Evian Christ

Leary grew up in the small town of Ellesmere Port, near Liverpool. He began making music after playing around with vintage keyboards belonging to his father, who initially made Kraftwerk-influenced synth music before becoming a trance DJ in the late ’90s.[3][4][5] At 19 he produced a selection of J. Dilla-influenced soul edits, and intended to release them until the label he had partnered with went out of business. While training to be a primary school teacher at Edge Hill University, Leary produced the eight tracks that would make up his debut mixtape, Kings And Them. Made music in his garage on Cubase.[4] In December 2011, he posted three of the tracks on YouTube under the name Evian Christ, apparently only for his friends to hear. They were discovered by Dummy Magazine and other music blogs, which led to a search for his identity.[6][5]

After the tracks blew up, Leary responded to a message from Tri Angle Records founder Robin Carolan, who signed him to the label. In February 2012, Tri Angle released Kings And Them, a free mixtape compiling his musical output thus far. Days after, Leary made his live debut at a Tri Angle showcase in London alongside Balam Acab, Romy xx, and The Haxan Cloak. Directly after graduating from his education program, Leary left the UK to tour in America. In July 2012, Tri Angle rereleased Kings And Them as a limited edition 12" EP featuring remastered versions of mixtape tracks "Fuck It None Of Y’All Don’t Rap," "Thrown Like Jacks," "Drip," and "MYD." [5][7]

In 2013, Kanye West reached out to Leary to produce material for his then-upcoming record Yeezus. West flew him out to Paris, where he worked with in-house engineers and producers to create the album track "I’m In It." By the end of the year, West signed Evian Christ to his publishing house, DONDA.[8] In the same year, Leary attended the Red Bull Music Academy in New York City.[9]

Leary released his debut EP, Waterfall, in March 2014. He also announced work for the follow-up to Yeezus, and hosted Trance Parties in the UK. In 2015, collaborated with artist David Rudnick to create a temporary art installation at London's ICA, and expanded his Trance Parties, with the fourth edition taking place in Liverpool, London and Sheffield.[10][11]

In August 2016, Leary produced "Pneumonia," the second single from rapper Danny Brown's critically acclaimed fourth studio album, Atrocity Exhibition.[12][13] The single was officially released on August 19 through Warp Records.

He was always inspired by his dad's trance DJing and then went on to discover R&B and hip-hop through MTV Base. Later, he stumbled upon experimental electronica and ambient music through Grouper, Tim Hecker and Ben Frost.[7] He tends to describes his music as deconstructionist, using samples from mainstream rap artists like Tyga but combined with his own dark, industrial beats.

• Official website