With huge support from Javier Orduna following the release of his LP ‘Entkommen’, Yarni has emerged as one of the UK’s most upcoming unique and experimental music artists.
Following the release of his latest EP, ‘Avaz’, Yarni discusses his transition into the electronic music scene, his inspirations as an artist, Sheffield’s music scene and even what 2018 holds for him.
“I seem to have gone full circle with my approach to music”
The EP really suits Nightcolours Recordings sound as a deep electronic label. Being your first release with them, how did you come to get in touch them? Were they in mind for the EP?
After receiving promos of my LP ‘Entkommen’ and a couple of EPs earlier in the year Javier Orduna reached out to me offering support as he felt I should be getting more exposure as an artist. After a few discussions Javier he put me in touch with Chris who runs their label and it was a simple case of me finishing off some demos ready for a release!
Originally having a background in live music, you made the big switch to the electronic world in 2014. What was your introduction to this scene?
After attempting to introduce electronic elements into the band I was drumming in I started to realise it wasn’t working out so decided to quit and start a new project. In 2011 I built a small project studio and set about teaching myself the basics of music production. Fast forward to 2014 and I finally arrived at a bunch of tracks I was happy with and released my debut EP ‘Gloria’ as a tribute to my late Nan.
The influence of live music was something obviously really significant to you, who were the artists you listened to growing up, and have you tried to resonate any of their styles more electronically?
My Mother introduced me to Simon & Garfunkel and a few friends introduced me to The Stone Roses. I would say these two amazing but very different acts are what form the foundations of how I write music. Reni & Mani of The Stone Roses taught me about the importance of the interaction between drums & bass. The foundations of my melodic content stems from Simon & Garfunkel’s unique ability to write amazing harmonies and strange chord progressions!
Do you think this background ultimately helped create your own sound and shape your style as a producer?
I seem to have gone full circle with my approach to music, originally I was trying to incorporate electronic elements into the band and now I am recording acoustic instrumentation and field recordings to give the sound a more natural feel!
Speaking about the EP, the tracks are really playful and experimental, blending smoothly a large variety of tribal percussive sounds with some spacey synth work. What were your inspiration behind these tracks?
Lead track ‘Avaz’ was my attempt to write something I would love to hear on BBC Radio 1 on a Friday night to soundtrack a night out! I wrote the big middle arpeggio as a hook to get people interested and the rest just works nicely around the core idea. I felt the lead track was really strong so decided to accompany it with a couple of experimental & laid back ‘b-sides’.
You appear to have some pretty weird and wonderful names for your tracks, what’s the story behind these?
As an ‘artist’ it’s extremely important to me that all aspects of my output are thought about and this applies to my track titles. Each of the titles have an emotional attachment either from life experiences or from my childhood.
Being from Sheffield, what’s the local dance scene like around there and how do you think it’s changed/progressed over the years?
Watching The Juan Maclean around the time DFA Records blew up and when funky house became ‘UK Funky’ are a couple of shifts that stick out in my mind as happy times. From the harder edged sounds of grime & bassline to the warehouse raves booking techno’s biggest acts, you’ll find there’s something for everyone here. Personally I enjoy the freedom of doing my radio show on UK Mondo, it gives me a perfect platform to explore sounds not necessarily for the dance floor!
With the release of your album, ‘Entkommen’ and now ‘Avaz’, 2017 looked like it’s been a busy year for you. What’s in store for 2018?
I set this project up with a ten-point check-list and I’ve managed to achieve six of these so next year will see me attempting to tick them all off! I’m currently working hard on some collaborations with a Russian singer called Alexandra Pride, also Javier Orduna and myself just wrote 3 EPs worth of music to release together!
Oh, and one more thing, United or Wednesday?
There’s only one team in Sheffield, UNITED!!!!!!
You can purchase Yarni’s EP ‘Avaz’ here via Nightcolours Recordings.
