We Are The World – Philadelphia “An Inspired Idea by John Evola”
By: Krista Doran
A few days ago, I had the pleasure of meeting John Evola, Owner and Producer at Lounge Studios located at 1122 Spring Garden Street in Philly. I had received an invite on Facebook to be part of a very unique musical event. John is planning on producing and recording a remake of Michael Jackson’s, “We Are The World,” using local musicians and singers. I was very intrigued so I got in touch with John to see what this was all about.John has grown up with music being part of his life from an early age. Now 26, John was first introduced to music at the age of six and it is still a very big part of his life. He plays several instruments, he writes, performs and had been a teacher at R&M Music Studios in Langhorne, PA for six years. I spoke to John about what interested in him owning a studio himself and he told me, “I love writing for artists and sitting down with them to really hear what is in their heads and to try and help bring it to life. Not many people can go to a studio and expect the producer to play drums, guitar, bass, piano and so on. It really makes the client comfortable knowing it can all be done in one place by one guy, and not have to worry about paying for extra session players to come in.” John is also in 2 bands, one is a Funk/Blues Trio called Achilles Feel, and the other is a Hip/Hop Rock band called Nothing At All.
John had always wanted to do something big with music, whether it was local or international. He has been a big fan of Michael Jackson all his life and believes that MJ has been a huge influence on today’s music scene. John explained to me, “a couple of days ago I had this vision and thought to myself, ‘what can I do to bring all of the local artists together from all over the area and make something big?’ Not just something that would get people to talk, but more about getting involved and work with one another.” He came up with the idea of re-making the song “We Are The World,” that was released in 1985 for USA for Africa. John didn’t think the idea was going to take off like it did after posting an invite on Facebook. I can personally attest to how this invite BLEW UP in just a few short hours with so many people from all over the Tri-State area who wanted to be involved! John told me, “It means so much to me that so many people want to be part of this. I have received so many calls and emails, and I never thought making an impact could be so easy and so fun!” John is hoping that this event could turn into something big and also start a trend for other cities to coordinate the same type of event. “This project is non-profit and is more about just getting people together to have a great time, laugh and meet new people,” John explained. It seems like quite an undertaking to me, but John is very easy-going and confident and there is no doubt he will bring this wonderful and unique idea to life! John said, “This project is going to take a lot of thinking and time because we will have a forty piece choir featuring ten lead vocalists as well as a live six piece band!”
The project is going to be recorded at East Coast Recording Studio in Warminster, PA by Grammy winning producer, James Cravero. John said, “I really think this can be big with the right exposure and the right positive feedback from the listeners. I think of it as “We Are The World – Philadelphia.”
We will keep all of our readers informed as to what is going on with this project as the weeks go by, but in the meantime please “like” John’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/loungestudios if you would like more information on how to get involved! Be sure to keep checking future issues of The Out On The Town Entertainment Guide for updates at www.ootonline.com!