Hidden Beats

We Are Story Tellers

Spotlight - YASSiN & Sean Terrio

Our Spotlight – YASSiN & Sean Terrio. We got the chance to sit down and chat with the up and coming dynamic duo about the start of their musical journey. We talk about inspirations and what they hope to achieve. Check it out an show some love! 

What sparked the early love of music?

When I was REALLY young, I’m talking 0 – 12 my life was full of many family road trips and video games. Both these things exposed me to so much music I connected with and loved before I even understood why. In my parents car, it was always The Beatles or Billy Joel playing, I would be reluctant as a kid to admit I liked any of it until I started playing piano at 14. Once piano came into my life, all these songs from my  early childhood came back to me and I fell deeply in love with all of it. When I started playing piano, I would pick up most songs by ear. Within the first year of playing I had already figured out how to play most songs on both The Beatles and Billy’s greatest hits albums. It was really the only thing that made sense to me and in some ways still is! – YASSiN

Was there an album or performance that made you say “That’s what I want to do”?

There are many albums I LOVED growing up that made me feel like “I want to create something like that!” Those albums varied from Bring Me Your Love by City & Colour to The Black Album by Jay Z. That list can go on and on, but a performance I saw that changed my world was also when I was 14. I got to see Billy Joel AND Elton John on a joint tour…With my recent discovery of the piano, this was everything I could ever dream of. This sounds silly now, but I remember trying to sing and play piano at the same time and not being able to do it, THEN I remember seeing this concert and it felt like all the sudden I could. I know that doesn’t make sense but watching that show changed my path for sure! – YASSiN

Who might be some of the out-of-the-box influences to your sound?

SeanPersonally, I’ve always been rather fascinated  with people who can make wild sounds with just their voice, whether its musical, a sound effect, or just putting on a funny voice. I can remember watching videos of Bobby McFerrin, Michael Winslow, Rahzel, Pablo Fransisco, folks like that, and just being so drawn to the ways they could replicate a sound without any sort of instrument. Its crazy, really, how much satisfaction I’ve gotten whenever I started to work on and get better at a certain voice or sound. If I put the same amount effort and passion into becoming a doctor or astronaut, I’d be breaking boundaries. But no, now I make weird noises and sing; and I love it. 

You are described as a genre crossing duo. How do you balance staying faithful to the genres while making something unique?

I don’t know if we ever spend time thinking about how to “stay faithful” to genres. We just create, and because of the very diverse selection of jams we grew up loving our sound comes out a certain way. I feel like the second you start actually thinking about “what genre is this?” or “is this unique enough?” you can lose the magic that is songwriting. Of course we have a lot of influences that we’d like to be sort of like a little bit, but our favourite things we’ve made stem from us having a blast and doing what feels right to us at the time! – YASSiN

You have a new album dropping soon, can you tell us the origin story on how it came together?

This albums story really starts from right when Sean & I met in 2019. As our great bromance began, and our creative collaboration commenced we dreamt of “the album” What could it possibly be like? How will it sound? What direction will we go in? Can it ROCK? Throughout those early years when our fan base was young to now we’ve worked really hard to add to our song catalog, as we didn’t want to be playing an hour of cover songs to our fans for very long. All the sudden it felt like woah, we have an hour and a half worth of original music to play live and then it clicked! Lets take the best of those new songs and a few of the old ones that defined us early on and make it an album! – YASSiN

Working with different genres, what was your process like putting together the project?

SeanPiggy-backing off of YASSiN, we didn’t really make a decision to have “x” amount of songs as a certain genre or make sure that we touched upon certain themes. It feels like we just listened to whatever we were creating in the moment, at whatever stage of the song, and allowing it to happen naturally. Sometimes, when you put words down onto paper or send some notes into the air, the song itself can guide you and show you where it wants to go. But thats also influenced by what we’ve grown up with; so you can let the sound guide you back home, to the things and sounds you’ve known.

How do you think your music has evolved from when you started out to putting together this latest piece?

The cool thing about the “first” album is we have been able to take our time. Not only in developing a sound but understanding the vision of what we want YST to be. What I LOVE about this album is you can hear the evolution from track one onwards. Take My Time being one of our earliest songs being heard right away to the grandness of Happy It Exists right at the end. The evolution is a confidence Sean & I have built up together in the studio. Thats a confidence in each other to handle our strengths and a confidence individually to push for more!

What is the most interesting thing you’ve learned about yourselves while navigating your career?

YASSiN – This is a hard question to answer! I guess I’ve learned that I am much more adaptable than I would’ve thought when I was 18. And maybe I’ve learned I can be a real pain in the behind to some hahaha. When I decided I wanted to be in the music industry, I told myself I wanted to score movies. That quickly turned into “I want to be a songwriter” never was it “I want to be an artist” at 18 I thought that was impossible. I can’t sing well enough to do it on stage, I don’t have “the look” etc… But as the years went on, and out of pure desperation at times, that one desire to write songs made me a manager, a producer, an engineer, a publicist, a social media marketer, a creative director, and FINALLY an artist. I love this thing I’m doing so much and when I look back at all the times I could’ve quit, I now see all the things I became instead…I’m real stoked its turned out this way, and yes I believe I can be a real pain to some because to become all these things I had to learn how to be incredibly insistent in life haha. 

Sean A big thing for me has been learning to believe in myself and to letting go of that which I cannot control. These are aspects I have known are not my strong suits, yet I’ve watched myself slowly start to show these qualities when it matters most. Ultimately, everything is a work in progress and when you reach a new personal height, you find that it’s just been a rung in the ladder all along.

What are some of the hard points you’ve had to overcome and how did you do it?

Sean – For me, its been balancing life and a lot of small difficult moments we’ve had to push through. When you’ve got a big show in the evening but a job or personal issue has you feeling weighed down before you step on the stage, you need to find a way to put it down and let go. A lot of having fun and perfoming well depends on your mindset, and I personally don’t need external assistance to find myself in a negative headspace. I think I’ve always left time for me to be alone, to rest, to do hobbies I like that have nothing to do with music, as a way of putting life and its worries down for a brief while. We’ve definitely has failures and let downs professionally, but those are almost a badge of honour and a sign that you are moving towards something thats worth working on. It’s the time in between, where we experience most of life, where you can really set yourself up for success; putting in work off hours but also putting off work for hours (lol).

With music being a crazy industry, how do you stay grounded outside of it?

SeanHonestly, I think arriving to music as a career when I have, in my late 20s, allowed me to grow up and have a very normal experience in ways that matter. Having a 9-5 job for a number of years, the lifestyle and mindset that comes from that, feels like it helps you root yourself in reality; that a person has a job to do, must commit to things they don’t want to do, and then make the time for the things you love. In a crazy industry like this, holding on to normalcy has helped me because, despite all the cool things that might happen, you’re still gonna go home at the end of the day and just be yourself.

Which track are you most excited for people to hear?

I think Happy It Exists is at the top of that list or maybe tied with Caroline. Those two songs are our proudest songwriting moments on the album. Happy It Exists in particular came together magically and the production on it and how it ends is my favourite thing ever. I don’t want to give too much away, but yeah I hope rocks your socks off.

Who plays each of you in the biopic of your lives?
  • YASSiN – hahahaha amazing question….I guess I’d have to say a young Dev Patel! 
  • Sean – Timothee Chalamet; its fairly obvious.
What is one thing you think should be asked more in an interview that isn’t asked enough?

Have you been asked this question before?

Who are some people on your go-to play list who aren’t getting enough attention?

Beyonce, Adele, Prince….KIDDING, hmmm, right now I have a lot of mainstream jams on my playlist, as I am just deep diving into Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter (Both their albums are amazing) But let me scroll and see… Ok, I mean Leon Bridges is a big artist, but his latest album is just so phenomenal I think he should be the BIGGEST artist, and I think he should have us open for him on tour. OH another is Brett Mckenzie from Flight of The Conchords. He has this amazing solo album I’ve been listening to recently called Songs Without Jokes…10/10 – YASSiN 

Sean That’s a hard question for me to answer (how dare you). In terms of bands or musicians that aren’t widely mainstream, regardless of era, here are some that I consistently go back to: Alan Parsons Project, Yebba, Opeth, The Main Squeeze, Donny Hathaway, Gojira. Some of these artists are big names but, whether its lyrical content, a unique sound or just straight natural ability, I think individuals are in for a real treat when they discover some of these folks for themselves.

What do you hope people take away from your music?

I hope they get a feeling of joy! Even from our sad songs, I hope they can hear that we really loved making it. I also hope they take away that Sean is the greatest singer ever…I am biased, but I think I may be right.

What are some of the next milestones you are looking to hit?

Shows, shows, shows! Our audience has grown so much in the last few months and they are asking us everyday to come place in the states! We hope next year comes with bigger shows with a broader audience! We’ve worked like crazy this year with our live band to really make it an experience and I cannot wait to share that energy more! Beyond that I’ve always wanted to be in the iTunes top 10…I don’t know if that is still a thing anymore but I want it aha! – YASSiN

What motivates you to make the music you do?

It just comes from loving it. I am obsessed with creating, whether its music or bits or anything! I dream big about YST and what we can evolve into, and just the thought of that keeps me wanting more!

Last but not least, Are you happy?

SO happy. The beginning of this year was a real struggle for us, trying to get this album out properly. I am incredibly stoked to say I know the album is coming out next week and I don’t have an ounce of panic about it. I feel ready, and at peace! – YASSiN  

This Spotlight – YASSiN & Sean Terrio has come to an end! Big thanks to the guys for taking the time to let us pick their brains

Check out the music today!

Keep up with all the new updates right here

If you want your own Spotlight all you have to do is send us a message here

© Hidden Beats Corp. All Rights Reserved 2020

(Visited 9 times, 2 visits today)