Yokva by Dweller on the Hill

Dweller on the Hill sprouted from Seattle’s underground music scene on Capitol Hill in 2013. Seattle guitarist and songwriter, Evan Gackstatter created Dweller on the Hill as a vessel to explore a more raw, simple and honest style of song and statement. The statement is that of social harmony, togetherness, opposing oppression and exposing the savagery used to divide and bewilder our global community at every turn. The sound is drawn from Gackstatter’s most cherished influences like Jeff Buckley, Elliott Smith, Beck, St. Vincent, TV on the Radio, Cat Power and local guitar greats like Kim Thayil, Andy Coe, Danny Godinez, Jimmy James and many more. In 2015 Dweller on the Hill released two singles, “Circling the Drain” about the passing of Gackstatter’s grandfather the previous year and “Failed Oppressor” a premonition of what may have been in store (and actually was) the following year. The title track, “Yokva” (Hopi for rain or storm), was inspired by Gackstatter's travels to Chaco Canyon in the New Mexican desert. Overall, the Yokva EP speaks to the hell that the West has brought to indigenous cultures across the world and how that very hell awaits the West itself.