Moodie

Description

Despite being stuck in his bedroom in the city of Jacksonville, the 27-year-old Yunos pedigree is diverse. His parents are from the UK, and of Jamaican descent, and his musical upbringing involved a wide array of discovery mainly as a result of being part of his local skateboarding subculture. Thats what got him into music: hanging out with friends at their now abandoned mall, going to the skate shop, playingTony HawksPro Skatervideo games, watching skate videos, and listening to all the music featured therein. In high school I had a lot of friends that played guitar also. We would all come into school early, learn songs and play for each other in the cafeteria.

In the house hed listen to reggae, ska, rocksteady and classic R&B, but it was skating that got him into rock and rap. Formative albums included ones his friends would pass along to him on burned CDs: HIMsRazorblade Romance, AFIsSing The Sorrowand Rancids And Out Come The Wolves. He never really went to shows because rarely would anyone worth seeing come through. His first gig he attended was headlined by a rapper called MC Lars. Thats what made him consider starting a solo project seeing one dude onstage, recreating all the music alone with a laptop. To this day, hes only been to four shows. Im used to just watching them on YouTube, he says. I never think about a live show when writing songs. I just make whatever.

Yuno creates all his of music alone at home, self-producing and engineering, playing all the instruments. He also shoots all of his own press photos, designs his album art and directs his music videos. I like being really hands on with everything surrounding my music, even now that Im with Sub Pop, he says.

However, the exotic lure of bright lights, brighter city, is one of the most relatable of tales, and it certainly makes a whole tonne of sense once youve wrapped your ears aroundMoodie Yunos first mini album, released via Sub Pop. Take for instance, lead single No Going Back which marries a summertime vibes of Tame Impala, the surreal, R&B atmospherics of Frank Ocean and, well, Lens Steal My Sunshine. Its a collection of songs that chimes with pops increasing lack of concern for genre. Its the opposite of tribal, as multicultural and diverse as a ride on the New York City subway, across all five boroughs. It cant be attributed to one particular origin of sound or vision.

Yuno continues, I dont really go anywhere in Jacksonville. I dont drive. I spend a lot of time in my bedroom. Thus, the six song collection sounds like a collage of bedroom posters. So Slow, for instance, would be a Washed Out flyer sat next to a piece of Kid Cudi artwork, whereas Why For with its squealing Wavves guitars would probably be represented by a big weed sticker or some Sleigh Bells ticket stubs. Its deeply creative and visual.

He continues I knew in high school that I wanted to do music. Drawing had been my thing when I was really young, then I started to make videos in middle school with my friend little skits. Then I began playing guitar. In eighth grade his cousin taught him how to make beats, and thats when Yuno arguably began. His dad also bought him a $20 guitar at a flea market. Despite his mom insisting he get lessons, he taught himself by learning online guitar tabs, mostly for metal bands. Id bring my guitar to school every day. Hes learned how to sing over pop punk songs too, hence the abrasive nature of his vocals.

Sub Pop found Yuno via Ishmael Butler of Shabazz Palaces and Digable Planets fame, whos on the A&R staff for the label. He stumbled upon Yuno on Soundcloud and kept a close eye on him. Similar to Ish, Yuno is encouraged by the genre-bending age of melody were living through, citing Lil Uzi Vert and Young Thug as sources of influence.

The multiple flavors of sound also reflect the breadth of feeling that hes chasing in the writing.Moodie the EPs title clearly relates to his surname, but its also channeling the emotional variety of the tracks. It covers all the different feelings you have at the end of a relationship, he notes. Sometimes youre really happy to be moving on, other times youre really upset to see something go.