Nobody quite does the family band like Evil Felipe. Sisters Ella (guitar and vocals) and Maya Staltare (drums) and close family friend Emma Bain (guitar and vocals) formed the band in 2015 as kids. In 2016, they played their first show at a family cookout. Abby Ricket (bass) later joined the trio in 2021 after seeing an advertisement for the open position on Instagram.
Deviating from the usual family feud style band (cough-cough Oasis), the Massachusetts native band has created a unique niche within the indie punk genre.
Having the chance to talk to the band, I asked all of your (and my) burning questions and compiled a Simmons Voice-exclusive Q&A.
Elizabeth: I think this is one of my favorite ways to open: If someone hasn’t heard your music before how would you describe it?
Emma: If someone hasn’t heard our music before I usually say it’s indie punk. I feel like it’s hard to put it in a specific genre because we don’t really stick to one style of music and kind of bounce all over the place.
Ella: Yeah I feel like every song has a different vibe but the stories that we are telling through the songs is what unifies them.
Elizabeth: I love the name Evil Felipe. How did you come up with it?
Emma: Ella or Maya can probably tell this story better, but when they were kids they had a toy car from the movie “Cars” that they named Felipe, and Maya used to have nightmares about it.
Ella: The evil part was added cause we thought it would be cool and dark and punk rock. We were tweens.
Elizabeth: Since you all live in different cities/ towns you’re not able to record new music or play shows as much. How do you stay connected as a band?
Emma: Thankfully we aren’t too far apart but it still isn’t easy. We have a group chat that I tend to text in too much. I’m constantly spamming them with new ideas.
Elizabeth: Speaking of new ideas, what’s next for your band? And looking at the past, do you have a favorite project you’ve done?
Maya: Honestly, my favorite is always whatever is the newest. With every release, you can hear how much we have grown and matured from the last.
Emma: Up next we’re heading to New York for a direct to vinyl recording session and then after that we’re playing our annual Halloween House Show.
Elizabeth: Tell me more about the direct to vinyl session! That’s really cool!
Emma: We got an email from a company called Leesta Vall at the beginning of the year and they asked us if we wanted to record directly to vinyl. What they do is people can place orders for specific songs they want to hear and then we go into the studio and do one take of the song for each order we get.
Elizabeth: You recently performed at the Palladium. How did that go?
Abby: The Palladium Downstairs was a dream come true. We had so many people who we had never met come up to us after our set to say that our music meant something to them, which was incredible. It will be a hard one to beat!
Elizabeth: Do you guys have any musical influences? It can either be collectively as a band or personally.
Maya: Sweet Pill, Mannequin Pussy, and The Regrettes are definitely some of our biggest influences, especially with them all being female led.
Ella: And the band Fleshwater.
Elizabeth: I was curious if you guys like to stay connected to the local music scene. If so, how do you discover new artists?
Abby: We have an incredible community of local musicians around here! We are really fortunate to have a group of friends with a common creative interest. Attending house shows is always a good way to discover new local artists! Also, if we’re ever on a local bill with bands that we don’t know, we always try to walk away having built some connection. We’re always down for more local artist friends!
Evil Felipe continues to show their power as a female-fronted band in a typically male industry. While their upcoming Halloween House Show is sold out, they look forward to performing again soon. To keep up with upcoming shows follow their Instagram @evilfelipe.
