Yung Bae Talks About New Music, Surprising Influences and Elden Ring from Miami Music Week [Interview]

Yung Bae is at a turning level in his music profession. The Portland native started dropping sample-heavy disco/future funk albums since 2014 and has been on an upward trajectory revitalizing and spearheading these genres and their sounds. However along with his newest report Groove Continental: Aspect A, Yung Bae has taken a special method that features an emphasis on authentic songwriting and large collaborations with Jon Batiste, AWOLNATION, EARTHGANG, Channel Tres, and extra.

He took these new batch of tracks to Miami Music Week to check them out on the South Florida social gathering folks. To take action, he headlined one among his personal exhibits “Yung Bae & Pals” and was on the roster of the Brownies & Lemonade present that included units from Louis the Baby, Whethan, Malaa b2b Habstrakt and extra. From my time within the crowd throughout Yung Bae’s set on the latter present, there was an actual sense that his mix of his previous and new sounds had been one thing the group couldn’t get sufficient of. He opened with a hypnotic intro of “Pure Creativeness” and seamlessly blended it right into a set of funky home and attractive rhythms.

Throughout the craziness, we caught an opportunity to take a seat with Yung Bae and choose his mind on a few odd and apparent matters.

How has your first Miami Music Week been and the way would you evaluate the crowds right here versus wherever else you could have toured?

Yung Bae: “I used to be simply right here in December too. Now it looks like everybody’s out in party-mode; everybody’s out in excessive spirits. So I’m fairly excited for the weekend. The solar’s out and the ocean breeze is good too. If we had been a bit extra inland, we'd be carried out for.”

Earlier than we discuss your music, I wished to faucet into a few of your different pursuits. For starters, is it truthful to say that you just’re a reasonably large anime fan?

“I’m an enormous fan of old-school anime. I watch loads of reruns. Everybody who is aware of me know I watch the identical ten exhibits again and again. I grew up on a fuckton of Sailor Moon. I nonetheless watch it to at the present time. I’ll simply placed on silent and play it within the background. It’s like screengrabs all day. I adore it!”

It’s like consolation meals, proper?

“Yeah. It’s like I get the anime-lofi factor a lot now. I put it on silent, add subtitles and let it playin the studio. I do the identical factor with Samurai Champloo. That’s kinda what my brother and I grew up on too. That’s the place I discovered what sampling was. Similar factor with the Boondocks. I didn’t fairly perceive anime on the time and now I’m like, “Oh wait…and the soundtrack is hearth!” Like that is nice. It is a win! It was that and Cowboy Bebop, initially. Evangelion remains to be my favourite to at the present time. I need to get an EVA Unit 2 tattoo proper right here.” [Yung Bae proceeds to point to the right side of his torso with a massive smile on his face]

I really feel prefer it’s fairly arduous to high loads of the classics though there’s loads of nice present stuff out now.

“I really feel so out of the loop. Similar factor with simply common present tv. With HBO, for instance, all I watch is the Sopranos. That present has been it for the final yr for me and I’ve watched it like eight occasions. All through the entire tour, HBO has simply sucked me in. It has me questioning like perhaps HBO is definitely worth the cash?”

I really feel the identical. And in the meantime, Paramount is making an attempt to seize my pockets with the brand new Halo present and I’m unsure whether or not to hop in or not.

“Isn’t that at this time? Once I first heard about that, I used to be tremendous excited. Like, ‘Daddy? Sorry.'” [laughs]

Sounds prefer it’s protected to say that you just’re a online game man proper?

“Oh you wager. I simply obtained Elden Ring at this time. I used to be simply on tour with Madeon and I used to be ready till after that like across the twenty fourth [of March] or one thing. I had it preloading and I’m sitting there and ready by my PS5. I’m fucking pacing and my girlfriend is like, ‘The fuck are you doing?’ I stated, ‘I don’t know whether or not to get into this now and solely have three days to be into it or wait to play it after the tour.’ So I made a decision to attend and all through the entire tour I hear folks saying, ‘You gotta play Elden Ring, bro. You gotta play Elden Ring!’ Once I lastly did, I hadn’t left my home all week till now. On the similar time, GTA V ‘s new remastered for the umpteenth time. I swear it’s the identical factor with Skyrim, bro.”

I really feel like that’s an identical responsible pleasure like with taking part in an previous anime, proper? [laughs]

“And we’re the assholes that purchase them persistently. It’s like each new console, I've GTA V and Skyrim. [laughs] And every time, I feel that their not going to get me now. I refuse. After which they only obtained my cash once more like yesterday so.”

Focusing again to your music, your most up-to-date album Continental Groove: Aspect A was an absolute blast to pay attention. From “60’s Spy Shit” to “Disco Physique Elements” with AWOLNATION. However one factor that’s extra evident in your newest physique of labor is that there’s much more collaborations in right here than a few of your different albums. What was your purpose for that shift in making your music?

“It was a type of issues the place I didn’t do in-person [collaborations] in any respect. I'd quite sit in my studio on my sofa in some boxers with my cats and chill. However my label began pushing the concept the place they stated that I ought to do this and stuff. It was a type of issues the place I used to be inherently making an attempt to keep away from sampling or sampling much less. There’s solely like a few samples on the [new] album itself. However on every thing else, I spotted that I might write this out; I might make the vocals and chop this up too. It was such a enjoyable course of to make our personal future funk and use the vocals we had been making. In the end, it helped me too. I might sit within the studio and determined that that is what I would like and this individual can do it if I information them the correct manner. And now after I return to sampling, I’m like fuck…I’m locked in. There’s solely a lot I can do.”

In different phrases, you'll be able to’t have the pattern be just right for you? You must work across the pattern, proper?

“Precisely! And now it’s like I've these concepts, I can put them to paper and it’s not that onerous. The truth is, it’s simpler as a result of I don’t need to clear samples. Which is sick! In the end, the swap to collaborating extra got here from me making an attempt to keep away from sampling.”

Who would you say are some artists or bands which have influenced your music that you just don’t suppose lots of people would count on to have?

“When folks ask me that and their shocked to listen to that I by no means actually grew up on Daft Punk, or J Dilla or Nujabes. I imply, with Nujabes there was [Samurai] Champloo, however that was about it. I didn’t know who he was. And with Daft Punk, I haven’t actually listened to their total discography. Nevertheless it was inherently round me and I at all times thought that I kinda like this. However my principal affect was loads of yacht rock. I obtained actually into the Doobie Brothers. They've an album referred to as Residing on the Fault Line and so they sorta faucet into Motown territory. That was at all times a sound that drew me in.”

“One among my favourite folks proper now could be Durand Jones and the Indication and what I spotted throughout this album cycle is that I really like the Sixties much more. Whereas engaged on the album, I used to be making an attempt to make Motown meet late-night disco as a result of I really like the tongue-and-cheek-ness of those genres. You take heed to music these days and it’s simply soiled. Once I take heed to Motown, it sounds nicer though it’s dirtier. It’s like my grandma has no clue what the music is saying so we’re going to run with it. [laughs]”

“On high of that, I additionally thought how might I bleed that with a present sound too. Since I take heed to loads of hip-hop, I wished to make one thing basic whereas having that make sense for now and make it digestible. Like I take heed to an ungodly quantity of hip-hop on the radio. I really like Lil Durk. He’s so enjoyable In different phrases, it was like a enjoyable, tough stability of my established sound with extra Motown and hip-hop influences.”

Since we’re in a little bit of a special world right here in Miami sonically with all this digital music starting from home music and dubstep and also you’re beginning to carve your path on this EDM panorama of kinds, would that change your recommendation to a younger music producer or songwriter and what would that be?

“I’ve at all times caught by the creed. I’ve been making disco now for the final seven years now and it sucked at first to observe my homies get booked and stuff. It felt like since ‘no one likes disco’, then alright. I’ll go play a marriage. It was arduous, however actually stick with what you want. If I used to be making no matter else that I didn’t look after, I'd hate my day job. However now, I get to say that I get to make disco all day in my boxers. And that’s sick, bro! When you advised me that like ten years in the past, I'd have been like, ‘What?!'”

“I additionally observed with my music that it was one thing that folks didn’t know they favored till they heard it for the primary time or the primary couple of occasions. It’s like once you go to a marriage and also you hear and Earth, Wind and Fireplace music and also you go, ‘Oh wait…that’s disco.’ They get to that time the place they understand the music their liking seems to be disco, funk or dance music. For a very long time, I felt like I used to be left subject for the longest time. However now I’m like no matter. Everyone is left subject of one another and it’s extra enjoyable that manner.”

That’s an effective way to place it! When do you suppose you’re followers are going to come up with Groove Continental: Aspect B?

“Inside the yr, for positive. It’s been confirmed the administration, label…everybody’s on board for a launch this yr.”

Thanks for popping out and doing this interview. Have an incredible Miami Music Week.

“Thanks and thanks the followers for checking this interview out!”

Ensure to take a look at Yung Bae’s newest album and maintain an eye fixed out for the upcoming Groove Continental: Aspect B.