A LITTLE ABOUT ME..
A message to my new subscribers, My name YONNAS, Yeoooooo!
I figured it would be about right to let you know a little more about me, where I’m coming from and where I am going, so I decided to pen this little intro to you. I’ve been making music for decades and have fronted several iconic local bands throughout my life. But now, at forty years old, I am finally making the music I want to make, freed from the expectations previously put upon me by bandmates, audiences, music-industry gatekeepers, and even myself. With my first solo project, FÉVEN, that dropped November 23rd, 2022, I introduce the world to my vision of "Dream Pop for Black people" — a harmonious marriage of heavy beats, radically vulnerable lyrics and gazey guitar music, wholly driven by the spirit of Black Liberation.
My journey to FÉVEN began when my band BLKHRTS moved to L.A. to blow up but instead broke up, derailed by my struggles with addiction, among other things. I sought help for my substance-abuse issues and returned to Denver in June 2017. But even before BLKHRTS disbanded, the direction of my music was shifting. I needed to explore different emotions, different palates, and to sing more. I needed to shed the expectations and concerns of ANYONE but me.
In 2018, my best friend Shmeeze and longest musical collaborator set up a home studio for me to produce new music for him and I, but suddenly and unexpectedly passed away before we even began.
This was a turning point for me. Intensive therapy became the catalyst for my own personal revolution forever changing not only my relationship to substances, but also the purpose of my music going forward. I learned that the creative process and space was my sacred source of joy and I could allow nothing to poison that well. I reignited my love for music as a listener during the long stretches of time in my car listening to Nothing, Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine and perhaps most pivotally, Whirr. There was also the obscure soul music I obsessively dug for, Bill Brandon, Eddie Giles, The Sweet Inspirations and O.G Wright to name a few. I understood the textures and aesthetics I wanted my music based on.
With FÉVEN, I fully realized that aesthetic, but also the ethos that will define my work for the foreseeable future: Rock Music about Black Liberation. Me and my closest friend Morgan would talk for hours about politics, life, love and what this was all for. Those conversations galvanized everything, some of which you can hear on the LP.
Using the textures of dream pop and shoegaze , the heavy drums and grooves of rap and my own singing voice to make this heady brew of dreamy, soulful guitar music, I strive to, as my visual impresario Blake Jackson described, give us hope. More anything else, I want Black People to be free, and I will do everything in my power to seek and maintain our liberty.
Thank you for caring enough to read all that.
There’s obviously tons of things I left out or didn’t get to include so shoot me a message or follow me on social media to learn more, I love talking about this stuff!
I’m looking forward to getting to know you as much as you know me. Peace.