In this insightful interview with yonklolz, the mastermind behind the mesmerizing track "Don't Test Me," we delve deep into the intricate world of genre fusion and creative exploration. From the origins of his unique sound to the emotional narratives woven into his lyrics, yonklolz shares his journey of self-discovery through music and his aspirations for the future.
INTERVIEW"Don't Test Me" showcases an incredible fusion of genres. Can you walk us through your creative process when crafting a track that seamlessly transitions between acoustic, electronic, funk, hyperpop, and punk elements? How do you approach such intricate sound design?
Around the time I made that track, I had this undying urge to fit as many things as I possibly could into a song. I felt the need to impress others, get however much recognition I could get, and just do whatever I could to garner some sort of reaction.
I really dislike the fact that that was the mindset I had going into producing that track, but I think my negative mindset kind of backfired on me halfway through completion. I had put all this energy into the first half of the song and had no idea how to keep it going, so I took a break for quite some time to focus on myself.
I think sometime in that break I realized that I genuinely didn’t care what other people thought of my songs, and regardless if it was a meaningful revelation, I found myself back in my room finishing the song, and for once it wasn’t for anyone else but me.
I used all the musical inspirations I had from when I was younger and put them together in some sort of collage that I called “don’t test me”. After this song was released, I started following the pattern of “fit everything I can into a song but for a better purpose than impressions” and it sort of became my entire style. I began noticing different genres work much better to convey different emotions, but if I wanted to have a multitude of feelings in my song, I would have to combine them at some point.
I generally think that it’s not a variety of genres in a song that makes it work, but rather the transitory periods between them. I tend to notice sometimes that in some songs, the transitions between genre to genre can sound sort of harsh and unexpected (even with songs that have a stagnant genre, but I look at this more like a transition from break -> chorus rather than genre -> genre), and the easiest way to make that transition work is to slowly build elements to the next part of the song in the current section.
TLDR: Different genres work for different moods and there’s no wrong way to mix two or more genres together, but transitions mean everything when it comes to blending them together.
Your vocal range is impressive, moving from calm and soothing tones to intense, scream-heavy moments. How do you decide which vocal style suits a particular part of a song, and how does it contribute to the overall emotional narrative you aim to convey?
One thing I used to struggle with was how to make vocals suit the introduction of a song, whereas I felt like my tone was sometimes too jarring for such a soft section of the track.
Overtime, I noticed the dynamics of an instrumental and the dynamics of your vocals should match each other for a well-blended track. Obviously the tone of your voice, the lyrics, and the strength of how you say it matter in an emotional sense, but I feel like the actual dynamics behind it aren’t looked at as much.
Screaming doesn’t have to be for a heavy part of the song, nor does a softer tone require softer music, but the emotional aspect of it definitely increases when it matches the instrumental behind it.
Listeners often describe being drawn into your world from the first note. Can you share a bit about the themes or stories that inspire your music? Are there specific experiences or emotions you find yourself consistently exploring in your work?
To me, music serves as therapy. I’ve never been to therapy, so I don’t know how valid of a claim that is, but I think half of the reason I haven’t become that miserable is thanks to music being there for me. Whatever emotions I’m feeling at the moment are the emotions in my song.
Most of the time, I use music to vent, so I tend to explore darker themes than I think people expect. And as I mature, so do the topics in my songs, which means at some point I really hope to make a song with a profound statement.
I always want the instrumental to convey the story or theme of the lyrics with as much intent as possible.
As an artist who navigates diverse genres, how do you find the balance between experimentation and maintaining a cohesive signature sound across your body of work?
To be completely honest, I think the only part of my sound that’s signature is my vocals.
I do tend to follow a similar style in the majority of my songs (using heavy and washed out vocal layers), but outside of that I don’t think any song of mine is similar from the last (which can be a blessing and a curse). In this day and age, I can never tell whether people want consistency or uniqueness, and that’s something I struggle with more with each release.
That’s why at some point, I just threw out any idea of balance. I want to focus on what I want to make, and if that means tipping the scale to make something more unique than consistent, then I’ll do that a thousand times over trying to keep things balanced. Otherwise, I’d find myself limited to what I can do by what I’ve already made.
The quality of your production is noteworthy. What tools, techniques, or sources of inspiration do you rely on to achieve the unique sonic landscapes present in your tracks?
When I tell people that I produce in Ableton, they’re always like, “Yeah, makes sense. Everyone that produces in Ableton has that Ableton sound.”
But that’s just not true at all.
I know some people that produce in GarageBand better than I can in Ableton. I think a lot of good production lies in great sample selection, understanding of dynamics, and even 3rd party VSTs rather than what DAW you use.
But what is ‘good production’? I don’t have an answer for it - it's such a broad and subjective term. That’s why I think that the main part of production is making sure your production stands out. Each producer has a different way of producing songs, and the best way to differentiate yourself is just by being yourself.
I grew up listening to The Prodigy, deadmau5, Skrillex, and The Chemical Brothers, and while none of my songs sound like any of those bands, I used countless inspirations from how they produced their songs to make mine. I was immensely fascinated at how Liam Howlett was able to use so many samples from songs and transform them into violently different soundscapes, and that sort of production technique has definitely been injected into my music.
As of right now, some current artists I’m heavily inspired by are Martha Skye Murphy, Slauson Malone, and Lerado Khalil. I could go on and list every single genre of music that I’ve been inspired by, but I could summarize it by saying that the internet in itself has shaped how my music sounds and if it weren’t for thousands of these online communities that I could interact with and gain inspiration from, I’d probably be making corporate EDM. Or new age.
Actually, making new age would be pretty cool.
In "Don't Test Me" and other tracks, your lyrics carry a blend of intensity and vulnerability. How do you approach lyricism, and is there a particular message or feeling you aim to convey to your audience?
I think one thing I’ve struggled the most with in music isn’t even making music but figuring out what I should say over the song. I’m not the best writer and especially not the best lyricist, so it's hard to find that balance between good writing and a catchy tune.
Sometimes, I feel like the writing of my lyrics are greatly hindered by how I want the flow of my vocals to sound. I think that’s why I try pretty hard to have some sort of discernable emotion in my vocals to make up for the meeehh writing I come up with for some songs. I know that the passion and the emotion behind the actual instrumental is still there, but sometimes when I don’t know what to say, I just let my tone speak for itself.
I don’t think I have a current message behind my lyrics yet, but as I’ve been releasing more experimental works, I’m starting to improve in my writing and I think in 2024, you’ll see some tracks that have more intention and meaning behind them than before.
Your ability to seamlessly switch between musical styles is a standout feature. How do you see your approach to genre-blending evolving in the future, and are there specific genres you're excited to explore further?
I think that genre-blending is probably one of my favorite parts of making music because it isn’t explored as much in more mainstream songs. In the future, I’m probably going to still genre-bend but I want to work with sounds I haven’t worked with before. I did that recently on my latest release, vvv, and I plan to do it again. I’ve been listening to a lot of Squid and Model/Actriz recently (thank you Patrick O’Neil for putting me on), and I really want to do some sort of song in their anxiety rock sort of style.
I think it might be hard to find people that play live instruments as I don’t play a single one, but I feel like it would be super fun to make a crazy experimental rock EP or something.
As a multifaceted artist, do you find that visual elements or storytelling outside of the music itself influence your creative process? Are there any visual artists, films, or other mediums that inspire your work?
Of course!! I’m a huge fan of internet aesthetics and they definitely creep their way into my songs. modern discomposure, my 2nd ep I released, was a sort of exploration into early 2000s motifs and textures, and I definitely plan on making projects like that again in the future. Outside of aesthetics though, I’m a huge film nerd and there’s countless movies that inspire the production of my work.
I used to listen to soundtracks of movies constantly to get a feel for how they were paced in comparison to the movie. As I mentioned earlier, I think making a song is very similar to making movies, and I really want to follow the sort of dream logic of more experimental films in the future.
In terms of visual artists, I’ve definitely been inspired in my unreleased works by artists such as Ryoji Ikeda and Hiraki Sawa.
Looking ahead to 2024, what artistic goals do you have for yourself, and how do you envision your music evolving in the coming year?
One of my main goals this year is to delve into multidisciplinary art. Music does such a good job at conveying a meaning by itself, but I want to expand that meaning with some other form of art. I really want this year to be the year where I make the biggest impact on the scene by having compelling music videos, artistic short films, and writing that spirals out of control.
At some point, I’d love to go live too. I know everyone has that dream, but I really want my livesets to be different in the sense that I want to try to create an entirely new live experience in which everyone shares the emotions I’m sharing.
Or, maybe I’ll just go the Ryoji Ikeda route and use really cool lights and sounds. I think planning and budgeting all this will be very hard, but I trust the process and pray that this year I’ll make more connections than ever and grab the audience I want to make these projects happen. As for my music, I really want to work with more creative artists and collaborate on songs in unconventional ways.
I love the sounds and atmospheres some people in our scene make, and I think I’m just too scared to ask people to work with me. I used to have this thought that I needed to do everything on my own 100% of the time, and it’s really come back to haunt me. 2024 is the year I flip everything upside down.
As your audience grows, what kind of impact or emotional connection do you hope your music leaves on listeners, and is there a specific legacy you aim to build with your creative endeavors?
All I want is people to know that I’m here. I feel like people know that I exist but at the same time I don’t feel like I interact with anyone in the scene.
I know people tend to limit me in their mind because my artist name is silly, but I don’t think shit like that matters anymore and I want to be proof that you can have the dumbest name of all time and still make an impact on the community. I want to have some sort of audience where we can share the same experiences, same livelihoods, and same inspirations and degradations.
I want my music to serve as some sort of collective mind-like waste basket for shared negativity: your emotions are mine and I want to toss them away with you. My reality is crumbling and I want to document it the only way I know how.
I feel like there’s a couple ways to interpret that, but the way I see it is I want to feel what you feel and, if you listen to my music, feel what I feel.
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