Evan Khay

Friday, January 25th at Midnight: 

After picking up his first instrument at the age of six, Evan Khay has been pursuing his passion for music ever since. Before the Honolulu-born singer-songwriter graduated from Kamehameha Schools – Kapalama in 2014, Evan became a multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer and songwriter. Soon after graduating high school, Evan began performing in various public and private venues across O‘ahu. Evan has since then performed throughout Hawai‘i and the Continental United States performing as a solo artist and supporting musician. Evan’s desire to blend various genres together has given him a unique sound that showcases his ambitions as an artist. Although Evan loves performing at local venues, Evan is most passionate about performing, writing, composing and recording his original music. In 2016, Evan began working on his debut album “Retrograde” with musicians and producers Imua Garza (‘Opihi Pickers, MOOSTR, Zeo Music) and Eston Ravey (IZIK, Kimié Miner, Kolohe Kai). The 23-year-old singer-songwriter channels his “old soul” in his debut album with musical influences like Elvis Presley, Bill Withers, and the Osmonds. “I’ve been influenced by so many different artists growing up, so we tried our best to showcase as many different genres as possible,” says Khay. Using both local and national talent, Khay created an artistic creation that tells a story deeper than what it may appear like at first glance. “This album was a challenge for me to write and produce because I really wanted it to be genuine and unique. I tried to be creative as possible with this record. We decided to make this album conceptual and really tell a story that I think a lot of listeners will gravitate and relate to,” says Khay. “This is really an open letter to the world about what I was really going through over the past few years.” Evan credits his mother, whose voice is heard on the interlude “Dearest”, as his main inspiration for pursuing this path of music. His debut full-length album, “Retrograde”, is available now.