With names like Kygo springing off of Soundcloud into the mainstream charts, there's no surprise that tropical house is more popular than ever. I caught up with YEVRAH, a producer, creating sounds from the not so ‘tropical’ streets of Glasgow to hear more about his sound and his musical journey.
Ryan, who goes under the alias of YEVRAH is merely twenty-one years old but has been creating music for over four years, his love for music stemmed way back from playing the guitar as a kid, but it wasn’t till recent years he started viewing music seriously as a career and began evolving into his current sound.
‘by this point I had discovered house and I was instantly hooked the melodies, the builds, the drops, the energy everything about it I absolutely loved it and I instantly sat hours on end at night after school watching production videos on YouTube trying to emulate certain sounds … After I left school I started releasing tracks under my full name, making mash-ups and my own mixes that I would put up every other Friday or Saturday for people getting ready before they went out on a night out. I also went to college to study sound production, I’m in my final year now, and I’ll be off to big bad uni next year.’
Although his tracks now are flawless, I was intrigued to hear about how Ryan’s music had developed since those first high school tracks, So I asked Ryan, if he could remember his first track, and how it would compare to his current tracks;
‘I do it was absolutely horrific, I’m sure I shared it on Facebook as well which I now wish I never did. Thankfully my original sound cloud got deleted and those old tracks can't be heard any more. “Levels” by Avicii I know that track was a real game changer in the EDM world when it came out, and it inspired my first track. Anyway - I tried to have the whole progressive house feel to it with the glitch sounds and the same piano setting and everything and it was just awful in all honestly, I wouldn’t put anyone through listening to it but hey, we've all got to start somewhere.’
‘My newer stuff definitely sounds a lot more clean and much fuller and professional sounding. Last year I was feeling really tired and fed up with making music it just felt like the same thing over and over again - it wasn’t fun any more everyone was doing the same thing, so I decided to take a break indefinitely to relax and just enjoy myself.
I then I fell in love with music all over again after discovering tropical and chill. It was just so nice to listen to something that put a smile on my face rather than something that made me want to get absolutely fucked, don't get me wrong I still love a nice meaty drop just not every 3 minutes.
I think due to experimenting with different genres, my knowledge and creativity has broadened. The sound has changed a little but I like to have my own little signature perks that I use in a few of my tracks so people know it's me, if you know what I mean? I'd like to think that as an artist and as an individual that I'm starting to get my own sound and be continuously growing in technique and by production skill track by track and I hope I am and I hope others can see and hear that as well.'
What would you say, if anything has been your biggest hurdle within your musical development, and how did you overcome it?
‘Definitely my own self-doubt and self-confidence with if I am actually good enough, but I’ve learned you just have to bite the bullet and man up. If people don't like your music then that’s okay - it's not for everybody. You have to just keep going keep doing what you love and you'll get there one day. This is basically what I tell myself every single day and night before I go to sleep and when I wake up. This is all I want to do and this is what I love to do and hopefully the journey is just starting for me.'
So what would you call your current sound?
‘Happy? I don't think that’s a style but I like to make music that makes those who listen it, and myself happy. I like to vary what kind of stuff I produce; I would like to say I'm pretty versatile. Having said that the main genre's that I typically focus on would be Tropical House and Progressive House I like something that really makes you feel something. I think music can make you feel so many emotions and it is an unbelievably amazing thing and I love being able to express myself through my music.’
And who inspires you in terms of music, both in and outwith Scotland?
‘My good buddy XIFI, he has some amazing stuff he's a real talent.. We've recently just finished a remix to Drake's track "Hold on we're going home" I'm really happy with the way its turned out it's taken us a long time to get a solid track down and I honestly couldn't be happier.
Scotland is full of other talented artists too, Nick Mabon is another great guy he goes by the alias Nico Mendez he got me my first gig just after I had turned 18 in our local club at his night DIGRESS I was beyond nervous, but I must have done something right as he made me a resident at DIGRESS and I thank him for letting me be apart of many great nights, we’ve released a few tracks together that have been on different labels as well and his sound is just getting better and bigger as well. It's nice to see him do well. Stephen Kirkwood is another massive talent and a huge name in the Scottish Trance Scene he runs his own studio in our area SKapade studios. He’s a great guy and is always willing to lend a hand or give a tip or two .but as I said Scotland is full of amazing undiscovered talent and its all around all you have to do is know where to look.
Outside Scotland, and on the progressive side of things I love Axwell I mean the guy is an absolute gem him, Angello and Ingrosso are out of this world. He also may be very mainstream and popular these days but Avicii as well he has the Midas touch.
On the tropical side of things I love Kygo, Matoma, Thomas Jack, Sam Feldt, Matthew Hayer if you don't know who these guys are I suggest you go and listen to them as there stuff will blow you away. ‘
Thankyou so much to Ryan Harvey for speaking to me.
You can hear the rest of Yevrah's tracks here on soundcloud.
Do you like my new interview posts? and have you been loving any tropical house tracks recently? I'd love to know.
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