photo credit Mike Finnegan
We ducked into the airconditioned green-room tent backstage, and let out a shared sigh, momentarily basking in the contained cool that undoubtedly transported us both to the more familiar chilly climates of our respective homes, far from the balmy coasts of Bali. For Dario Darnell – stage name, Youngr – it was Manchester, England; for me – Galway, Ireland. After a beat, we exchanged an unspoken glance of shared-relief, and took a seat.
The electronic bootleg master of Manchester was due to take the main stage at Suara Festival in an hour’s time as one of the most anticipated acts of the weekend. Despite being best known for his vast, eclectic catalogue of genre-spanning electronic covers of unlikely 90s and early 00’s hits of yore – Dario is far from just another DJ bobbing behind an amplified MacBook on stage.
His performances border on frenetic; a jaw-dropping display of multi-instrumental prowess, with impeccable jazz-instinct and seamless timing. Darting across the stage mid-track to incorporate one or more of the dozens of instruments sprawled across the one-man act’s busy set-up, Youngr seems hell-bent on either shattering the hackneyed stigma of the ‘indifferent contemporary concert DJ’, or, like his widely-beloved bootlegs – reinventing the role altogether.
As Dario was on deck to take the main stage for a heart-pumping lead-up performance to Suara Festival’s main headliner, Angus & Julia Stone, I spotted his crew gathering what looked like an orchestra-ensemble’s worth of instruments. By my count there were multiple keyboards, two drum kits, an electric guitar, a djembe, bongos, a synthesizer, several mixing boards, loop pedals, and a tambourine… because, well, Manchester is famously fond of the tambourine.
After some pleasantries were exchanged about Bali’s blinding beauty and maddening traffic, Youngr and I got down to brass tax.
Mike Finnegan
In your hit ‘Boy from Manchester’, you address all the stereotypes and expectations you faced growing up in Manchester: “I don’t like football and I don’t play cricket/ I don’t like hip-hop and I don’t play reggae / Don’t like Oasis, don’t play Tom Petty…’.
Before this interview can go any further, we need full transparency. I, Dario, am a die-hard Oasis fan, and avid supporter of the brothers Gallagher. Therefore, I’m obligated to ask – do you really not like Oasis? If so, what’s the story [morning glory]?
Youngr
(Laughs) Alright, hang on, hang on. So, when I was a kid, because I lived in Manchester, everyone expected me to like Oasis. And I think I was a bit of a contrarian, you know, I liked to go against the grain. So a little bit of me was like, ‘Nooo, I fucking hate Oasis…‘ And also, my dad’s American, so a lot of my musical influences were American rock, like Incubus, Slipknot, Deftones, Limp Bizkit – that kind of world. So I was always like, ‘No, English Brit-Pop is fucking shit…‘ But now that I’m older, I appreciate songwriting – and I admit: Oasis is actually amazing! (Laughs) They’ve really got some amazing songs. And, you know – the attitude of the brothers… They’re brilliant. It took me a long time – about 25 years to finally come around and realize the genius of Oasis.
Mike Finnegan
You heard it here first, folks: Youngr actually loves Oasis!
Youngr
(laughs) I was late!
Mike
I really do love your track ‘Boy from Manchester’, though. It’s brilliant. And I appreciate that its essence is examining evolving perspectives that come with personal growth, and coming to appreciate some of the elements of your youth that you once rejected. It’s a subtly-powerful track that resonates with a lot of people, particularly those of culturally-mixed backgrounds. Personally, as someone who grew up in New York, and then spent much of my life in Galway, Ireland – I have a bit of a mixed accent myself, so I really appreciate how you acknowledge the ‘accent flack’ aspect of that unique experience. It can be unrelenting.
“There was a boy from Manchester / Who never quite fit in
With his curly hair and light skin / He kinda sounds American
His dad was never home / He was a rolling stone
And his friends called him crazy”
Youngr
It’s true. I think the term for it is ‘Third Culture Individuals’ – where you can’t really pinpoint a place that’s ‘home’; where it’s really all those places you’ve lived – all those places you’ve gathered are ‘home’.
Mike Finnegan
You can clearly see a wide range of cultural influences throughout your music, both lyrically in your own songwriting, but also in the massively diverse catalogue of tracks you’ve covered, bootlegged, and remixed. From Papa Roach to the Backstreet Boys – and everything from 90’s to early 00’s in-between. You cover early Coldplay, Nirvana, U2, The Temper Trap, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Linkin Park, and so on. It’s such an eclectic mix that you draw from. What makes a particular track jump out at you to inspire a remix? What makes you lean-in and and go, ‘Yeah, I think I’ll have a bit of that!’?
Youngr
Honestly, I think it’s just the songs I grew up on and I love. Every song I’ve done, at some point in my life, I’ve loved it. I remember being a kid, like 10, or 11, hearing Backstreet Boys. That bass line (hums beat to ‘Everybody’, sings ‘Oh my God, we’re back again…’) It was like being a kid again, and going to the Friday night disco and sliding around on my knees, and then it moved on to Papa Roach from when I was first learning how to play the drums, and Limp Bizkit when I was like learning how to be in a rock band. So at some stage these songs have touched me and moved me and changed my musical outlook so when I come down to sit and remix songs, I just pick my brain and go, ‘Okay, which of these songs impacted me, and how can I do my own thing with them?’ It really just comes down to what I love.
Mike Finnegan
I think the 90s are finally getting the recognition deserved as being a truly powerful era for music. When we were kids, we were all looking back, thinking ‘Oh, man – the 70s, that was it. That was the pinnacle for music.’ Now we’re all looking back at the 90’s and realizing just how amazing that was as a musical era…
Youngr
Yes! We’re getting old, bro! (laughs)
Mike Finnegan
Never! Let’s talk about another track of yours for a minute,
Youngr
(laughs)
Mike Finnegan
So ‘Out of My System’ – that’s quite an empowering piece that really explores embracing life again after the death of a relationship.
Youngr
Well guessed!
Mike Finnegan
Is there a story behind that track?
Youngr
Oh, there’s a massive story man, yeah. I had just broken up with a long-term girlfriend. I was in a band that was touring the world at the moment, but it wasn’t my own music, it was like a covers band. We were doing gigs everywhere, and I was just in that time of my life where I was like, ‘Fuck it, I’m just gonna go wild. I’m gonna say yes to everything, I’m gonna do everything and just live life to its max.’
Because I think that’s an urgency when you break up with someone. The urgency is to just say, ‘Ah fuck it, let’s just go!’ And I kind of wanted to pass on something that might inspire others do consider: instead of kind of sulking, just be like, ‘Nah man, let’s go!’ You know, that’s the kind of energy I wanted to share.
Mike Finnegan
It’s refreshing in a sense because typically you would get that from more of a Taylor Swift type kind of perspective, right? So in a way it’s nice to get a male perspective on that feeling, and situation.
Youngr
Absolutely.
Mike Finnegan
So I know that you haven’t had much of a chance to explore Bali this time around, but what are your impressions of Suara Festival? What are your thoughts on the setup and the vibe? Have there been any acts that grabbed your attention?
Youngr
It’s incredible, really creative, I love the stages of the arts and crafts, the labyrinth stage and there are a bunch of workshops, yoga and breathing sessions. And there’s lots of spaces for kids as well, so it feels like a very family orientated festival, which I really like.
I really like having the oldest people and the youngest people at the festival all feeling welcome and excited about the music and everything. They’re the kind of festivals that I love playing. So I feel right at home, man.
Mike Finnegan
So I know you’re about to hit the stage, but knowing that you’re both an artist and a lover of technology, I’d love to get your views on AI coming into the picture. What are your thoughts, visions, hopes, fears?
Youngr
Oh, my God. You know what? Truthfully, it wavers. It goes one day, I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, we’re all fucked. I’m not going to have a job.’ And the next day, I’m like, ‘Wait, no, no. It’s going to be amazing because AI will be able to help musicians do things that were harder in the past. If someone finds it hard to write lyrics, then it can help with that. Or if someone finds it hard to write drum beats or something, we can a bit more easily.’
And then I’m thinking, when I sit down at my workstation and I go, ‘Ok, I want to write a song that sounds like this…’ – I can hear it in my head. I just think it’s going to be quicker from my head to a finished product using AI than it is [the traditional way]. But what we’ll miss are the clumsy moments of mistakes that you go along the road as a human that actually end up being the thing that makes the track special, because you didn’t know you were going there.
Whereas AI will stop that bit out and you’ll get to a finished result before you could experiment with where it could have gone.
You’ll be able to produce more music. Maybe you’ll make 10 tracks a day and one of them is good. You know what I mean?
So, every technology, I’m finding, is a double-edged sword. There’s a million amazing things, but at the same time there’s a million bad things. And I just think that it’s going to happen anyway. There is no stopping it. So, I think we should find a way of embracing it, and using it in a good way.
Mike Finnegan
Do you have any strategies in place yet on how to tackle these imminent changes to the industry?
Youngr
No, no. See, the old-school musician in me is scared, because I’m like,’Fuck, it’s like my whole livelihood’ But the other part of me who’s kind of just hustling to keep his head up above water is going, ‘Keep with it. Keep with it and embrace it,’
Mike Finnegan
Do you have any upcoming projects? Anything in the works that your fans can expect?
Youngr
Yeah, I’ve got loads of new music. I was working on new music, literally in the taxi here, and I’ll be back at it in the taxi back to Bali Airport. We should be dropping a new song in September and I’ve got a new song ‘Changes‘ out now with a singer called Greta Svabo, which is great. She’s a long-term friend and I’ve not made music with her for years, but that’s a really special track. And there’s going to be a lot of new music from September on.
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Roll on Oct in Glasgow ♥️😊 cannot wait !