Sound Up! Yanni Burton

When the cities shut down around the world, every single industry was impacted; especially the music industry. Live music venues closed, artists were forced to stay home and quarantine, and there is still no end in sight. This has not deterred many musicians in making and releasing new music, and in a time when we are all straining to find ways to remain entertained, the world is craving for some fresh finds.

Singer/songwriter Yanni Burton got things in just under the wire and has released a brand-new track and music video, “A Part of Me,” that is as visually intriguing as it is sonically catchy. By means of exploring his own struggle with letting go and moving on from the past, Burton’s art is trippy and dreamy and truly reflects the alternate reality we are all currently living.

Currently residing in New York, the Australian-born pop artist is eager to share the new song as it is the most vulnerable and heavy song he has released to date. Battling the external desire to dance and let go and the internal pull to get lost in emotions, Burton toes the line and succeeds in delivering “A Part of Me” to those of us who are dealing with duality.

During a recent conversation with Burton, he continues to radiate positivity as he discusses how life is right now for artists, the unique collaboration in shooting the video for “A Part of Me,” and the catharsis of song-writing.

Related article: Sound Up! Cub Sport

How have you been doing during the quarantine?
Fine, safe; I’m out of the city which is good but it seems never ending. I guess everyone’s in the same boat, though. It’s weird though, New York City is not what it used to be and I don’t think it’s going to come back anytime soon, that’s for sure. The city itself is strange, no one’s there; the heartbeat feels a little weak. Hopefully it’ll bounce back but I think it’s mostly affecting people like artists and minorities, which is kind of the lifeblood of the city.

As an artist, how have you seen all of this impact your work?
For me personally, I’m very very lucky. I have a side job where I do a lot of production for a small company, but my fellow members of the community, are like, excuse my French, up sh*t’s creek. The gig scene’s not happening, The Met is canceled till next year, orchestras are closed, so it’s difficult. Most people are positive, it’s just the loss of income which is, you know, devastating.

There’s always something to complain about right but from the upside there’s lots of time to create.

That’s true, we’re going to be seeing some amazing art coming out of all of this.
I totally agree. I think there’s gonna be some crazy sh*t coming out; quarantining by yourself, you get all sorts of fun ideas (laughs). When you have the brain space,  I think there’s definitely a great opportunity to really hone in on yourself, your skills, and what you really want to do… when you’re not going crazy from being alone all day.

How does it feel releasing new music in this time?
I’m so thankful to be able to release something during this time because it’s like the only thing keeping me positive and moving forward. It was so lucky, the track had been done for a while and we did this video late last year, it was all done prior to the shutdown. It’s been nice to have a project to work on and gear up for release.

If it all had been completed for a while now, how does it feel finally releasing it?
When you create something and it’s done, the first thing you want to do is to put it out there. There’s so many steps and you have to invest so much time, money, and energy, you want to you want to do it right. The team I worked with, they’re absolutely amazing but it took a bit of prep for that. I’m always on the side of waiting and making sure everything’s right before it’s out because once it’s out, that’s it. So, I’d rather savor it and half the fun is creating it and building up the campaign as well. I mean, obviously it’s awesome to have it out and share it with the world but it’s fun to kind of savor the whole journey.

Related article: Sound Up! Nana Adjoa

Where did the song “A Part of Me” begin?
I wrote the song a while ago coming out of a serious relationship, and it had been like a year or so and I was still like flooded with all these feelings and memories of this person. It was kind of my way of coming to terms with the fact that the relationship, yes, was definitely over and while these feeling are not making me feel great, they’re valid and they’re going to be a part of me for the rest of my life, probably.Once I came to peace with that, I was able to move on and say, ‘OK, it’s fine, I understand this and I’m gotta talk about it and it’s time to get on with it.

Do you find that songwriting helps you let go of things like that?
Yeah, for me, writing is so important for my own clarity and mental health, songwriting is such a great way for me to clear my mind to get my thoughts onto the page. It’s kind of like my own form of analysis almost, it’s like being able to comprehend. It’s so easy to get lost in your own thoughts and once you write it down you kind of (say), ‘Oh I’m articulating this idea. Now I understand it.’

How has your songwriting changed as you have become more comfortable with your queerness?
My first EP was called Same Old Love and it was kind of my coming to terms with the fact that the love that I was experiencing is universal. It’s not gay, it’s not straight, it’s not anything; it’s that human thing that happens to all of us. I didn’t want to make it about being in a same sex relationship, but then once I started writing more and more, I was like, ‘F*ck it, this is exactly about a same sex relationship and I’m not going to shy away from that.

The first couple of songs I wrote were very neutral, I didn’t use ‘him’ and things like that. I just kind of wrote about my feelings, relationships, and love and stuff but I think now I feel more confident in myself. I also think that it’s totally fair that I write about what I want to write about and if you want to listen to it, that’s great and if you don’t, oh well.

I think it’s important to be your true self when you’re creating music and art. That’s hard to do, don’t get me wrong, and I don’t ever blame anyone for not being able to do that. For me at this point, I’m I feel lucky enough to be able to do that.

How did it feel when you embraced the ‘F*ck it” attitude and embraced your authentic self in your art?
It felt really good, some people would have their comments and stuff and I think it just made me want to do it more. For me, also trying to find an identity as an artist, it was important to just go for it because otherwise you start putting yourself into a corner, writing certain things and then you’re stuck there. For me, I may as well start from early on otherwise I’m not going to feel comfortable about it and it’s not going to be as fun.

You know that pressure when you’re not telling the whole truth? There’s so many people out there that need to hear something authentic; I think all humans are very basic, we’re all very similar, so I’m sure there’s someone who’s gone through the same sappy love song as I’m feeling.

How has the feedback been from fans and followers?
I’ve mostly had like great feedback. You know, like everyone (I get) some very negative comments but it is nowhere near as present as the positive ones. Everyone has their point of view, anything that is hurtful I always take off because you don’t want people seeing that and thinking that applies to them, because it doesn’t, It applies to the person who is having their own issues with their identity but it’s definitely been great for me. I feel like I’ve been able to grow as as a musician and an artist, and I feel like I have a more authentic audience as well, which is important to me.

Have you experienced any issues of homophobia within the music industry?

Not that I’m aware of, I’m not super mainstream so I’m sure a big artist, they definitely deal with that. The people that I’ve been lucky enough to work with, I haven’t had any pushback, it’s been great. I’ve worked with straight directors, I’ve worked with gay directors, I’ve worked with women, men and it’s been very positive so far. They’ve all been receptive to me running around naked talking about boys (laughs).

With the music video for “A Part of Me,” was there anything unique about creating that?
A good friend of mine Cassidy Noblett runs a dance camp alongside his sister,  they do a big music video every year and they invite an artist to come work for them and their 40 dances. It was my first time working with a huge ensemble of dancers and awesome faculty. Cassidy brought out a couple of his colleagues who had just done Lady Gaga’s video and that was so exciting; it was very exciting to have such a big project in the works. Mind you, we did it on a shoestring budget so that was kind of mind blowing to see what they were able to create on a very limited amount of resources, but seeing it all come together was pretty amazing. I’ve never done a project with I think it was like 50 plus people on the day of the shoot; it was all very thrilling, I felt very spoiled.

How was it collaborating with such a large group of people?
I really hope that I can have a similar experience to that, it was one of those experiences where the room is full of love. Everyone was there to create; there was no pushback on anything. Everyone’s ideas were flowing and it turned into this cool, creative, spacey, out of this world like atmosphere. On top of that, the dancers, they’re all there to learn and I think the shoot was like 18 hours or something, and they were on it. The entire day, from set to set they were focused, nailing it. I don’t even know if you can replicate that day, but I would love to.

You’ve spoken of how the music video reflects the exposing of marks that are left behind from previous relationships, how did you come up with that idea?

That was actually Cassidy’s inspiration. He was telling me he went to this exhibit where there was this big color room where you could contribute your own colors and he had this idea about what would it look like if you turn off the lights and you can see all these marks. In essence, that’s kind of what this is about, you have lots of these thoughts, feelings, emotions, and effects these people have had on you and these things don’t just go away. You live with these previous relationships and these people, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just sometimes it’s overwhelming.

What other projects or things do you have coming up that you are working on?
I’m going to try and spend the rest of the year writing; I’d love to do some collaborations and it’s definitely going to be a try and create year. I’d love to do an album, so hopefully next year I can release a larger body of work. I do enjoy releasing singles and doing project by project, but it’d be kind of special to have a big body of work come out. So, that’s kind of on my mind at the moment.

Follow Yanni Burton on social media and check out his website for more updates.