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BRITISH COLUMBIA - LOCAL ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
yurie
WORDS BY: RYAN HAYES
PHOTOS BY: PATRICK LEUNG
What was it like initially breaking into the nightlife scene
in Vancouver and, in your opinion, how has the dance music
explosion changed the local scene aside from simply creating
a demand for more events?
I ?rst got my foot in the door in the nightclub scene 3 years ago. It wasn’t that long
ago but even then I remember having to limit myself music-wise with dropping a
lot of top-40 remixes. The crowds weren’t 100% receptive to an entire progressive
house set at the places I was spinning at and there was more of a demand for top40/house DJs. Over the past few years, I’ve slowly grown to play at places that
are mainly house music nights. Even though they have always been around in
Vancouver, you can see how the city is getting more accustomed to house and EDM
and these nights just keep getting busier and busier.
At an early age you started studying classical piano. How did
you progress away from the classics towards DJ’ing and the
EDM scene?
Studying classical piano and theory has de?nitely helped me as a DJ and developing
an ear to music. Classical is really the foundation to all music. It wasn’t that dif?cult
to transition into loving EDM. I enjoy listening and DJ’ing a lot of different genres
to keep the crowd guessing what I’m going to play next. The ?rst time I began
listening to electronic music was when I was 13. I can clearly remember watching
Much Music late at night and The Chemical Brothers “Get Yourself High” music video
came on... I’ve been in love with electronic music ever since.
As a performer there is always a balance between sticking to
your artistic integrity and playing to a crowd. How has your
Japanese and European roots helped sculpt your persona as a
live DJ and does your sense of artistic identity ever end up in
con?ict with what a crowd wants to hear?
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