Eva Catherine Gardner (born February 17, 1979) is an American bassist from Los Angeles. A founding member of

The Mars Volta The Mars Volta is an American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, producer, direction) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), whose partnership forms ...

, she has been a studio and touring musician in bands for

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs ...

P!NK Alecia Beth Moore Hart (born September 8, 1979), known professionally as Pink (stylized as P!nk), is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She was originally a member of the girl group Choice. In 1995, LaFace Records saw potential ...

Veruca Salt Veruca Salt is an American alternative rock band founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1992 by vocalist-guitarists Nina Gordon and Louise Post, drummer Jim Shapiro and bassist Steve Lack. They are best known for their first single, " Seether", that ...

and

Tegan and Sara Tegan and Sara () are a Canadian indie pop duo formed in 1998 in Calgary, Alberta. The band is led by identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin (born September 19, 1980). Both musicians are songwriters and multi-instrumental ...

Early life

Eva Gardner is the daughter of The Creation bassist

Kim Gardner Kim Gardner (27 January 1948 in Dulwich, London – 24 October 2001 in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles) was an English musician. He was part of the British Invasion of the US during the 1960s, and sound recording and reproduction, rec ...

, and cites her father as her primary influence. She is a graduate of the

Los Angeles County High School for the Arts Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA, ) is a visual and performing arts high school located on the campus of California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) in Los Angeles, California, United States. History The school was ...

, where she studied under trumpet player Bobby Rodriguez. She holds a degree in

ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'').

Career

Eva was the original bassist for

(2001). Her work appears on their first EP ''

Tremulant __NOTOC__ A tremulant (from Latin: ''tremulus'', "trembling"; french: tremblant, it, tremolo, es, temblor) is a device on a pipe organ which varies the wind supply to the pipes of one or more divisions (or, in some cases, the whole organ). Th ...

'' and although she did not perform on the recording of ''

Deloused in the Comatorium ''De-Loused in the Comatorium'' (commonly referred to as ''De-Loused'') is the debut studio album by American progressive rock band the Mars Volta, released on June 24, 2003, on Gold Standard Laboratories and Universal Records. Based on a short s ...

'', she did write some of the basslines . She left due to complications of her father dying while The Mars Volta was on tour. In 2003 she toured the UK with Tim Burgess (singer for The Charlatans) and also toured the US with

El Vez Robert Alan Lopez (born 1960),"El Vez", ''St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture'', Thomson Gale 2005–2006reproduced online at BookRags.comand accessed online 28 April 2007. better known by his stage name El Vez, is an American singer-songwrit ...

. During January 2005 Eva was touring bassist for

during a tour of Australia. She is also the bassist for Los Angeles-based band

Lyra Lyra (; Latin for lyre, from Greek ''λύρα'') is a small constellation. It is one of the 48 listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and is one of the modern 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Lyra was ...

. Eva Gardner joined

Pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

's band in 2007. She completed touring Europe and South Africa in September 2007 and did promotion for the release of ''

Funhouse A funhouse or fun house is an amusement facility found on amusement park and funfair midways and is where patrons encounter and interact with various devices designed to surprise, challenge, and amuse them. Unlike thrill rides or dark rides, f ...

'' in 2008. In 2009 Eva was touring bassist for

's record-breaking

Funhouse Tour The Funhouse Tour was the fourth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Pink. The tour supported her fifth studio album, ''Funhouse'' (2008). The tour visited Europe, Australia and North America. According to Pollstar, the Funhouse Tour (200 ...

(Europe, Australia, UK, United States). She continued touring with

in 2010 for the

Funhouse Summer Carnival Tour The Funhouse Summer Carnival Tour was the fifth concert tour by American recording artist Pink, launched in support of her fifth studio album ''Funhouse'' (2008). The Funhouse Summer Carnival and the Funhouse Tour (2009) sold a combined total 3 ...

in Europe, the final tour of the Funhouse album era. In 2011 Gardner formed Telstar with Chris Unck of

Butch Walker Bradley Glenn "Butch" Walker (born November 14, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the glam metal band SouthGang from the late 1980s to early 1990s as well as the lead vocalist ...

and the Black Widows, recorded Hot Knives EP and the 2 singles "Getting Around Town" and "Lightning's Girl", plus released music videos for "Are You Hungry" and "everysinglebodyelse". Eva Gardner

As a returning member of

's band, Eva began promotional appearances in support of '' The Truth About Love'', with a September 2012 album release date. Eva appeared in an episode of My Ghost Story (season 6, episode 1), talking about her father's restaurant being haunted. While on a break in the middle of

The Truth About Love Tour The Truth About Love Tour was the sixth concert tour by American recording artist P!nk. Sponsored by CoverGirl, and showcasing music from her sixth studio album '' The Truth About Love'' (2012), the tour played over 140 shows in Australia, Europ ...

, Eva joined

Moby Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the ...

's band for performances on

Conan O'Brien Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows for almost 28 years, beginning with ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' (19 ...

plus three live shows at

The Fonda Theatre The Fonda Theatre (formerly Music Box Theatre, Guild Theatre, Fox Theatre, and Pix Theatre) is a concert venue located on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. Designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival Style, the theater has hosted l ...

in Los Angeles on October 3–5, 2013. In January 2014, the Eva Gardner signature Precision Bass was released for public purchase via

Squier Squier is an American brand of electric guitars owned by Fender. The former manufacturing company, established as "V. C. Squier Company" was founded in 1890 by Victor Carroll Squier in Battle Creek, Michigan, producing strings for violins, ban ...

by Fender. The bass features a graphic of a ship that is a replica image of a tattoo on her arm. On January 26, 2014, Eva played bass at

56th Grammy Awards The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid com ...

during

's live performance. Eva was the bassist for

's 2014 Dressed to Kill Tour. In 2015 she appeared in an episode of ''

Transparent Transparency, transparence or transparent most often refer to: * Transparency (optics), the physical property of allowing the transmission of light through a material They may also refer to: Literal uses * Transparency (photography), a still, ...

'' (season 2, episode 9) with The

Indigo Girls Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. The two met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part o ...

. In 2016, Gardner joined

on their Love You to Death Tour. In early 2017 Eva joined the

Classic Cher Classic Cher was the third concert residency by American singer-actress Cher. The show is performed in Las Vegas, Oxon Hill, and Atlantic City. Set list This set list is representative for the opening concert on February 8, 2017. #" Woman's W ...

residency show with dates in Las Vegas and Washington, D.C. From 2017 to 2019 Eva was

's live bassist on the

Beautiful Trauma World Tour The Beautiful Trauma World Tour was the seventh concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate ...

. In 2022, Eva officially returned as the bassist for The Mars Volta.

Discography

Eva Gardner (solo)

• ''Chasing Ghosts EP– (2019)'' • ''Love & Drugs (single) – (2020)'' • ''Darkmatter EP– (2021)''

With The Mars Volta & Omar Rodríguez-López

*''

'' – EP (2002) *'' Arañas en La Sombra'' – LP (2016) *''La Realidad de Los Sueños - Boxset'' (2021) *''

'' (2022)

With P!nk

* Funhouse Tour: Live in Australia (2009) * The Truth About Love Tour: Live from Melbourne (2013) *Beautiful Trauma Live: P!nk (2017) * All I Know So Far: Setlist (2021) * Pink: All I Know So Far (2021 Film)

With Moby

*Moby: innocents – Live at the Fonda, LA] (2014)

With Alice Bag

• ''Blueprint'' (2018)

With Marissa Nadler

*''For My Crimes'' (2018)

With Lyra

*''Protocol'' – EP (2006) *''Move'' – EP (2007)

With Telstar

*''Hot Knives'' – EP (2011) *''Lightning's Girl'' – single (2011) *''Getting Around Town'' – single (2011)

Happy Endings Soundtrack w/ Maggie Gyllenhaal

*''Music From the Film'' (2005)

With Miranda Lee Richards

*''Light of X'' (2009)

With Leerone

*''Imaginary Biographies'' (2007)

With Little Sandwitch

*''Little Sandwitch''

References

External links

Eva Gardner Website
*
Telstar
on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Eva 1979 births Living people Los Angeles County High School for the Arts alumni Women bass guitarists Guitarists from Los Angeles American women guitarists The Mars Volta members 21st-century American women musicians 21st-century American bass guitarists