Flawed Mangoes
An emerging name in the indietronica scene, Evan Lo, better known as Flawed Mangoes, has already demonstrated his vast production capabilities with a meager, 5-song discography. A typical song of his contains vocals from a featured artist to fill the verse, which is followed by a liberation of the track from tension with a harmonious drop filled with vocal chops, a plethora of ambient synths, and raging drums. Evan makes these intricate drops look easy and digestible yet mind-blowing, and this might just be the key to his breakout following; the artist already garners over 137,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. His high-flying single “I Am No Fun,” released in early May, has received over 1 million plays, his typical song structure ditched for one suited towards R&B, his indie appeal and masterful sound design, however, kept in tow. Evan enjoyed working on music in random places in New York City, but with the pandemic in full swing for much of his professional career, he’s been adapting in an interesting way. We recently spoke with Flawed Mangoes about producing during COVID-19, intricacy in his music, and more!
How did you get started making music?
I started playing piano as a kid, and then played guitar in some bands in high school. I started off producing when I wanted to record my own guitar tracks at home, and got really into arranging and writing music on a computer which was a natural bridge into producing electronic music.
What made 2020 the year to expand onto other streaming platforms, namely Spotify?
Nothing special about the year, I've been trying to get my music out as soon as I possibly can, but logistics and organizing releases has taken a really really long time.
How has the pandemic affected your ability to make music?
The pandemic has given me a lot more free time to make music, but being stuck inside all the time can be kind of uninspiring so it's definitely balanced itself out. I used to really enjoy working on music in strange/random places but there's way fewer opportunities to do that now.
What has been your proudest moment as an artist over the course of your career?
Being able to reach more listeners is always cool, but finding new ways to enjoy and explore music/the creative process is why I keep making music all the time. Any time I feel like I'm growing/learning as a musician is a really good feeling. Another good feeling was when I started to realize I don't have to confine myself to specific genres or styles to maintain a consistent project - diversity is key.
How does your typical "Flawed Mangoes" song come to be? Walk us through your typical songwriting process.
My songs tend to come from two places - either I have an idea in my head that I try to get out as quickly as possible to get it as close to how I imagined it as I can, or I let myself find ideas through experimenting/accidents/noodling. These aren't mutually exclusive either, most of my songs come from a combination of these two methods.
Describe your music in just three words.
Compassionate, organic, DIY
How do you know when a song is complete. Is that something that you've found difficulty in?
Lately with my music I've been trying to achieve the most while using as little as possible - almost like trying to make my music less cluttered. I think in a lot of my previous work I would try to add on as many complex details and things as I could. I still like to do that on certain occasions, but now I try to be more judicial with where the song really needs it or not. It's definitely be something I struggle with a lot in the writing process, deciding when something should be deemed “finished”.
Who do you owe your biggest thanks to?
I owe a lot of thanks to my parents, for encouraging me to learn aspects of music when I was a kid! (even when I didn't want to) I definitely wouldn't be doing what I do now if it wasn't for their efforts.
What's next for Flawed Mangoes?
As long as I still feel like I'm learning and growing, I'll just keep making whatever music I feel like making!
