Born in Brooklyn but raised in Manhattan’s Chinatown, Evil Giane spent his youth skating in the Lower East Side and writing graffiti with friends as SURF GANG. He developed his production style in public spaces, bringing his laptop to sessions and building beats in real time on FL Studio Mobile that he’d upload to SoundCloud.
During the COVID-19 lockdowns, SURF GANG organized illegal shows across New York City, drawing growing crowds and solidifying a devoted following. These shows marked the moment he recognized the project as sustainable, redefining SURF GANG as a producer-led collective and an established record label.
In addition to production, he DJs internationally and continues to expand into design and fashion, drawing inspiration from film soundtracks, internet culture, and downtown New York’s shifting landscape.
Full segment featured in Issue 13 of Living Proof Magazine
When did you feel like you were starting to get better? Like, okay, I am becoming a real producer.
It was around the time I met my homie Harrison, and then we linked with this producer Era. I was already producing, already sending beats to Black Kray, and I already had a song with him. But me and Era made this song called Angel Wings and when that came out, it sparked a whole wave of people making beats that sounded like that. I started getting my first type beats on YouTube, and that is when I was like, oh. I think I actually got this.
You were developing a sound that felt attached to you.
Yeah, for sure. I came into my sound more, even though I do not really believe in having a single sound. Everyone has one, but everything comes from inspiration. We all take from each other. It is like sampling, just in different forms.
03 Greedo is just really creative. No shade to other California rappers, but he is not stuck in one lane. He is really just making art. He can get on New York style beats, down south beats, or West Coast beats. You know him for what he does, but he is versatile. When you linked, he was really stoked and positive. And that was right after he got out of jail too, which made it even more special.
Yeah, which is rare, honestly. I am not going to call anyone out, but a lot of rappers do not respect producers. That is why I am pretty exclusive about who I work with. I will work with anyone who is in it for the sake of the art and if we genuinely like each other’s work, but I do not need to work with everybody. Now that Surf Gang is a record label, I am down to put out people’s projects without even touching them. I do not need my hands in every pot. I just want to keep the culture moving and keep good music coming out.
Especially now, when everything feels oversaturated. It is a good and bad thing that everyone has access to making music, but not everyone should be making music. In oversaturated fields like music production or DJing, how do you think someone finds relevancy? Is it luck?
I think it is about luck, being smart, and having an idea. Some people do not really know what they want, so they just follow whatever the Spotify algorithm puts in front of them. For me, I am on YouTube letting the related videos play, or on SoundCloud letting up next run. I listen to a lot of random stuff, a lot of different genres. That is how you really find the heat, by digging and experimenting. I also get a lot of inspiration from movies, especially older ones. I will search soundtracks and find crazy orchestral stuff. That is what I have been into lately.
Is DJing something you take seriously, or is it more of a side passion?
It is half and half. I am definitely more of a producer than a DJ, but I really love DJing. Putting people onto new music, curating a vibe, making sure everyone has a good night, that feels good. Music is about making people feel something, sad, happy, angry, whatever it is.
In terms of side hustles, is modeling something you are interested in? You did Supreme recently, the Aphex Twin campaign in Japan. It feels like a full circle moment.
The Supreme stuff is definitely full circle. When I was skating heavy, I always wanted to be sponsored by Supreme. Now they give me free stuff and hook me up with modeling gigs. I modeled before I was making music too. I had friends at an agency called Midland who would cast me. I modeled for HBA a couple times, and they put me into music videos too. I am actually in the A$AP Rocky and Moby video A$AP Forever if you can find it.
Post Heaven’s Gate, is there anything fans can expect later in 2026?
Yeah. I am dropping my second ambient tape, Giane 2, and Heaven’s Gate Vol. 2 is coming very soon.
How did you feel about the reception to the first Heaven’s Gate tape?
I was really happy with it. I was kind of nervous because I was finally putting a lot of songs that already existed onto streaming platforms. People had been asking me to do that for years. I also linked up with a lot of people, like Greedo, to make new tracks for it. Heaven’s Gate Vol. 2 is all new tracks, which makes it even sicker. People do not really know what to expect, and I think they are going to be surprised. It covers every vibe. It is not just straight rap.
Read the full interview in Living Proof Magazine Issue 13, available on the Living Proof Patreon and Online Shop.
Photography by: Mark Custer
