Evan Call

Evan Call (born 1988-06-29 in Lincoln, California) is an American composer, arranger, musician, singer, and multi-instrumentalist working in Japan. Active since 2012, his background spans bluegrass, fingerstyle guitar, metal, orchestral writing, and film scoring. He grew up in a country town and did not become seriously interested in music until he was thirteen, although his brother and sister had both played violin as children. Bluegrass guitar lessons with local teacher John Massey became a turning point. During his teens he developed Occipital Neuralgia, which caused constant extreme headaches, kept him out of school, forced him to study from home and send in his work, and interrupted his activities as a wrestler, runner, and soccer player. He spent much of the next three months playing guitar until the pain eased enough for him to return to school, and he did not fully recover for four years. At sixteen, Call took up electric guitar and learned extensively from his close friend Matt Di Giordano, moving beyond fingerstyle guitar into metal and beginning to write his own music. He continued writing fingerstyle tunes and metal pieces while exploring orchestral music, often integrating it into his metal work, as well as video game music. Around the same time he became interested in singing; after singing on his own for a couple of years, he studied classical voice with local teacher Chris Bello and appeared in a local theater production, developing as a classical and musical theater singer. At Berklee, where he trained as a voice principal and studied film scoring, he expanded into rock, jazz, Latin, and other styles, bringing together his work in guitar, voice, orchestral writing, and world instruments. A deep interest in other cultures also shaped his background. In addition to English, he speaks proficient Japanese and Spanish, and plays instruments including Sanshin, Ryuuteki, Hichiriki, Quena, Flauta Dulce, Ocarina, Balalaika, and Charango. After graduating from Berklee, Call considered pursuing film music in Hollywood but went to Japan on a tourist visa, aiming to work in the country's diverse music industry. During a three-month stay he joined Elements Garden through a friend of a roommate in his share house, began composing in Japan in 2012, and remained with the music production group until 2016-06-30. He later affiliated with Miracle Bus and resides in Tokyo. In Japan he has composed music for Violet Evergarden, Muv-Luv Alternative, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, and the 2022 NHK taiga drama 鎌倉殿の13人, and his anime work also includes "Take Me Far Away," the OP of "Josee to Tora to Sakana-tachi".