South London's yunè pinku is an artist whose tapestries of sound, blending club beats with poignant songwriting, perfectly soundtrack the season of new beginnings. With the echo of her EPs "Babylon IX" and "Bluff" in our ears, we navigate conversations around her journey, experiences with industry luminaries such as Charlie XCX and Joy Orbison, and the curious mix of excitement and uncertainty that marks the year ahead.
Our discussion pirouettes around Yunè Pinku's culturally vibrant background, where Irish folk songs meet the pulsing heart of electronic music, all under the watchful eye of her supportive mother. We talk about her artistic evolution, from initial sound experiments to a lockdown-fueled dedication that saw her shaping silence into rhythm, and the sweet irony of crafting club tracks in the quiet of solitude. Yuné Pinku opens up about her creative process, from frustrating blocks to the euphoric breakthroughs, and the freedom that comes from tossing genre constraints aside and letting inspiration lead the way.
Closing our session, Yune Pinku transports us to the global stages of music festivals, from the sun-baked fields of Australia to the electric buzz of American crowds. She reflects on the whirlwind nature of touring and the cultural awakenings therein, pondering the advice she might give her younger self.
Killing Bee by yunè pinku, available here
Presented and produced by Paul Hanford
Paul Hanford on Instagram
Lost and Sound is proudly sponsored by Audio-Technica
Paul’s debut book, Coming To Berlin: Global Journeys Into An Electronic Music And Club Culture Capital is out now on Velocity Press. Click here to find out more.
Subscribe to the Lost and Sound Substack for fresh updates and writing.
Lost and Sound title music by Thomas Giddins
South London's yunè pinku is an artist whose tapestries of sound, blending club beats with poignant songwriting, perfectly soundtrack the season of new beginnings. With the echo of her EPs "Babylon IX" and "Bluff" in our ears, we navigate conversations around her journey, experiences with industry luminaries such as Charlie XCX and Joy Orbison, and the curious mix of excitement and uncertainty that marks the year ahead.
Our discussion pirouettes around Yunè Pinku's culturally vibrant background, where Irish folk songs meet the pulsing heart of electronic music, all under the watchful eye of her supportive mother. We talk about her artistic evolution, from initial sound experiments to a lockdown-fueled dedication that saw her shaping silence into rhythm, and the sweet irony of crafting club tracks in the quiet of solitude. Yuné Pinku opens up about her creative process, from frustrating blocks to the euphoric breakthroughs, and the freedom that comes from tossing genre constraints aside and letting inspiration lead the way.
Closing our session, Yune Pinku transports us to the global stages of music festivals, from the sun-baked fields of Australia to the electric buzz of American crowds. She reflects on the whirlwind nature of touring and the cultural awakenings therein, pondering the advice she might give her younger self.
Killing Bee by yunè pinku, available here
Presented and produced by Paul Hanford
Paul Hanford on Instagram
Lost and Sound is proudly sponsored by Audio-Technica
Paul’s debut book, Coming To Berlin: Global Journeys Into An Electronic Music And Club Culture Capital is out now on Velocity Press. Click here to find out more.
Subscribe to the Lost and Sound Substack for fresh updates and writing.
Lost and Sound title music by Thomas Giddins
Lost in sound is sponsored by Audio Technica. Audio Technica are a global but still family run company that make headphones, turntables, cartridges, microphones. They make studio quality yet affordable products because they believe that high quality audio should be accessible to all. So head on over to AudioTechnicacom to check out all of their range of stuff. Hello and welcome to episode 118 of Lost in Sound.
Speaker 1:I'm Paul Hanford, I'm your host, I'm an author, a broadcaster and a lecturer, and this is the show where, each episode, I have conversations with the musical innovators, the outsiders, the mavericks, the artists that do their own unique thing, and we talk about music, creativity, life, the things that inspire us to make, the things that we make. These guests I've spoken to on the show have included Peaches, suzanne Cianni, jim O'Rourke, chilly Gonzalez, cosy Fanny Tutti, Jean-Michel Jarre, mickey Blanco and First and More. And today you're going to hear a conversation I had with rising producer, songwriter and singer Yune Pinku. Okay, so I'm speaking to you from a super cold, snowy Kreuzberg in West Berlin. It's an area of Berlin, the city I live in, that I've always had a very, very strong draw to. It's something I wrote about in my book Coming to Berlin, which, incidentally, is available by all good bookshops or via the publisher, velocity Press's website. But right now it is super cold. My fingers are going a bit numb and tingly because I'm stood in the middle of the road well, on a pavement, by the side of a road, talking to you about this, and we're very, very firmly in the middle of January. Right now it's I think it was blue Monday earlier this week that time of the year where the last dwindling little bit of, I guess, goodwill or vibe from the seasonal break that we all had has gone. The last serotonin of Christmas is out of the window and the new year is out of the window like a candle that has just gone. This is a time where nothing is growing and it's often a time where I find this kind of time of year quite hard. But at the same time as that, I think it's a time for wintering and a time for kind of looking ahead, for preparing, for knowing that there's nothing kind of growing on trees right now. There's nothing, things are a way away, and so it's a time for preparing for things, and for me this includes listening to new music and making lists, things like that, and discovering new artists.
Speaker 1:South London's Yune Pinku, real name Asher, is producer, singer, songwriter, already been championed by Charlie XCX and Joy Orbison. Joy Orbison invited her to do a guest mix on his BBC Radio One residency. I think the two EPs that she's done so far I think are great. They're called Babylon IX or Babylon 9 or maybe just Babylon and Bluff and so far what I hear in her music is the way she mixes sounds, classic club sounds going back to the 90s. Then they include things like sort of scattering UK garage beats, kind of wonky, warm synths, acid house elements. They're all there but they never overtake the idea that they're right at the heart of her music, that it's about songs and songwriting. They're in service of songs. I think of artists like the XX and Karabu when I hear her music in the way that the production really pops, things sound really vital. The beats do exactly what beats should do in this context. They move you, they make you feel something. Yet they never get lost into the idea that right at the heart of the music is about songwriting and there are songs and they take you somewhere themselves. The sounds, the production, is totally in service to the songs. So I really, really, really really like what she's doing.
Speaker 1:So I invited her on the show and we had this chat. I must confess, I don't think this is totally my fault. I don't feel like I gave the best interview out in the world. During when we were talking I had a bit of a bad sleep the night before, and it just happens sometimes, but it was really nice speaking with Yuna and this is what happened. Asha, thanks so much for chatting with me today. How are you feeling at the moment? How's your vibe going into this new year? Do you feel excited or something else?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it should be. It's exciting. I've got another project coming out this year, so I'm looking forward to rolling that out. But yeah, my managers have warned me that it's going to be a very busy year, so I'm a bit scared of it, but it should be good.
Speaker 1:And so is that going to be a Pinku project, or is this something else entirely?
Speaker 2:Yeah, same project.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and how did the name come about? For?
Speaker 2:it. I think Yuna was a phrase I was throwing around the family as an unused name, and then Pinku. I think it was just more messing around with syllables than anything I'd like to say. There's a cooler story behind it, but I think it was just messing around with what sounds cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't think words always have to have a kind of intellectual meaning that can be analyzed. I think quite often words can just feel right. So is this like a kind of a name that just felt right for you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think. So I always liked how it kind of looked written down as well, so I think it was just satisfying.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I've been listening a lot this week, kind of going through your music and back in it and Babylon 9 or Babylon IX. It feels like such a kind of complete journey, if you like. Is there a concept behind it?
Speaker 2:I think around the time I kind of got the ball rolling with it. I was quite interested in AI theories and studies and stuff and kind of that more cyber sense of the world and whatever. So I think a lot of the music is kind of informed by the sort of cyber-ish realm or something. And when I was making some of the music I'd put on backgrounds of cyber spaces and whatever. But yeah, I think those were the main the kind of head space where they were born into.
Speaker 1:And is the cyber world something that you fully embrace? Or because it's quite a complex issue and I think we all have very different feelings about different elements of it, and I want to know what your sort of view of cyber is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think I don't think it's something to be afraid of because it's already. I think a lot of people talk as if it's something that's coming, but it's already really here. I wouldn't be necessarily a huge advocate for it. I don't think it's necessarily improved that much, but yeah, I think it's interesting and I think it's important with politics to know where you stand on AI and how far we should take technology.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've got a friend in Berlin who's very involved with AI in an artistic way and she was talking about how she feels that there is this need to have a more of a growing up conversation about how you impose certain limits in some ways, but also how people can use it for good or for creative purposes as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think the relationship between AI and creative industries will be really interesting, and I think when I was writing Babylon, I was thinking about that a lot of how you can actually use it to, at times, make the process more randomized or more formulated, but then also the intrinsic parts that they can't really replicate, that it's just the human soul kind of coming into play, and so, yeah, it's interesting, definitely, and I think people always have a fear of new technology, like people used to say similar thing about samplers as well, and were there any kind of AI processes that you used to make the EP?
Speaker 2:I kind of tried looking around for like AI, specific softwares for like music and whatever. But I couldn't really figure them out because despite being interested in tech, I'm not very good with it. But I kind of played around with talking to like chat, GBT and whatever and like trying to get lyrics to be written by this thing and what the quality of them would be and whatever. And then I kind of would ask like what technically makes a good song or whatever. So I think the actual roll out of the music doesn't actually have really anything different to like regular music, I guess. But I think the way I was coming at it was probably more informed than anything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you kind of using it as like kind of a research basis to like investigate, perhaps lyrically and sort of thematically?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:I was really interested what you said then about what AI records makes a good song. Is there anything that pops out to you from your findings on that?
Speaker 2:It brought up, arpeggiator is quite a lot, which I thought was kind of interesting. But then so I can't with a lot of the songs on there. I kind of would start them from the ARP and then build on that, and I actually think it was a kind of handy little trick actually, because ARPs just have so much energy in them on their own a lot of the time and they're kind of like a spine for songs. So I thought that was kind of like a random little tip bit that kind of came up in those conversations or whatever. But yeah, sorry, what are you going to say?
Speaker 1:No, sorry, I was about to just yeah, please carry on, sorry.
Speaker 2:Oh, no, that was it.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, I think that there is so much. I know it's the British thing. Perhaps isn't it?
Speaker 2:It's all kind of over the politeness.
Speaker 1:It's definitely different in Berlin. I find my English kind of sense of saying sorry for things that I'm not sorry about, or just like saying sorry at the beginning of a sentence all of the time kind of comes out way too often.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I really bug some actually saying sorry all the time, because I do it all the time as well, and then the more I've travelled around and stuff, the more people are like why are you saying sorry, nick? What are you apologising for? Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1:And then it's like, oh, I'm not actually apologising. And then I feel like I have to say sorry for the fact that I said sorry again A branding loop. It is, it is yeah, and like with all of your work, but like, say, particularly with Babylon there's so many nods to music of the past electronic music of the past, though, that there's UK garage, 90s rave, acid house yet you've managed to make it sound really contemporary. Do you enjoy digging into the past, or is that just something that just kind of comes out anyway?
Speaker 2:I think most of the things I kind of listened to are always probably like 70s to 90s period because I really loved the kind of like noise, punky stuff from that era. Because I just feel like nowadays music feels like very rushed and it has to be perfected and I think something that I don't really know when or why it changed, but I think before it was a bit more like people would be willing to listen to a full track or a full album so you can mess around a bit more. But yeah, I think probably it just comes from the kind of music I listened to and my taste is shaped by that and so probably just accidentally goes into the music that I make as well.
Speaker 1:I definitely feel like now there's a lot more of an emphasis, sort of maybe more in commercial music, for being like pitch perfect and all of this, and older music sort of has more of a kind of wobbliness to it, which I think is like a human quality, isn't it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, and even the human era adds charm to music, I think, because I love the smashing pumpkins and Radiohead and all these kind of things and I think the voices or the form or whatever isn't technically perfect but it's so soulful and I think that's something that with the older tune generation, the perfect vocal, is a bit too standard now.
Speaker 1:I think I remember hearing that guitar crunch on Creep by Radiohead was a mistake. That's a real classic example of human error just being kind of quite beautiful really.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly. I'll do the little crap.
Speaker 1:Definitely definitely. I heard also as well that before you started making music as Pingu, you weren't really into electronic music or club music. Is that true?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was still not really into electronic music. Ironically, why.
Speaker 2:Or club culture. Right, it's really not my vibe, but it was funny. It was all very accidental really, because they were just sort of just through songs together a bit and then they would kind of and it wouldn't really occur to me that they were like electronic sounds or whatever. But I think because I could never really figure out how you like record guitars and stuff properly, I was like this way so, so like efficient or whatever, just using keyboards all the time. But yeah, it's really funny because my mom, when I was growing up, like loved electronic music and still doesn't, and so it was always around me and I just thought all electronic music was like trance and I was like this is not my stuff. Now I'm working in it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so when you grew up, was this South London yeah yeah. So your mom was into electronic music. Was she a musical person? Did she play music herself?
Speaker 2:She was. She was kind of she's like a cultural warrior of Irish culture in London and stuff. So I think we were always kind of around like Irish traditional music and folk music and stuff and then and then she'd like encourage us to pick up traditional Irish instruments and things, so things. She was like more of a facilitator and like appreciator of music. But there is like always a huge mix going on where they'd be like Madonna and Black Eyed Peas and then the Glee soundtrack and then Paul van Dyke and Enne. So it was a big mix of things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's really awesome. And about this time were you getting influenced in terms of when you started stepping into making music as well, like you know, playing with instruments or playing with computers. What was the sort of surroundings like at the time? Were you still in school or were you? How did it come into your life, this kind of idea that you know, maybe you can make music?
Speaker 2:It was quite random. Really. I'd never expected to go anywhere with music because it was just random things. That kind of just mess around was in like my bedroom or something. But I was. I think I kind of started making stuff when I was like 16 or 17, I think, and it was just kind of like soundscapes and noise basically. But I was like this is fun. And then it was kind of during lockdown actually, when my now managers got in, like they had come across me on SoundCloud or something and it was kind of a lockdown baby of a project. But yeah, I was just finishing school, I think around that time. So it kind of felt like a nice little passage from one to the other.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and did making music during lockdown kind of help with this kind of? It was such a weird. It feels kind of like almost nostalgic now. Did it help at the time to kind of like because I also sort of feel with your music. There's such a sort of atmosphere of world building in it and you know kind of almost like a fantasy world that you can kind of go into Did you use music as a way to kind of escape from the lockdown?
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely. I think it was kind of a nice cerebral escape and then also even just like being able to work on something for you know how many hours of a day or something was a nice way to kind of do time to pass, but not necessarily feel it so much.
Speaker 2:And I think I loved that aspect so much, where I think I kind of there was about a month for every single day. I was just making a song a day or something, and also because I think there was no kind of external like aspects to life at that time. It was almost like this clearness or something that you could just kind of like create and produce without any distractions or anything. So I think it was an interesting time in kind of like no other distractions, so you can't even procrastinate or anything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I kind of think of it now. I mean, obviously it was a really serious thing and I'm not kind of I don't want to sort of imply that it was good or easy for people, but it did remind me a little bit of that week between Christmas and New Year where just nothing happens and within that as well, it's quite interesting as well. But you know, you say you weren't, you're not into club music and or going clubbing, and during this time of incredible stillness as well, you made this very sort of kind of clubby music. But did that, did that feel kind of like? Did you notice that time that it was kind of clubby or was that just like something that other people think about it?
Speaker 2:I mean I must have noticed because, yeah, I mean it's literally right there. But I don't know.
Speaker 2:I think there was probably an aspect of me as well that wanted to just like impress these managers who would like been like hey, we're interested or something. So I kind of was probably informing the music making by a place of kind of wanting it to be in a bit more of like a pop world or something. But I think now that's like definitely something. I think that's changed in how I approach writing now, as I think kind of a more willingness to be more experimental and like not follow any particular genre or something which is very freeing and nice.
Speaker 1:And I guess that's something that like, with each release there was a potential to kind of grow more into and stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely. It's kind of like the evolution from like monkey music maker to something else.
Speaker 1:And with that in terms of like your creative process as well. I mean, how do ideas usually start for you? Do you have an idea beforehand, or is it kind of like a question of turning things on and seeing where stuff goes?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think there is. It's a very like sort of crumpled up, throwaway drag and process for me anyway, because I use sampling a lot and turning samples, so it's kind of samples and things like that are kind of the best way for me to like get the ball rolling. Yeah, I think it's like. I think a lot of people make it seem like kind of you can write every day and it's like easy peasy, but I find it quite like tough to kind of get the ball rolling most of the time. So I'd say probably like 70% of the time you kind of come out with nothing. And then there's like a really nice little euphoric period where one starts going really well and you're like yes, and I think that's a really important conversation to have with just artists generally as well.
Speaker 1:I mean particularly like artists that are maybe a bit more starting out, a lot more starting out than you are as well. But I definitely remember, when I made music, that that feeling of not achieving anything that I really wanted and then having these little nuggets where everything comes together. You know, I sometimes worry that maybe sometimes people get put off when they don't get, they don't hit gold immediately. You know, and you have is something that you do have to keep, maybe have. Do you have like a kind of a discipline to sort of dealing with that, like those days where nothing great is coming out?
Speaker 2:I mean, I definitely haven't cracked the process yet because I'm still very and get very aggravated by that. But I think the thing I found kind of helpful is moving around a bit and then so like if I'm visiting my family in Ireland or something, I'll always find that kind of puts me in a different space. So the things that I want to make are maybe informed differently, and and then, yeah, I think also kind of any days where there's like a very strong feeling in you or something, I find those are the ones where you kind of have the best success. But I think because it's because you have something you want to get out or something, so there's plenty of stuff to put into it, or something like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when you say strong feeling, do you mean like a strong feeling of an idea, of something creative, or more like just a strong emotion or something that you're going through externally?
Speaker 2:I think kind of, yeah, like emotional side and stuff. But it depends, because I definitely know some people who make music who kind of the feeling aspect isn't really something they put into the music. It's a bit more like they can just create things and it's just rolling all the time a bit. But yeah, I find for me just kind of like the days where you're like really angry or like woe is me or something, it's like you can always kind of put it somewhere and it almost feels like you can get it out of yourself as well. So I think it's the nice part of working that way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so therefore you're kind of turning the creative process into something that actually potentially can help.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think that's quite similar to how some actors approach acting as well, isn't it? That is like feeding like real emotions into their work and dealing with what they're actually experiencing in that day and somehow putting it into what they have to do, like on a stage or in front of a camera.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1:And do you kind of relate to other art forms as well? Do you know, do you see yourself as just a musician or do you sort of contextualize it within like a wider spectrum of creativity? I know that's an incredibly pretentious sounding question.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm pretentious first, since I oh, that's good.
Speaker 1:That's good, that's all right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think I mean I've worked since I was like Dave on. I think I've always been very interested in kind of anything creative, or anyone who was who worked in something creative, because I think in my mind I was like, how do people even end up in these jobs Like, because they're like silly jobs or something. But yeah, I think writing and kind of poetry and all that stuff is something I really love because I think just kind of again, it's like the same thing of like getting something out of yourself and putting it onto something else. But yeah, kind of love basically all creative things, like whether it's film or like music videos or art itself or whatever. I think they all just like hold hands with each other really.
Speaker 1:Definitely. I feel like there's like different skill sets that we have to kind of individually learn for each one, but there's something that definitely connects I get really inspired by films, even though music is my sort of real passion, you know, and words as well. And for words, how important are the lyrics and the words to the music?
Speaker 2:I think In the past I think I was less interested in vocals generally because I never really considered myself a singer or anything. So I think I kind of was in this place of vocals and lyrics, kind of being placeholders or something, someone else to come and do a better job or something. But I think nowadays I think pushing yourself lyrically is another way that you can also make the whole process more interesting. On a day-to-day basis and trying to hone in properly to what it is you're trying to say in those, because I think before I'd be very word vomit and then I was like it works, I'll leave it. But I think now, yeah, I'm trying to figure it out, because a lot of the time if I write something I won't necessarily know what it's about until a year on or something.
Speaker 1:I think.
Speaker 2:Now I'm trying to be more intentional with it and actually understand what it's even about, even if it's subconscious to me or something.
Speaker 1:So it's again. It's a process of finding out things about yourself, perhaps.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and with the Babylon EP was there something that you feel like thematically that you know you sort of mentioned about AI, but like I also kind of get this feeling of mysticism and I might be off the mark with that, no, I think that's accurate.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think there.
Speaker 1:Sorry were you going to say that? No, please, sorry, I finished. I just make sounds sometimes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think there was kind of these like threads of a few different things going through, like some mythology and and then also, I think, a bit of like religion and religious hangovers almost or something, because the song Dush Cut is definitely about kind of the hangovers of Catholicism in, I think, particularly Irish people, but kind of generally as well, because yeah, I think the way it's written is kind of it's almost like a dress to God or something, but then again still has the kind of like technology inspired thing and yeah. So I definitely think there is different threads of kind of other themes going through as well.
Speaker 1:And you mentioned about Catholicism though, and you know you have part Irish heritage and is heritage kind of quite important to you as well in terms of like exploring in your art.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely. I think also like Irish traditions and stuff like I've been like quite well preserved. And then obviously music and mysticism and all these stories and storytelling itself are things that are still practiced a lot there. And I think I'm always been very curious about like Irish mythology, because there's just so much of it and they all kind of follow similar themes of like half the time there's like an evil queen who like killed all the soldiers just for fun and like all these crazy stories and whatever. So I think they're they're kind of fun to even play with in, like metaphorically or something as well.
Speaker 1:And I love the way that different regions all have a sort of similar like mystical heritage. I was speaking with someone yesterday that was talking to me about Swedish folk and they were talking about a singing style that's like. I can't remember what they said. It's called, but it's kind of word, is it? It sort of sounds, but there's like no real actual meaning words, it's just all done through the expression and it kind of reminded me of like how that goes into things like cocktail twins or cigarettes as well With these things that were influential for you as well, because like there is a sort of indie element to your sound as well, or like will it kind of dream pop, I guess?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I think kind of what you can also express non verbally is something I think it takes like a real skill to be able to do that. And then, like the cocktail twins, I love their music and it's also just the way she turns phrases is really bizarre when because, like you'll think, there's a completely different set of lyrics to what they are, because she chops words up and rearranges them in like a really interesting way. Yeah, I think that kind of more traditional style of singing where it is like calling the sheet to you or something like that. It's like frequency wise, I think it. They all have a different impact on how you feel listening to them as well, which I think is always interesting to explore.
Speaker 1:Definitely, and I feel, but sometimes we place maybe too much emphasis. I think lyrics are really important, but on actually getting an intellectual or like word based meaning, like I think there's so much, I think there's so much music that I listen to, that is sung in languages that I don't speak, yet I still feel something you know is there's something that just inherent in the sounds of voices isn't there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely, I think. Yeah, like even non-verbal kind of communications, probably like the basics of all languages as well, because it's like you can hear a bunch of people speaking in a different language and still kind of get the energy of what they're saying and I think it's interesting, kind of like forces your brain to work a bit harder.
Speaker 1:Definitely. That's definitely something I can relate to, living in Germany, where my actual German is really bad and a lot of the time I'm just going trying to go on vibe really in about the 20 words I know. But also as well, like with the music and the career as well, like after lockdown or round about the time of that. Just afterwards, joy Orbison kind of came along and invited you to contribute a guest mix on Radio One. How did that feel at the time? Because that's such a sort of platform as well, isn't it? Was it something that you kind of approached with trepidation or just excitement?
Speaker 2:I think I was kind of like because I wasn't really familiar with the electronic world or who the legends were and who were new on the scene or whatever.
Speaker 2:I was kind of like a bit oblivious to what that maybe meant. But yeah, I mean we worked together a lot over the years and I think it's always been really interesting to speak with him just about electronic music, Kind of very knowledgeable about the history of it and stuff. So I've kind of like gradually kind of got why people were so big into electronic music and stuff. And yeah, I think I was kind of lucky. But then it came across maybe a bit weird at times because I've like managed to work with these like really great artists and stuff, but then I just wouldn't kind of be aware of the significance of any of it.
Speaker 1:I mean, I think sometimes that can really help in not getting nervous if we don't know. Don't move in blind. Definitely, if it's just some person you know I mean, I don't mean to say just you know what I mean, but just you don't know the full History and stuff it can just make it a lot easier to sort of just see people as people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely I think it's. Yeah, it takes the nerves away and then I think you can kind of work with people more and just like a human to human level maybe.
Speaker 1:And since then, with with all of these club people like loving your music and kind of working with you and bigging you up, has it turned you on more to club culture or is that still? Is the idea of clubbing still a bit of a no go?
Speaker 2:Well, I think now I understand at least why people are into it, but it's still not for me, I think. Like it's being short, though, and then also I can't really like project my voice, so then it's kind of just a bit of a mine feels when I am in kind of club scenarios that's yeah, I get my people like it now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think again, it's perhaps one of those things where I found as well, when I can't hear people, it goes back to that thing of not understanding what people say but trying to go on their vibe. But I guess you know, like club vibes are quite different, aren't they? They usually involve just being really high, and so it is a different, different thing. And how have you found the transition to playing the songs live in front of an audience?
Speaker 2:I think it's been kind of an interesting little curve for me, because I wouldn't say I'm someone who would naturally be on stage, and also because it's a solo act. I think in one way it makes it easier and then a bit harder at times, because I feel like you can kind of almost pretend there's like a pseudo privacy or something on stage when you are alone. But then, yeah, but then sometimes there's kind of impending feeling of like I'm just a little girl on stage. But yeah, I think it's been interesting and I kind of connect. Singing and unconnecting with the music while playing live has been quite a bizarre little thing, just because you're playing these songs so frequently that you almost forget what they're even about or whatever. But I think it's interesting when you take some time away from it and then do it again, and I think the crowds have been really amazing. I've been really lucky to kind of play some of the festivals I have, because there's been some very bizarre ones in the strangest corners of the world.
Speaker 1:I mean, do you have any highlights of any of those?
Speaker 2:I think going to Australia and America was like a mad moment for me, just because they just feel so foreign and it was just kind of mad to be there through music and yeah. So I kind of think those were like eye-opening kind of ones and just like being submersive to other cultures and stuff. But I think they're all like they kind of blur into each other because it's like the flights and the weird hours and all that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're not there to sort of have a holiday. Really, I guess you know there's a lot of like hotels and traveling and flights, like you say, and then sound checks and then play, yeah the planes.
Speaker 2:I'd be happy if I never saw a plane again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, and just finally as well, what would you going into 2024,? You know, I think what you got going on is really amazing. But what would you go if you could go back and tell your younger self just before you got into this musical journey? Something like that might help. What would you tell your younger self?
Speaker 2:I don't know, probably throw your phone away for a while, because you're going to be spending a lot of time on it this time. Yeah, probably, I don't know. I just yeah, no advice really. I feel like I kind of did everything the same now as I did then. So, that's a bit pointless.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like, maybe if we start changing the past, we just like everything unravels in a way. You know we have to go through all of the things we go through.
Speaker 2:It's like my movie out of this.
Speaker 1:Okay, asha. Thank you so much for chatting with me today.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:Okay, so that was Yune Pinku talking with me, paul Hampford, and we had that conversation on the 11th of January 2024. Thank you so much, yune, for speaking with me there. Okay, so how are your headphones? Are they okay? I'm not really an earbuds person myself Maybe one day I will be but I like big, chunky headphones and that's what I'm wearing right now.
Speaker 1:As I'm speaking to you in the freezing cold of Kreuzberg in Berlin, I'm wearing a pair of Audio Technica ATH M50 headphones. I love them. They're great, fit and they're snug, and they're great in the studio or for doing things like what I'm doing walking around speaking to you. They're all part of the thing about Audio Technica. Audio Technica are global but still family run company that make headphones, turntables, cartridges, microphones, studio quality, affordable products. So wherever you are in the world, head on over to AudioTechnicacom to check out all of their range of stuff. Okay, so the music you hear at the beginning, the end of every episode of Lost in Sound is done by Thomas Giddens Hyperlink in the podcast description. And my book Coming to Berlin is available for more good bookshops. It is so cold, I've got to leave. I've got to go now and get in the warmth, but take care of yourself and chat to you soon. Audio Technica.