CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS 143: YOUNGR BRINGS HIS FAMOUS LIVE SETS TO AUSTRALIA FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME!

Interview by Brooke Gibbs.

Since breaking through in 2016 with his self-released debut solo single ‘Out of My System,’ UK-based multi-talented musician Youngr has racked up over 150 million+ global streams and played at over 250 shows in 35 countries around the world, including sold-out tours across Europe and North America.

YOUNGR is set to bring his famous live sets to Australia and New Zealand next week.

Watch the full interview below ahead of the tour.

FMM: Thanks so much for joining me. How are you today?

YOUNGR: I'm good, thank you. A bit tired, but I'm good. Been rehearsing lots for the shows coming up, but that's the usual payoff that I have to do when I've got shows. I'm a last minute reviser, so anything that I need to do, I do it last minute, which means I'm up all night twiddling with knobs and playing guitars and stuff, which is time.

FMM: Yeah, that's fair enough. I can imagine how busy you are because you are about to bring some of your live sets to Australia and New Zealand. How are you feeling leading up to that?

YOUNGR: Good, man. Good. It's not really sunk in. Well, I knew that my flights were in November, end of November, so in my head I was like, okay, November, I'll start looking at sets. I haven't really thought about it, and then it got to about two days ago, I looked at my calendar. You know when you start to put things in your calendar and you're like, oh, shit, I can't go to football next week because I'm in Melbourne. You're like, Whoa, okay, maybe it's time to start thinking about it. Then when I start rehearsing it, I start getting excited. But before that, it's kind of hard to get excited about something that's so far away.

FMM: Yeah, it sounds like it's coming up pretty fast for you, and you're all in the realms of preparing for it. What are you most looking forward to about bringing the tour down here?

YOUNGR: I just think it's because I've never been there and it's somewhere I've wanted to be, somewhere I wanted to go for so long. I'm just excited to come and see a different part of the world that's so beautiful, that I've heard so much about. I've heard that people like to party and they like live music, and I'm really excited about it. Everyone I've spoken to, like DJ friends and musicians who have been to Australia, they say the same thing, that it was the sickest gigs, the sickest place. It's just fun.

FMM: Yeah, you've got that right. We do love to party. We love live music. Do you have much time to explore Australia and New Zealand while you're here, or are you pretty much busy and on the go?

YOUNGR: I think some days I get, like, a cheeky day off, but the biggest window is between the weekends, which I think I've got three days in Auckland in New Zealand, I think, so that should be fun. I think I've got, like, a day in Sydney or a day in Melbourne, something like that. But, yeah, I think the days off might be in New Zealand, which I've heard actually, is very much like where I live because I live in North Wales by the mountains and the oceans. I've heard that New Zealand's, like a nice hot, sunny Wales.

FMM: Yes, and they've got beautiful areas for with mountains for hikes and things like that, too, I've heard. I love the live sets that you post on your social media. I guess the question everybody wants to know the answer to is, how do you do it?

YOUNGR: How do I do it? It's magic. I wave my wand and I become this different person. But no, the reality of it is years and years and years and years of practice and just doing it and being in studios by myself and being on stage and also failing. Falling on your ass on stage and doing something bad. It's just one whole, big journey to the point where you get to a place where you can just turn on the instruments, turn on the keyboards, press go, have an idea and just go with it. I think that comes with just years of doing it.

FMM: In one of your recent videos, you mentioned that the journey of creating a set is never easy, but it's always fun. What are some of the things you find most challenging?

YOUNGR: Just finishing a record. Because with a video, you kind of just go, right, I'm committing, the camera is rolling, right? When you see that red light flashing, you think, I can't stop now. I can't be second guessing or waiting. I'm just going but when you're looking at your recording software and you're thinking, okay, there is no right and wrong to finishing a record. There is no good, bad, right, wrong. So you can do anything. That concept in itself is daunting because you're like, should that guitar be a bit louder, a bit quieter? Should I EQ a bit? So if you get into your own head and start fiddling and meddling and just like doing edits and over edit, that's the bit that's challenging for me. That the infinite possibilities of the sound of a record is overwhelming. Like I said, it can be fun because you're like, Whoa, I'm playing around. This is cool. I never thought a guitar could do that. But really, when you're just trying to bloody finish a record, it gets tough.

FMM: Yeah, it sounds overwhelming, especially because you mentioned how busy your life is, but it must be hard to know when to stop and when a record is complete.

YOUNGR: Yeah, it is. I think I'm getting a bit better at it, which is nice. Bit better.

FMM: I love your gear set up and obviously behind you, we can see some amazing equipment. Can you walk us through what your main setup is for your live sets?

YOUNGR: Oh, you can't really see it. Maybe I'll turn this. It might break the whole computer. So this stuff, these are the pads that I bring that I set up on mountains and on boats and on hot air balloons. That's the looper and then show laptop and interface and some of the gigs I'll have some bongos, some gembes tambourines.

*Video and audio cut out due to his laptop movement*

YOUNGR: Hello? So I knew that when I turned that screen to show you, I was like, something's going to go wrong here. And what went wrong for all the viewers is a flute that was sat behind on a speaker stand fell and perfectly and hit the power offset plug on a switch, but happened to not hit the power for the screen or the computer, but did hit the power for the interface. So there you go. Thank you, flute. Maybe I'll bring this to Australia. Maybe it was trying to tell me to bring this to the tour. I think so. I actually don't know how to play. Yeah, I don't know what I was saying, but I'm bringing lots of stuff.

FMM: Sounds good, and look, as I said, you've got some incredible gear. That's why I was so impressed when I saw that video of when you performed a set on top of one of the mountains. How do you go carrying your gear around when you do stuff like that?

YOUNGR: Well, because I've been doing it for a long time, I've figured out how to get the bulk of it into one small case. Then I just have a really heavy rooksack with camera, laptop and all this stuff. It's all USB powered, so I don't need a power generator, which is great. I mean, it's a slug, but when I got to that top of the mountain, I was dripping in sweat. I was knackered. I was like, oh my God, I get to sit here now and play music for half an hour. But totally worth it, though. It's a new idea, this thing of going to mountains and doing this thing. The first time I did it was in Mexico. When I went to Mexico last month, we went on a hot air balloon and it flew over the pyramids at 7a.m. I was like, Fuck, it. Might just set up all my equipment. I'll do a DJ set up there and I like to put myself in ridiculous situations to see if I can make it work. And yeah, it's become a cool concept. So I'm trying to think of some places in Australia and New Zealand I can do that's so cool.

FMM: In Sydney, they have the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb, so that would be cool. G Flip did a drum set on one of those things that go over the Blue Mountains.

YOUNGR: Oh, sick. G Flip.

FMM: Yeah, definitely some cool places around Australia, and I'm sure New Zealand will have a few as well.

YOUNGR: Yeah, yeah. Let me just write that down. Sorry. Yeah. G Flip. What was it? Drums.

FMM: Yeah, they're a sick Australian drummer.

YOUNGR: Oh, sick. Yeah. I'll check that out. Googled it. I've got it. Floating 270 meters above the Blue Mountains. Wild. Yes.

FMM: I challenge you to do that while you're in Australia.

YOUNGR: Challenge accepted. Yes.

FMM: With the gear set up, was there any gear you've been meaning to add or what's your dream equipment?

YOUNGR: Dream equipment? It's called a Rolling Juno 106 synthesiser. It's just this old, vintage, lovely sounding keyboard. I've got lots of emulations of it in my laptop, but there's nothing like having some proper old gear. You can't beat that old analog sound. So, yes, like that, but I don't think I'd bring it on tour. It'd be way too heavy and it would break way too much for the studio.

FMM: And you still need to add that studio horse from your Darryl Braithwaite cover that you did recently, when you were like, all I need now is a studio horse.

YOUNGR: I know, like who's got a horse? Who's got a studio horse or a little donkey or something.

FMM: Speaking of other artists, if you could collaborate with anyone, who would you love to work with?

YOUNGR: Oh, first person that came to mind there was Roisin Murphy. She's just fucking great. She's just so cool. Every part is cool. I feel like she would be great crack in the studio. Someone else would be Jamiroquai, because I've always loved him and I've just done a remix of his songs. Be wicked to get in studio with him or do something live with it. But, yeah, they're the two ones that came to mind.

FMM: Sounds like some good choices. With your sets, one of your biggest ones to date is your take on Sweet Disposition. I've looked on YouTube and people are saying seven years later, they're still coming back to that particular set. What do you think it was about that one that was so successful that people love?

YOUNGR: No, I asked myself that a fair few times because I have no idea. That was an afterthought to put that video out. I was like, I don't know if we should put this out. It's a bit weird. Then, I don't know, one day me and my manager put it out, let's just see how it does. Literally that video changed my life and I have no idea why. I think after putting out so many videos and so much content, there is no formula. It's just when the stars align and you put yourself in a position where they could align. Maybe it's the brightness, maybe it's the song. But then would it have been as good if it wasn't in that setting with the morning ravers and the fact that it was bright instead of dark in a club? I've always thought that it's an odd thing to see people raving and dancing in a bright room. Usually we're used to dark and lights and there's no show lights. It's just natural morning light. And maybe it was my Snazzy Golden silk shirt. Maybe it was that. I'm going to put it down to that. Actually, that's my final answer. Wear a Snazzy golden shirt.

FMM: I think you're on the ball. I think it was the shirt. So hopefully we see you wear that at the Sydney show as well.

YOUNGR: Coming up from under my bed I think. I think I'll have to give it an iron. Bring it out. Bring it out of retirement.

FMM: Yes. Make sure you pack it.

YOUNGR: Give it away. Maybe I'll throw it into the audience. Maybe I'll just finally just part ways with it.

FMM: You know what? I think that'll be good because I saw the ravers from the video we were just talking about, and it looks like Australia has some big shoes to fill because you've done a lot of sold out shows internationally. What can we expect from your Sydney show? What can fans look forward to?

YOUNGR: Yeah, it's just going to be loads of fun. It's going to be loads of fun. I'm putting some new tunes in there. Some old tunes. That's another thing, because I haven't played there ever. I've not been playing some of the old songs, but I'm like, oh, in Australia, I should probably play some of the old ones because I've never played over there. So reimagining those is really fun and putting them into the current lifestyle has been a really fun journey and yeah, lots of energy, lots of hands in the air, lots of singing, lots of dancing, smiling. It's going to be great. I might play the Horses Boulevard as well. Maybe.

FMM: Sounds amazing. Yeah, we’ve definitely got a lot to look forward to. We're really lucky to have you here and be able to see your live sets in action as well.

YOUNGR: Thank you. I appreciate it. I'm really good forward to it. I'm happy I finally get to go over there and play some tunes. It'd be great.

FMM: Yeah, I think so too. What's next for you after the tour?

YOUNGR: What's next after that? Christmas. Then I'm going to Hawaii for three weeks of just my partner and our little child, and we're just going to go and chill on the beach every week. I think it's going to be great. Who knows what happens after that? Maybe I'll move to Hawaii, play some ukulele.

FMM: How do you balance all this with a small child since mentioned that your preparation is leaving things to the last minute?

YOUNGR: I don't handle it very well. I just become very tired and run down and then I do some great shows. And then, like I said, I have to have two weeks of just nothing. Just like because if I was smart, I'd be preparing for this for the past month, but that's not how I roll. I don't think many musicians are smart like that either. Or maybe I shouldn't speak for everyone, but I feel like we're all a bit unorganised. I kind of like the fun of the high pressure. I'm like, Fuck, it's next week, and then you kind of got to go. I kind of like that pressure.