeatist mentality. I say if it's not going that direction then it's going the other way which I don't even want to think about."
GH: Well have their been any beneficial classes you've taken here?
EC: "All the higher level classes I've taken in the C Lit major have been really good. I get my best grades in the harder classes and my worst grades in the easiest classes. So mainly the highest levels in my major have really been the most enjoyable. I just wanted to go with my interests. So many people act like money is what determines their entire life so that every action they pick is part of an overall goal to create more money and I just went with my interests, so it's been very fun. But I mean what do you learn in comparative literature? You read things and summarize it basically. For me you look at something and you have to sense the true essence of it. So therefore you extract the true essence of it, and then it allows you to look at two things and connect them, it's the same thing as playing soccer."
GH: What type of music are you making?
EC: "I've got literally thousands of records and it's an art of sampling. Basically all hip-hop music is made from sampling other records. Where you take a piece of another record and you record that piece and then reincorporate it in any way you'd like to. So I've got all these thousands of records that come before 1983 because my birthday is 1983, so I go under that, nothing over that. Then I go through and pick any little sound, it's called a bricolage, it's an audio collage. You take out any little audio piece and then reorganize it any way you want. Since they aren't my samples I couldn't ever sell it. So I'm not going for money, I'm just doing it as a hobby and an art form and a form of expression. Mainly because I wasn't playing much my freshman year and I needed to express myself much more so I kind of got into that. Soccer's a form of self-expression as well. I've got about 15 different titles for it but it's just like experimental music, it's not classifiable really as anything other than that. I create a track and then I take poetry or Greek tragedies or French a capella operas and put it over the backdrop of the beat. It's just endless potential and possibilities, there's nothing you can't do. You can record live instruments. Eventually, right now it's all sampling, but I want to get it all into live music. I plan on buying one of every single instrument ever made and learning how to play at least one sampleable riff myself, and then I will be able to sell it. But I mean I'm not really trying to sell it, I've already given a lot of it out to friends and that's plenty for me."
GH: Why do you only use records from before you were born?
EC: "Just because 80s music was bad and 90s music is just too new. I want to take things that nobody has ever heard. Theoretically, you're born, up to a certain date you're not going to hear the older sounds. So it's a completely original creation. I want to give it to someone and have them not have heard it anywhere before, so even though it's taken from other places it's still entirely original."
GH: Who are some of your favorite artists to sample?
EC: "Well the things I sample are all these percussion records. They make so many things on vinyl that they don't make on CDs anymore, or you can never get them on CDs. There's all this provocative percussion, passionate percussion, Latin percussion, just endless amounts of percussion albums which are just drum sounds. So you take one drum sound and another drum sound, a kick drum and a snare and you reorganize it and make your own drum breaks. It's the exact same thing as making music except for instead of using the instruments you're just pressing buttons on a sampler sequencer or on a computer, instead of having the actual physical act of doing it."
GH: When did you first become interested in creating your own music?
EC: "Mainly in high school. Maybe when I became dissatisfied with the music I was listening to, and I needed more than what anybody was able to offer for me so therefore I went in and started to create it on my own."
GH: Alright, moving back to the rest of the questions (laughs), does it get harder to manage your time nce school begins?
EC: "My daily routine is pretty outrageous. School is only like two hours a day and I live right by campus so I can be on and off campus quickly. I like school, I think it's so much fun. It's like going to a big party every day. There's forty thousand kids at this school, I don't know I enjoy it a lot. I'm usually more focused, I like to stay busy, I never like to waste any time at all. So I enjoy myself more when school's in session. Right now to fill my free time with other things so therefore it takes a little bit more focus off my soccer, but when school's in session it's just music, soccer and school and it's a lot easier. Now I'm trying to do all this maintenance on this classic car I have I won't even get into. So school's good, I love it, it does not add anything negative to my life."
GH: What does your daily routine consist of?
EC: "Usually it's go to school, get food, in-between that I've got a constant list of things I can do to improve my life which every day I have any free time I try to cross one of them off and get down to nothing. So it's crossing off that list, it's going to thrift stores, it's going to record stores, it's going pretty much anywhere for anything I need that is the unconventional route of attaining it."
GH: Do you have a favorite moment from your career thus far?
EC: "Everything is really great. We are spoiled kids. But my favorite moment would be the last game because I was so furious. We kind of underestimated that team so therefore we started some guys who had never started before to kind of get them playing time. We started playing poorly, they got a goal, people started panicking, it was silent. Then the second half I come on and we get another goal scored on us, so I was absolutely furious that game just how we underachieved. Then for us to come out and flip it upside-down was really a positive moment of my Husky career."
