It is said that Behind every successful man band there is a woman, If you are familiar to the Indian Rock scene  you already know who ‘Eva Dowd‘ is, if you are not from India, Eva Dowd is the best thing that happened to the Indian Indie Scene. But she is not from India, hailing  from Boston, MA how she changed the fortunes of Mothejane and Sanjeev T is legendary. She is the first  recipient of  AVIMA  Asian Music Champion of the year’ Award, IRMP3 caught up with Eva Dowd for an exclusive interview, here’s what she had to say

IRMP3 : Hey Eva, Congratulations on winning the first AVIMA “Asian Music Champion of The Year“ Award. . How does it feel
Eva : It is a little surreal my focus is to bring recognition to the artists I represent, I certainly never expected an award for the work I do, the kind words from people after it was announced was really touching, you don’t know how people really view your work till something like this happens, it really has doubled my faith in what I attempting to do for both Sanjeev T and Motherjane while whenever possible bringing attention to the whole Indie Music Scene in India and now Asia.

IRMP3 :  Although you are located in Boston, USA ,You have been the driving force in promoting ‘Motherjane’ and ‘Sanjeev T ’, could you tell us how it all started? What inspired to promote Indian bands?
Eva : It is a bit of a long story but I think one people wonder about, so let me begin… I was helping a friend’s band in London with the normal struggles of all indie artist face anywhere in the world, the lead singer was from India so I thought I would try to create a fan base for them in India, in my searching on myspace I came across Sanjeev T’s myspace page and the song Dead Woman was playing, there was something going on in my life at that time and the song really connected with, I wrote Sanjeev asking for a copy of the lyrics, he seemed excited someone from USA was interested in his music and we started communicating regularly and became close friends , during this time he would tell me how tough the music scene was there and it was an impossible dream to make a living performing original music.

During one very low point he said I am just quitting it is pointless and I said give me a year let me try to help you and if in a year I can’t make a difference you quit then, he half heartily agreed. I took my new mission very seriously and attempted to learn everything possible about the indie music scene there.

I learned about passion of the artists in India fighting against all odds… their families disapproval, the lack of venues, the almost nonexistent revenue if you were able to book a show. Though I did not embrace all the music being created in India I did embrace the passion of the musicians and it touched my heart and decided to help  India’s Indie Music Scene, while of course on the main focus 1st on the artists I promote.

It is through Sanjeev I met Motherjane , he needed some information and asked me to contact Suraj Mani, I had no direct contact so searched on line for Motherjane and found their myspace page, this is pre Maktub release but the taka taka taka of Chasing the Sun was already streaming online , I was really impressed by the music and thought great music but their myspace page was in a sad state, there was no way it would attract International fans attention, it was a typical band page with hundreds of bands and few “real” people .  I emailed Suraj with Sanjeev’s question and he quickly responded and like Sanjeev seemed curious about this person from USA and asked me how I knew Sanjeev and I explained a bit and that ended that conversation.

Suraj emailed me a week later told me about Maktub about to be released , I said great music but you really need to do some work with your online profiles, Suraj is not much of online person so not sure he really understood what I meant but he kinda kidding said well maybe you could adopt us, I had just ended a bad experience with another Indian band who wanted to control every aspect of what I did down to font color so wasn’t in hurry to take on another band but really believed this music deserved a global audience so I said, if I help you have give me total control over your site and just trust me , never expecting he would turn over the keys to their page to a total stranger but within two weeks he presented me the password and on Nov. 8th 2008 I officially took over Motherjane’s social networking sites and  the rest of the online story is history if you follow the band. I am very proud of what we have accomplished in a 1 1/2 years on the Internet for them.

It is been five years since I started my journey in India’s Rock scene, and hasn’t always been easy , I was very much and outsider I would go to the then RSJ forums ( which I fondly referred to as ” man town” )  to promote and they were tough on me, till one day not sure who it was said give her break she is trying to do something to help us and it was fine after that and actually got to know a few of the “man town” guys and all very nice.

Sanjeev didn’t quit as you all know and  went on to play major Festivals in India that I help coordinate and won several awards and soon will start a world tour as A.R. Rahman as his guitarist, and it all started because of a song/music prompting a bond between two  people, I simply love the power of music to connect the world.

IRMP3 : I bet promoting a band which is on the other side of the globe is not easy, how do you manage to pull it off? Does it get crazy at times?
Eva : Being across the globe to me is no issue with phone and internet , the  amount of time required is what gets crazy when both artists are very active like now with AVIMA campaigning , launching of Motherjane’s new song Tribes of Babel, and preparing for Sanjeev releasing  his 1st album.

IRMP3 : Tell us a little bit about you, In your words ‘Who is Eva Dowd’?
Eva : Eva  is the creative side of my personality, I work in corporate America in a very structured environment,  I spend the day coordinating logistics  my life became all about spreadsheets and  analyzing data, the PR and promoting is my creative release, in many ways I am a struggling Indie Artist holding down a day job till this becomes profitable. My business background lets me look at the Music Scene from a very analytical perspective most artists are not happy to do that  but it truly is a business at the end of the day.

I am a huge fan of living a life less ordinary and love to embrace the quirky and road less traveled in life, my promoting bands in India certainly in mind counts on the road less traveled.

IRMP3 :  Tell us about Eva Dowd Productions, Any plans to promote bands other than Motherjane & Sanjeev T?
Eva : I am producing my 1st video for Sanjeev’s newest song  Still Searching. it is a  collaboration between my company and his Rainbow Bridge Studio,  so I am learning that aspect of the business and and will also be a involved very much in his upcoming album and taking on the International Distribution and Marketing.

I would love to help other bands but totally impossible time wise but will continue my ongoing work with ACIA which by supports all Indie Artists.

IRMP3 : Internet has revolutionized the music industry, How long do you spend time to promote your bands?
Eva : I spend minimum 25 hours up to 50 plus hours,  there is never enough time, there is much hidden behind the scenes time… the networking I do to introduce Industry Execs to the artist’s music, creating press releases and graphics, maintaining the site content, writing blogs , I have at least 12 sites, HTML is not always a friend to me the time really adds up weekends I easy spend 12 plus hours.

IRMP3 : Are you interested in promoting any other Indian bands other than the ones you are promoting? Have you been approached by any other Indian/Non – Indian bands/musicians for their promotion?
Eva : I have easily a list of 50 Indian bands that have contacted me over the past year and would love to give them the name of someone who is willing to help, it is a tough sell though, I make  no money, I lose sleep but I have a lot of love and respect from the both Sanjeev T and Motherjane and of course the fans for what I do. My goal of course is to bring enough attention to bands that it generates revenue they can  of compensate me at some point in time , but I do love and believe in what I am doing.

I asked both artists for comments for the article, I think they VERY over the top  but you can see the support and respect  they give me, they are my friends almost family like, we are all working toward a shared Dream and  that is very bonding.

” Motherjane has always known that it takes more than just a great band to become a great band Someone like Eva finding us, from pretty much across the ocean and virtually taking over our entire PR and online marketing, has all the elements of a modern day miracle. She is a real angel & I know tens of thousands of people all over through world who join us in considering this unmet gypsy as a friend.” Suraj of Motherjane

“Eva’s accomplishments in helping Indie bands in India and bring attention to our work it is stuff legends are made off , It started with me, and it continues to inspire, growing everyday for herself and the world to see. She has always been my reason to live this life of music.” Sanjeev T

IRMP3 :  I was once told that Eva Dowd is a fictional character created by Motherjane to promote the band, Did you know that?
Eva : Haha too funny the guys at Motherjane are so laid back you think they would ever create a character like me , I can have quite a fiery temper at times, be quite emotional, high maintenance and also a bit of a  Diva , so really think knowing Motherjane they created me , I think they just chuckle and think what in the world did the universe send us to help spread the word of our music.

When Suraj started introducing me as their PR Angel I would laugh tell him I am no Angel , but Angel also means messenger and I am comfortable  with being the messenger of their music to the world.

IRMP3 : Just a thought, Do you have any plans to shift to India so that you can spend more time for your promotion and also get to attend the bands’ concerts?
Eva : I would love to come to India and hope to this year, with my position a my company it is really hard to get away, I haven’t had a vacation in over 10 years  Ideally I would love both bands to tour globally and I could represent them on the road as their PR person and  handle some of the logistics, we are a bit away from that day but I look at what has happened in 5 years, I  have connected with  1000s of people around the world I am very much an introvert at heart  and the promoting helps me step out myself and I am grateful for it allowing me to open to people I would not have ordinarily.   I know so odd I have not seen the bands perform live but in a way it was good , I had no idea Motherjane’s appeal in India and might have been intimidated to take on the task but to me they were just 5 guys with passion and dream and I thought I could help.

IRMP3 : Thank You Eva for your time, And the last famous words are …
Eva : “One person with passion is better than forty people mildly interested. Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion. Chase down your passion like it’s the last bus of the night.” I  am still running after that last  bus in the night but getting closer to it  every minute hope you all are too!