Yugs

Nostalgia Ascending

When did you first get into music? Please explain.

So, my name is Yoni Gottlieb, but I go by Yugs, which is a childhood nickname my friends gave me at summer camp. I come from a really musical family, my mom is a piano teacher and she had me and my brother and sister pick up instruments from a really young age, so there was always music playing in my house. I took guitar and piano lessons since I was 8 years old but it wasn’t until high school I started to make music of my own, recording original songs on my old MacBook Air on GarageBand without a mic or anything.

Who or What inspired you to pursue a career in music?

My mom, Gabriela Gottlieb, who both teaches music and has recorded several albums of classical music on piano, really inspired me and showed me that I could do my own thing with music and leave a legacy of my own like she has. Growing up, I was always listening to music, and I was really inspired by movie and video game composers like John Williams and Koji Kondo, rock bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tame Impala, and lofi producers like J Dilla and Nujabes. It wasn’t until college where I realized I could put my talents towards becoming a music producer of my own.

Describe your style of music.

My music is both dreamy and grounding. The main genre that ties my music together is lofi, but my music bends genres; it includes hip hop, trap, jungle, house, and even classical. The main thing is that I make music that you can close your eyes to, and also get down to.

How has your music evolved since you first started in the music industry?

My music is constantly evolving; my first EP Cities and Countries was a classical album, filled with compositions on guitar and piano. My second EP People and Places had a little bit of classical, a little bit of lofi hip hop and runs like a movie soundtrack. My first album, Yugs, was an experimental lofi hip hop project which had a much more layered, dreamy sound inspired by Tame Impala and Animal Collective. My new tape, Nostalgia Ascending, is the next step in my music evolution. It has an intergalactic sound which combines trap, jungle, house and lofi hip hop. Its the first tape I’ve put out with collaborations that bring out the character of each song, featuring artists like Trayce Chapman, Jay Triiiple, Jon Rubio, AMDUAT, and Benjamin Elias. It also just has a different level of sound quality as it was engineered, mixed and mastered to perfection by local Denver legend DJ Deuce, who I couldn’t have made this project without.

If you were forced to choose only one, which emotion, more than any other, drives you to stay in this tough industry? Is it joy, anger, desire, passion or pride and why?

If I had to choose one emotion that keeps me going in the music industry, it’s definitely love. I love music; I love making it, connecting with people over it, sharing it and growing from it. I wouldn’t be able to keep on doing what I’m doing if I didn’t love it with all my heart. That’s what keeps me passionate, that’s what keeps me moving through the stress of the music industry.

Which ingredient do you think makes you special and unique as a performing artist in an industry overflowing with new faces and ideas?

I think my approach is really intimate; I really like to become good friends and make really strong connections with everyone I work with, and I think it shows in my music because the music I make comes from a place of love and connection.

A common phrase in the industry is, “you must suffer for your art.” Do you agree with this statement? If so, how have you suffered for your art?

You definitely gotta work hard for your art; if the process is easy, you’re probably not doing it right. I think the best music comes from a real place inside of you, and real experiences that you’ve had. It could be suffering, love, passion, sadness, etc. because thats what people connect to, because they’ve been through stuff like that as well, and they can feel that. For me personally, I deal with anxiety and my music helps me work through it and come to a place of loving myself even when I’m not feeling my best. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way, so I make music to remind other people going through the same shit to love themselves as well.

How do you feel the internet has impacted the music business?

The internet has completely changed the music business. The most positive thing is that its made it so anyone from anywhere can make and share music to a really wide audience, so now we’re hearing more music and exposed to more artists than we’ve ever been able to hear in the past. Think back 100-200 years ago, you really could only get heard if you had money or connections. Now there’s just a lot more access than we ever had before, and we get to hear a lot more different sounds. Music is changing faster than it ever has before because of this, and its cool to be living through it.

If you could change anything about the music industry, what would it be?

First off, artists need to know how the music business works, how to own their music, own their masters, so the big labels, distributors and conglomerates can’t take advantage of them. So many labels take advantage of artists who are doing all the work because the artists don’t know enough about how the music business and industry works, and then the labels end up making all the money. My main thought is that the music industry should be collaborative, not exploitative.

What are the 5 albums that have helped make you the person you are today?

Currents by Tame Impala. Blonde by Frank Ocean. Man on the Moon by Kid Cudi. Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West.

What is the best advice you have received?

This too shall pass. It’s an old Jewish proverb, and it reminds me that both the good and bad times will pass, and to make the most of the present that we’re in.

How did COVID-19 affect you and your music career?

When COVID-19 hit, I was in Tel Aviv, Israel learning from Ori Shochat, a staple in the Israeli hip hop scene. It really felt like the world ended, because next thing I knew I was flying home to Denver, Colorado, bunkered down in my parents house during that early stretch of the pandemic. What it did do is give me some time to focus on my craft, as I made a beat a day for that first month of the pandemic in March/April 2020. A lot of the music I made during that time evolved into my album, Nostalgia Ascending.

Tell us about your new album, Nostalgia Ascending. How did it come about and when does it release?

Originally, I was planning to release a mellowed out, lofi album that I worked on during the pandemic called Dancing In My Room (which will come next). My partner and muse Rebecca Kite (AKA Roo) inspired me to go in a different direction and release something hype, something people could get down to after the past year of being stuck at home during the pandemic. She actually coined the term, Nostalgia Ascending, which to me means drawing from your nostalgic memories to to ascend to your future. The album is filled with dreamy instrumentals and nostalgic samples from video games like Zelda, and Sonic the Hedgehog, and movies like Forrest Gump, Captain America: Winter Soldier and Hustle and Flow, bringing you back to that cozy childhood place. At the same time, the album is filled with in your face trap, jungle and house drums, and hard hitting, lyrical features from Jay Triiiple, Trayce Chapman, Jon Rubio, Benjamin Elias, and AMDUAT to really ground you to the present and inspire to move forward Nostalgia Ascending drops on Friday, August 20th and I can’t wait to share it with the world.

Album Art by @kreeativehearts

How can fans-to-be gain access to your music and follow your career?

You can find the links to all my socials and music here: https://linktr.ee/yugsmusic

And feel free to listen to my single, ZONING (Feat. Trayce Chapman) here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/yugs/zoning-feattrayce-chapman

I love connecting with anyone about music, so feel free to DM me and we can talk about whatever!