Seraphina Lotkhamnga on February 1st, 2012

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Evan Voytas’ sound – fizzy bursts of R&B and funk beneath a keening falsetto – has been a long time in the making. In the four-plus years since he moved to L.A., the multi-instrumentalist has performed with rising stars from both the indie and mainstream realm. But if you were go to back in time and ask the college student Evan Voytas about the future, he certainly wouldn’t expect to list experimental producer Flying Lotus or teen idol Teddy Geiger on his resume. The story of Voytas’ personal voyage to the breathy crooner he is today may be quite surprising.

With a full-length on the way and a couple of warm-up shows in support of his latest EP “Feel Me” (out now on Dovecote Records), a five-track exploration in reverb-y synth-pop, we took the time to chat with Voytas about mystical experiences, teen heartthrobs and Prince.

||| Download: “Can’t Let Anybody Know Who You Are” and “You Don’t Even Know Where It’s At.”

Congrats on the release of “Feel Me.” I heard you kind of went on an overseas vacation while you were recording it.

Yeah, I recorded it in L.A., and went to mix it in Lewes. It’s a tiny town in the English countryside like an hour outside of London, and there’s an old castle there. It’s famous for this mound. ”¦ It doesn’t look like much, it isn’t, but it’s supposedly from the Stonehenge era. When you stand on it during certain times of the year you’re supposed to be able to experience different weather phenomena or something. I guess I should research the mound some more.

“The Weightlessness” is a standout track because it has a mystic groove to it. What’s it about?

A friend I had grown up with had taken trip to Mexico and when he came back he was telling me all these far-out stories. One of these stories was about meeting this shaman who said “This is what the world is made of.” And suddenly he saw – well he wasn’t sure of what he saw – [but] he saw some type of liquid come out of her hand. It was supposedly some mystical or bizarre magical experience. The lyric of that chorus is “She said the world is liquid and I trust she knows.” It’s pretty much about that story.

How long did it take you to finish writing this EP?

I know I started “The Weightlessness” and “When It All Goes Away” a while ago; those were the first two written. I try to have a staple of demos ready to go so when it’s time to release something new, I have a bunch of songs to pull from and make sure they work well together. But like I said, those songs were started years ago whereas “Can’t Let Anybody Know Who You Are” was only written a few months ago. I think I had 15 songs which I was willing to finish up then choose five for the EP.

So if you have enough songs for a full-length, does that mean a full-length is definitely on its way a lot sooner?

Yes, but I’m also writing music for it right now. I’d rather leave old songs behind and focus on new stuff. There may have been 15, but if something doesn’t strike me within the first 20 minutes of working on it, I just abandon the idea and start on a whole new song. So even though I do have a lot of old stuff to fall back on, I’d like to start fresh and see what happens, too.

You’re known for playing with Flying Lotus and Gonjasufi. Does contributing to other people’s music on stage affect songwriting for your solo material?

Tremendously. I mean I was a jazz musician before I started playing with Teddy Geiger, and he was first person I saw record a song by himself. I didn’t know anything about recording then. We were driving from New York to do our first big show in L.A. to open for Hilary Duff at the Greek Theatre. (Yeah, you know Hilary Duff, the musician.). And he just set up his laptop and Ram Box. I didn’t know you could really do that. Also, I really learned a lot from Gonjasufi by just watching the way he carries himself with confidence, the way he commands an audience, and the way you can’t help but pay attention to him when he walks in to a room. He had such a strong presence.

Geez. How was it playing for a teen heartthrob?

It was a shock for me and him. I think we were happy to have each other on tour to share the disbelief, I guess. It was really strange. It went so fast for me because I got the gig my last week of college and it was a perfect transition. I ended up hitting the usual post-college crisis later in my 20s, but this was convenient, to go right out on tour. There was a tour bus, catering, the whole “rockstar” treatment. It was cool, but it was strange playing for such young girls. By the end of the tour, I was ready to not be attached to a teenage audience anymore. When you’re a side man you’re supporting another cause, and I was ready to do my own thing. But there were fan clubs and the girls would make you cookies.

It’s hard to deny your jazz studies have affected your version of pop, but did you ever think you would have the sound you have today?

No, I mean I wanted to be the best jazz guitarist in the world. That was the plan since age 13. I was playing with the best guitarists in the world and playing with the best musicians in the world. I was completely on the right track and then I left to play teen pop. That decision came down to that summer. I was working (selling tickets) at the Natural History Museum. I thought I can keep doing this for a summer job or go on tour and come back and do whatever I want. So I decided to do the tour. I kind of took off and I did it for much longer than expected.

So, Teddy Geiger basically changed your life.

I guess. I have no idea what would have happened, but my life had such a trajectory. I knew exactly who I wanted to play with, who I would study with, what I wanted to sound like. It was all very calculated and one event pretty much disrupted everything. But it’s been pretty interesting.

You get a lot of comparisons to Prince. How do you feel about that?

I like Prince. I’ve never been a full-on Prince fan, but whenever I do hear Prince, I think “This is good.” Obviously, he’s Prince. He’s definitely one of my favorite guitar players, but I think most of the comparisons are coming from the falsetto.

Is there a reason you sing mostly in falsetto?

A couple of things led to that. When I was touring with Teddy Geiger, I was doing the higher harmonies for the background vocals. So that got me singing in that range when I started recording my own stuff. There is more full voice on recordings now from when I first started but the high harmonies are always there. I feel like I can get more of an intensity out of the falsetto voice than I can get from my full voice. Typically, when I’m working on stuff, I just automatically go there.

What are you happiest with in regards to the “Feel Me” EP?

It’s hard to say because it’s been tricky getting a consensus for the album. It’s quite the divisive set of songs, but my favorite is “You Don’t Even Know Where It’s At.” It was hard to even choose a single because every song could have been a single, which is better than none of the songs being able to be a single. But the conflicting consensus is kind of a blessing, because I can do whatever I want then.

||| Live: Evan Voytas plays tonight at the Echo with Fugiya and Miyagi and TV Girl.