Whether it’s his own deadly dance productions or viral sensation bootlegs, UK maestro Youngr is sure to get a groove going. With over 100 million global streams and sell out tours across Europe and North America to his name, his signature fusion of electronic and instrumental textures has proven to be a hit with the masses.
Following the recent release of single ‘Love In The Room’ on his own Blue Llama label, we dial in with Youngr himself, whilst he’s out roaming the hills to, check in and catch up.
- Hey Youngr! Thanks for speaking with us today. Please share a quick introduction to yourself and what you do.
Hello, hello! I’m Youngr, Younger is actually my middle name believe it or not, and I am a one-man band, and I produce dance music with some sprinkles of pop, and house.
- Your bootlegs of famous pop hits have become the stuff of online legend. What’s the key to perfecting a great bootleg?
It is the vocal. It’s always got to have a great vocal hook because I re-sing the vocal, so it’s got to be something that suits my voice or that pushes me into a new world. But yeah, if it’s got a banging vocal or bassline, can usually start off a good bootleg.
- Talk to us about your recent release, Love In The Room. What’s the inspiration here?
I wrote it with my good friend Tim woodcock, and I had the beat on this vocal idea so I had some throwaway lyrics, and I brought it into him, then we came up with the idea of ‘Love In The Room.’ It’s mainly about when I’m gigging and I’m out with all the audience and all the people and everybody’s vibrations are going higher and feeling like we’re together. Just that sense of love. So yeah, it’s about being yourself on the dancefloor and just feeling the love. - What does your typical creative process look like when making music? Do you start with a lyric/theme or perhaps a melody?
My typical creative process is really quick, no second guessing, I usually start with a piano line or some kind of harmony, I love chords, and then a beat. Then, I’ll just layer it without thinking and then a beat or something and then I’ll delete the old thing. And I’ll just keep layering and layering until I’ve created a base, which is tasty. I’ll then leave it for a couple of days, come back and see how it feels. And yeah, it’s quite quick and natural. And then the finishing process takes quite a while, as it always does, trying to finesse it, but the actual creation, is usually done with a couple of hours. I like to be quick and destructive with my creation.
- Can you describe what a Youngr live set is like? And what would be a bucket list venue to play?
A Youngr live set is high energy smiles all round, hands in the air. You can expect some tasty percussion, some nice chords and vocals and, you know, just lovely layers of music. It seems cliché, but it’s good vibes. That’s what I’m going for. I want you to go away from the set feeling like you just have a lovely time smiling and enjoying the music.
As for a bucket list venue, I’d maybe say the Manchester Apollo, just because I grew up in Manchester and I’d love to rock out there.
- When you’re not working on music, how do you like to spend your time?
What I’m doing right now as we record which is hiking around the mountain behind my house, looking over the Irish Sea and looking over the thin Peninsula in Wales. I love it just hiking around walking, being in nature.
- Who would be a dream artist to collaborate with?
I’m gonna go with Jamiroquai. He recently shouted me out on a podcast saying that he liked the bootleg that I did. I’ve always loved him. I think he’s amazing. So JK, if you’re listening, let’s go!
- Across your time as a band member, to your present as a solo artist, what’s the best piece of advice that you’ve been given for navigating the music industry?
Probably from my pops, he said, own your own masters. And it’s taken me a while to do that. But we finally have and for the first time and I can’t remember, I’m actually making money from streaming music. I mean, it’s not a lot. It’s not enough to pay rent, but it’s still amazing to see actual return on streaming.
- Who are some upcoming artists that you’re listening to and should land on our radar?
There’s a band called Venice Drone who are really good on a band called Son of Kong, S O N. O F K O N G.
- We’re hitting the homerun on 2023. What do you hope to accomplish before the year is out?
First of all, it’s scary how time has passed already this year! I don’t know, I don’t like to think too far in the future. I think like to I’d like to accomplish just being a good human being today and tomorrow and hopefully to the end of the year.
