Diandra Reviews It All- Interviews Yuki: Experimenting And Being Free

There are so many artists that start behind the scenes; building other artists, taking notes, discovering themselves, and, in turn, formulating the image in their head that will soon become the artist we know. Yuki started out producing tracks for artists like, Jaden Smith, and is now releasing his debut record, Be Free. Out today, the record is intricately experimental, and feels like Hip Hop warped into 2052. It is simultaneously rich and intimate; feeling like an ornate look into a simple soul, which, in this interview, embodies Yuki. He really is a New Zealand, Hip Hop artist trying to put his world into your playlist.

Diandra: What has your art helped you to express about yourself as a person?

Yuki: It’s given me a way to let go, almost counsel myself. Talking about things that trouble me or things that I feel anxious about on a record really helps me live through it and move past it. It’s like shouting it out to the whole world makes me feel confident and that I’m able to be okay with it, especially on this album, where I open up about my mental health, social anxiety, my own mistakes, and growing up.

Diandra: With your title Be Free, how would you define what it is to be free or what your freedom is?

Yuki: I think being free is somewhat impossible. For me, it’s more about the motivation to be free; to look at the things you don’t need in yourself and your surroundings, and having the courage to point them out and move on from them. Hopefully move on to somewhere else as a better person.

Diandra: You have said freedom is a moving thing. Describe a moment you felt its meaning shift in your life. From what to what?

Yuki: When I finished my high school year, in 2017, and dropped out to commit to music, I travelled to Los Angeles. That was my first case of feeling free, I guess. I had gotten rid of what was holding me down, like my ceiling had been lifted. From then to now my own freedom is found in ways like accepting who I am, realizing things I’ve done wrong, realizing I sometimes have no control over things, thinking about myself more rather than myself in a given situation, or myself with my friends or family, but truly my inner workings. Moments of freedom for me are now found in mental refreshes and moments of reflection.

Diandra: What are the highs and lows of modern life that your music captures?

Yuki: I think it captures the pain of the unknown, the anxiety, and stress that comes with not knowing where you are in the world; not feeling comfortable in your situation while still remaining confident with who you are.

THE LEVEL OF WISDOM IN THAT LAST STATEMENT! YAS, KING!

Diandra: You want to make songs “packed full of moments.” What are the songs, filled with “moments” that most inspire you?

Yuki: Man, oh man where do I start. To name a few: “Unbearably White” and “Mansard Roof” by Vampire Weekend (0:40 – 0:50 specifically), “Mylo Xyloto/Hurts Like Heaven” by Coldplay, “I Feel It Too” by Thorington, “Sorry” by Beyoncé, and the whole of Testing by A$AP Rocky is full of ear candy.

Diandra: is your favorite childhood memory with music?

Yuki: My parents always used to play Vampire Weekend albums, on repeat, whenever we drove somewhere. I really resisted that era of music when making Be Free. Another specific thing I remember is my guitar teacher, when I was like 14, showing me this Rodrigo y Gabriela song and that same year I got to see them live. I remember feeling so overwhelmed seeing them live; after they’d been in my headphones on loop for months and months.

Diandra: Being 100% yourself in your music. What are 5 personality traits your music shares with you?

Yuki: Vulnerability, confusion, sporadic and easily distracted. I also think that I work really hard and, in Be Free ,especially you can hear the attention to detail and time I put into the construction of the songs.

Diandra: What is your favorite story, about yourself, you have shared on Be Free. Which song?

Yuki: I think “Drama Queen.” I originally wrote that song sort of in panic. At the time, I was super anxious about everything for no reason; I was overreacting and overthinking so many things around me that it was unhealthy. After I got over that phase, I sat with the song for nearly 6 months. The song came back into my mind when the lyrics started becoming more relevant to another person in my life. When a song can be easily relatable to not just your own situation, I think that’s really special.

Diandra: What makes a beat or lyric feel clear and genuine to you amidst such an experimental, creative process?

Yuki: For me, it’s just a gut feeling. I made so many songs while making this album and so many were scrapped or just terrible. I’m always pretty self-conscious about my music but when I’m listening to the songs back to back in my room at the end of the day, and a particular idea makes me really excited or makes me think “Damn, I actually thought of that,” I know that it’s right. I think being genuine and clear is also up to the listener as much as it is up to me. I think people can tell when someone isn’t comfortable in their own sonic world or when, regardless of genre, something feels forced. So my friends and collaborators’ opinions do matter a lot in that sense; it’s finding a middle ground.

Diandra: How has being DIY in making your songs, taught you about what it is to lead yourself?

Yuki: It’s taught me a lot about collaboration and outsourcing. A lot of artists starting up are afraid to let people touch their music, I guess because they don’t want to feel like they’re losing ownership. For this album I really worked on the core of the music by myself. The next part in the process was working on it with others and almost reproducing, writing, and structuring every song. Even though I have my friends playing some guitar, or trying verse ideas, I never feel like I’m losing my vision or ownership over the project. Be Free wouldn’t be what it is today without letting it run free at little.

Diandra; Who in your family or friends is your biggest fan, and how have they described your music to you?

Yuki: My friend James (Thorington) helped me a lot with the album and his inspirations are completely different to mine. We always joke about him being a stereotypical “rockstar” because he grew up listening to artists like Korn, System Of The Down, Foo Fighters, Tool etc. Only in recent years, has he really started to explore modern music. He said: “You to me are a songwriters’ songwriter and I hear your efforts to be creative and new. You pull it off without sounding pretentious.”

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