Jan Youri have just arrived in this environment where Jan Youri don’t know anyone! Jan Youri realized alone a 1st album which was released in February in self-production. Check out the exclusive interview below:
1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?
JAN YOURI: At the beginning I practice the theater which I always practice besides. Music has always accompanied me in parallel. And last year a meeting triggered the conception of the album. You can find out more about this subject by visiting my website.
2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?
JAN YOURI: I am entirely self-taught both in learning my instruments and in designing the album.
3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘JAN YOURI’?
JAN YOURI: My first musical influences are Pink Floyd and Jacques Brel. Jan is in homage to my grandfather. Youri it’s more personal
4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
JAN YOURI: The freedom to be able to create as you wish and without artifice. Make do with what we can and what we have. Do not lock up. Leave projection and appropriation free
5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as POP?
JAN YOURI: The pleasure of learning. Learning constantly and then experiencing this learning in a creation. A creation which sometimes comes from nowhere but which invites itself in evidence. We do not go towards this or that style, we let out what comes and then we have to find a name to give to it because we have to we fit in a box! So I checked pop just because I like the word popular!
6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?
JAN YOURI:
From the moment we are famous and heard we have a responsibility. We can sing the flower of the fields or try to change things. One can also simply give a certain look. But if you’re lucky enough to be heard then the best thing is to have something to say.
7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?
JAN YOURI:
We always hope for more. I take it as a game because it would be illusory to take it otherwise and it would amuse me a lot less.
8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?
JAN YOURI: I do everything as it comes. Sometimes I write the text first and sometimes the music. Sometimes I sit at the piano and I put down a few chords then I sing over it as it comes. When I like it, I record on my phone so I don’t forget.
9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
JAN YOURI: The lucidity on the operation of this industry where it is profit that takes precedence over everything as in many areas elsewhere! So I close my eyes and have fun.
10. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
JAN YOURI: To have managed to finish this album. because we often start things and sometimes we don’t go to the end. There are so many great things to do in this life that it’s hard to focus on just one and yet that’s what you have to do if you want to finish and achieve something.
11. With social media having a heavy impact on our lives and the music business in general, how do you handle criticism, haters, and/or naysayers in general? Is it something you pay attention to, or simply ignore?
JAN YOURI: I was lucky not to have been confronted with this yet. But the day it will happen I will listen if the criticism is justified. We can’t please everyone and that’s also what preserves our integrity.
12. Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two option excites you most, and why?
JAN YOURI: I haven’t had the experience of creating with a live audience so I don’t know yet. But I think both have their charm
13. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?
JAN YOURI: I think it’s good that everyone is free to interpret what they want. Isn’t that often the case? there’s what I want to say, what I say, what the other hears and then understands….. that’s a lot of possibility of understanding! After if I say black and we understand white then I will have to think about my way of saying things!
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