Meet Young Viridii

We recently connected with Young Viridii and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Young, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?
My position as a music artist is somewhat unique. I’m a songwriter, producer, and vocalist living in Kansas City, US. Living in the Midwest has made me look elsewhere to find collaboration, and I’ve found it where we see pretty much everything nowadays: online. One of my first collaborations was a demo track by a producer from India named “lama” in a random email. I had gotten instrumental tracks sent to me before, but I truly wasn’t prepared for the masterful production I heard when I clicked play. I instantly started listening to it over and over again in my car, on my way to work, attempting to come up with strong melodies and meaningful lyrics. It ended up being my very first release on a label, and I couldn’t have been happier. I shifted to posting content online, primarily videos of me songwriting to different TikTok instrumentals, and this change drew in various opportunities. I have met so many talented people who are on their own individual journies as producers, music artists, and general creatives. It has been really helpful to see that even though we might be alone in the room, that room is incredibly similar for my friends around the world.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Hey there, my name is Jared Thom like home, but I go by Young Viridii (Ver-ih-dee). My stage name is Latin for lush, green, or youthful. I’ve always wanted my music to exude a young spirit, so this name perfectly represents my artistry. I am a songwriter, producer, and vocalist from Kansas City in the United States. My artist project has focused on making EDM and Pop music that showcases the ups and downs of the human experience. Songwriting has significantly helped me externalize certain feelings and emotions into words. I figured since it has helped me, I hope it will also help others. Whether it’s about not wanting to make the same mistakes constantly, struggling with burnout, or when hope is on the horizon, I’m proud to have translated these snippets of life into my discography that impacts the listener. I have been producing music since I was 18, and it’s hard to believe that it’s already been seven years since then. I’m currently working on a new EP, but my latest release, “Dream Again,” with 4URA, a South Korean producer, and DVRKCLOUD, an India-based producer, is a story of self-understanding. It’s about conquering your inner demons in order to move forward and not giving up on yourself even when you feel like you’re moving in reverse. When we stop running from the parts of ourselves that we don’t like, the inner conflict that we have felt for so long melts away.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three things that have been most impactful on my journey were the desire to learn, structuring creativity, and perseverance. Learning is such an essential factor for anything, but even more so when you’re trying to succeed in music. Starting off, you may know nothing about music production, mixing, mastering, making vocals sound good, or even writing a song. These things take time and effort to master, but the information is out there. YouTube was where I found channels that showed all of the ins and outs of music production, and that’s how I learned how to use my favorite digital audio workstation, or DAW, FL Studio. Before starting my journey, I didn’t know anything in the realm of music production. Still, because of my desire to consistently learn over time, I have developed invaluable individual skills.
Creativity is a given within music. That’s what usually gets people into the space. However, there is a pitfall with creativity, and most fall right into it (including me). It usually happens when we get started on a brand-new project. It starts off great, introducing new ideas, and the production is flowing, but then we notice that it’s poorly mixed and doesn’t sound too great. The vision for the instrumental didn’t match up with the end result I had in my head. I would get so focused on making certain elements sound good, like a synth or a guitar, that I would forget to come up with melodies and lyrics when the music was fresh in my ears. At that point, I felt stuck and didn’t want to continue working on the track, so I started a new one. We need to channel our creativity in the right places and times. Otherwise, you can get stuck on a song that could have come easily just a few hours ago.
Finally, perseverance is probably the most important thing when pursuing any challenging goal in life. It isn’t just a mindset, but daily actions and a hunger to never quit on your dream. It sometimes takes sacrifices like not going out to see friends, watching Netflix, or playing your favorite video game. When you work full-time or go to school full-time while also pursuing music, it becomes difficult to have time for anything else. I had to put music on hold while training for a marathon because training runs would take so long. I also needed proper meals and rest, which wouldn’t have been possible if I had also had to do music then. You will fail 100% of the time when you give up on something, so I choose to give myself a chance to succeed every day.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
Not only did my parents allow me to pursue anything I was passionate about, but they wholeheartedly encouraged and supported those endeavors of mine. As a kid, I did traveling soccer, which was expensive for my parents. We didn’t have much money, and I knew they were living paycheck to paycheck. They could have left me in REC soccer, but they chose to support me because I enjoyed the competitive nature of traveling soccer so much. Music was the same way. When I told them that I wanted to pursue music as a lifelong career, they didn’t say I was crazy. They asked how they could listen to it. That has been the most impactful and helpful thing they have ever done for me, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Bryanna Gordon Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/milestone_kc/

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