Exclusive Interview: Electro House Producer Youan
Maybe you have heard his hit “Girl” on the Zane Lowe BBC radio one show already if not check out the Youtube Video premiere by Noisey.’
His “Girl” EP is just out now on Minds On Fire and we got the exclusive interview here on traxx24 🙂
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Q: Who are you?
Youan, 23 year old from the West Midlands.
Q: How would you describe your style?
House/Electronic
Tell us about the beginnings…
Q: When did you start making electronic music?
I started when I was 17 on an old copy of Reason, just trying to recreate some of the sounds I was hearing at the time; making tunes for mates really.
Q: What or who inspired you?
I was really into Switch and the early Hervé kind of sound. It was so different to anything I’d heard at that time.
Q: How was your grasp of the audio engineering & production at this time? How did you learn producing? Is it all self taught, from the internet and tutorials or mentors and teachers?
Looking back, probably not the best! There was just a lot of trial and error before things started to sound any good. I have a few friends who started around a similar time and it’s always good to share techniques etc with them, it helps whenever one of us comes across something new to push each other on.
Q: Tell us about your setup. Are you using mostly software or hardware these days?
I run everything through an old version of Cubase at the minute. It’s what I’ve been using for a long time now and it’s really stable – easy to use. It works for me, so I see no reason to change!
Q: What are your five favorite instrument and effect plugins?
Waves SSL.
Beast.dll
NI Massive
Fabfilter Timeless 2
Pro-53
Q: How do you promote your music?
Right now I’m working with Your Army for club promo, radio plugging and PR. They are really great.
Q: How do you distribute your music? Are there any digital distribution services that worked for you which you can recommend to our readers?
Also done through the guys at Your Army, better ask them!
Q: Let´s talk about djing and live gigs. Do you remember your first gigs? How were your first experiences with finding and playing gigs.
Was it complicated finding a booking agency or clubs to play at and how were the first gigs received? What´s it like on tour for you?
When I was younger I would hand out mix CD’s to local bars/clubs to try and get gigs, I got a few early slots back then and spent time as a warm up DJ. The DJ gigs are just starting to come in now, and I’m really looking forward to playing out a lot over the summer!
Q: What would your personal dream life look like?
For real it’s probably mowing the lawns at Old Trafford. Music was a second choice in life. haha.
I think going deaf. Being in front of speakers a lot can’t be too good.
Q: When we interview you in one year, where do you see yourself?
Hopefully still enjoying life, making new music, there are album plans in the future but who knows!
Final question…
Q: Do you have a power ANIMAL?
Turtle.
Get in touch wit Youan on Facebook and Twitter.