Evan Volk has been making a name for himself for a while now. His surf rock aesthetic mixed with hard-hitting rap flows and lyrics has helped him cultivate a truly unique image in the local San Diego scene.

Born and raised in San Diego, Volk has recently released his new album “Crossroad Uncertainty” ahead of his graduation from San Diego State University this May. Volk began with the inspiration behind the name “Crossroad Uncertainty” and why it was the right fit for the album, especially with the looming uncertainty that comes with post-graduation life. 

“The whole album, the underlying theme throughout a lot of the songs is me not being certain about the future and a lot of plans that I had post-college have been flipped,” Volk explained. “I’ve had to alter my route. Like my plan A and plan B, both of those are kind of at risk. So, basically, “Crossroad Uncertainty,” it’s just kind of me at these crossroads and I’m not really sure what to do. And a lot of this album is just me venting that.”

Volk also shared that part of the album serves as a tribute to his time at San Diego State University. While the project explores more than just his college experience, it reflects the common feeling of a lack of clarity many students face as graduation approaches.

“I think in that aspect, it (“Crossroad Uncertainty”) can hopefully connect to some other college students,” Volk said.

A really great and unique aspect about this album is how Volk made the decision to work exclusively with San Diego State musicians. Every artist featured and every producer is currently attending SDSU or is SDSU alumni. So why did Volk make the decision to keep it 100 percent local for this album?

“I wanted to reflect on my experience at San Diego State a little bit,” he explained. “Throughout the past four years, I’ve made a lot of friends and different connections. There’s so much talent at San Diego State, and there are so many different musicians and bands. My goal was just to try and get as much of that on the album as possible, originally. And then as the album went on, and it kind of turned into me venting about a lot of the stuff I’ve been dealing with…it kind of changed from just me trying to get the entire SDSU on there, and kind of getting a select few people on there.”

One of those select few would be The White Collars, who collaborated with Volk on the song “Sail Away.” Volk first performed the song with them during their GreenFest set in March, where they opened for rapper Flo Milli. I spoke to The White Collars in anticipation of that performance, but now I wanted to get Volk’s perspective on GreenFest and how it may have changed him as an artist.

“The GreenFest performance was amazing, and I’m forever in debt with The White Collars, everybody in that crew,” Volk said. “Neil, Ben, Cameron, Aidan. They allowed me to live out a dream I’ve had since I was a kid, and the reason why that means so much to me is obviously because of my voice.”

Volk has been dealing with persistent vocal issues for the past four years. His voice tires quickly, often causing pain when speaking or performing, especially in loud settings. The discomfort is constant, making both recording and live shows physically challenging. Despite visiting multiple specialists, undergoing blood tests and trying countless treatments, he’s still searching for lasting relief.

“I likely can’t ever pursue music and go for that. So, the fact that it was only one song, so my voice could make it through…that’s such a unique opportunity to go perform for that amount of people, Volk continued. “Normally you have to work to that, and even if you do get to that point, you need to do a twenty-to-thirty-minute set. So for me, with my situation with the voice giving out, being able to just go up there and live it for a little bit…it gave me a lot of piece of mind in terms of, even though my voice likely will never be cured and as much as that hurts, I got to do that.”

The album takes a deep dive into his ongoing vocal struggles, a topic Volk opens up about for the first time through his music. He reflected on both the challenges he’s faced and the decision to finally share that part of his story with listeners.

“What made me speak about it on this album…I don’t think I ever have, on a song, talked about my voice problems really,” Volk admitted. “I’m at this point where now it really is like, ‘Alright, this is likely a permanent reality.’ And regardless, throughout the last four years up until this last school year, I had the mindset of, ‘Oh, there’s a cure and I just have to find it. And now I’m at the point where I’m about to graduate and I haven’t been able to find a cure. So what made me talk about it was just facing that reality, and I needed to get it off my chest and get it out to the world.”

Volk was quick to add that he doesn’t want people thinking of his album as a sob story. He is super grateful for his upbringing, and regardless if listeners resonate or not, putting out songs that touch on his voice complications has given him a peace of mind. It’s a way to release what has been building up for years.

Upon attending SDSU, Volk also became very involved with Aztec Music Group, the student organization that bridges the gap between music and business. Volk dove into his history with the club and how being a part of it has helped him on his music journey.

“So my freshman year, I knew about it but I didn’t go because of my voice. And during my sophomore year, I started attending the general body. It was really cool,” Vold said. “I met a lot of cool people, back when Zen Yokel was president. And then at the end of that year, I remember J. Yoki (a fellow SDSU artist) was talking to me and he was like, “Did you apply for executive board?” He said he applied for a position, and he encouraged me to. I didn’t even think about applying before, and then just by having that conversation, I applied to be VP of Communications and got on the executive board that year. And then this most recent year I’ve been Vice President.”

Volk continued to share that through Aztec Music Group, he learned a lot about responsibility. He learned how to run events, as he helped put on things such as open mics and rap cyphers with the club. Aztec Music Group taught him about communication and how to operate in a leadership role.

“You don’t have to talk about stuff that’s super relatable or try to make your stuff relatable,” Volk said, reflecting on what he hopes listeners take away from the album. “Most people don’t even know vocal damage is a thing, so I’m literally just reflecting my reality. It sounds cliché, but if you’re making music just be authentic and talk about what you want to talk about.”