Yazmindi Interview

Written & Interviewed by Riley Grannell

On Thursday 18th of August we had the pleasure to speak to Brisbane’s own Yazmindi to discuss her album launch, her goals and what she’s accomplished so far and what to look forward to next.

RIley: Congratulations on the new album! Finally out today, that must feel amazing right?

Yaz: Oh my god it’s the best feeling, it’s been such a build up over the last year and a bit so it’s nice to finally have it out to the world.

Riley: Where did this album come from?

Yaz: I’ve got so many original songs and I've been writing like real songs since I was thirteen, so I've had like the last ten years that I've been really wanting to do an album. And you know people were saying to me like ‘no one does albums anymore just do singles!’ or ‘just do EPs!’ And I was like, no, I'm going to do what I want as an artist, I'm going to do an album. It’s like a next level step up you know? So it’s come from many different areas, like it’s literally like my journey through my adolescence to young woman because it’s songs I wrote when I was fifteen to twenty three. Eight years of my life journey this album, with my perspective on things and my views of societal issues or things like love and some tongue and cheek, a big mix of everything that represents me.

Riley: Very cool! I heard you’re doing some shows and tours to promote the album?

Yaz: Yes, I’m currently on my regional North Queensland tour right now, I’m launching the album at Black Mountain festival tomorrow night with my brand new band so it’s all happening.

Riley: So that’s where most of your focus is right now, touring, putting on shows and promoting the album?

Yaz: Absolutely, getting it out there as much as I can and being present and putting on a great show.

Riley: Fantastic! How do you feel your style has matured, as you said you started writing when you were thirteen, how was that journey in discovering you were getting better at writing?

Yaz: It was a really incredible journey and you can really hear it as well in the songs, or well personally I can hear it like oh some of that songwriting from when I was fifteen like, oh yeah that’s definitely a younger song to now that’s like ‘oh! That’s a more mature song!’ I definitely experienced my own songwriting growth, even in the way I play my guitar, like with some more complicated jazz inspired songs. It’s obvious that even my guitar playing and music skills have gotten better and my production skills, I produced the album as well with Mark Myers. The whole thing has been growth, growth, growth and some learning and one of the songs i swear in it which is like not really my style and i was a bit nervous to swear in a song, but it was a nice step forward to realising, “No, I’m allowed to swear i trust myself!” It was a lot of self reassurance and confidence, which was a cool experience.

Riley: Oh yeah, it must be a cool experience to see yourself grow, like you have a catalogue to be able to see that growth and a lot of people don’t get that.

Yaz: Yeah exactly! It’s really special to have that documented.

Riley: What do you think the next step of growth will be?

Yaz: I think this album has given me lots of firsts, like my first album, first tour, first time with my band. I think my next thing is really nailing my live shows and growing my fans and my audience and getting a management team around me, I’m all independant. Not even thinking about the next album, just focusing on my music business, like a management team and booking agent and growing a team to get me to that next level. Getting a killer band to do even bigger shows and all that stuff, just getting my music heard.

Riley: What is your dream gig?

Yaz: Dream gig would be an awesome set at Glastonbury and have a full set of back-up dancers and a whole crew, sick light show and confetti!

Riley: Was there a theme to this album? Was there a goal in mind while writing the album?

Yaz: It’s a nie mix of genres that I love, each song is a little bit different, but I guess the common theme is just keeping it real and putting out a lot of positivity out in the world. Elements of growth and self confidence and a bit of female empowerment as well. This album is for anyone really.

Yazmindi has garnered a lot of success, being played on multiple radio stations and hitting her crowdfunding goal to produce the album, which is an incredible achievement. A lot of good things are happening for this particular Aussie artist and the future appears to hold a lot of succe for her!