During the day, the eVocal studio on Brioso Drive comes alive with people dedicated to getting Yanski’s music career, and others, off the ground. Some of the staffers at eVocal, which operates a boutique a few minutes away on the Westside, set to work creating clothes to promote the company’s artists; a few yards away, Yanski and his band lay down tracks with a producer. The expected album, “The Story of the Revolution,” was set for release on Election Day, but has been pushed back to January. Still, the artist, who trumpets left-wing views throughout his work, said the disc will be political enough.
“The people I work for know who the target audience is for the music,” said Yanski, who works as a web consultant and helps plan events for eVocal. “It’s edgy in the sense that it makes you think. There’s views I express that not everyone will agree with, but if you’re willing to think and be inspired to think about how your life is part of a society and a community, and that you have a role to play, you’re the person I relate to.”
Yanski, whose parents were exiled from the Soviet Union, believes in art as a political device; he credits music and poetry for having helped bring down communism. eVocal, which owner Brett Walker founded seven years ago, has a similar communal ethic. When Yanski’s record comes out, he doesn’t plan to distribute it on iTunes or any of the typical venues for independent artists — instead, he plans to turn promotion over to eVocal’s “street team,” an unofficial group of artists, family members and supporters who pass CDs on to friends and do their best to spread the word.
