Interview With Jude York
Jude York, an up-and-coming Australian dance-pop songwriter, is blending styles both old and new. This creates what people are thirsting for. The sound of Jude York.
Questions For Jude York
Q: Firstly, how has the response been since the release of your single and what are the feelings you’ve been going through?
York: The response to Those Were The Days has been incredible and touching. It’s surreal how international the song has become – I’ve been receiving messages from Germany, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Japan, the US, etc.! That type of thing has never happened to me before.
Q: Why do you think audiences are attracted to you and your sound?
York: I think I approach music and artistry with a lot of earnestness. I’m not afraid to be nerdy, theatrical, wholesome, sad or romantic. At the moment, I’ve been having so much fun blending the old and the new – classic melodies with modern lyrics, vintage production with dance beats – in a way that people seem to be responding to.
“I just need to be open and nonjudgemental to these thoughts.”
Q: What do you think usually inspires you to create a piece of music? How do you get inspired?
York: I often approach music the way a romance novelist would a book. Something will trigger an idea – a film, an experience, a poem – and I can see a story start to unfold in my head, almost like a projection. It’s very visual. I just need to be open and nonjudgemental to these thoughts. Some will be good, others will be bad, but they’re all worth pursuing.
Q: So, where did you come up with this name ‘Dancecry’ for the music you make?
York: I’m not sure if I coined that or not! It’s a word I used to describe my favourite type of music to listen to, the pop music that really excited me to start writing. Robyn and Lorde are probably my favourites. There’s just something so compelling about crying on the dancefloor.
“I try to follow my instincts and trust that if it feels good to me, it will feel good to other people too.”
Q: Is the idea of genre important to you when making music?
York: Not really. There’s so much fun in bending genres and breaking rules. “What if a dance song had an evolving storyline?” “What if a jazz song had a pop chorus?” I try to follow my instincts and trust that if it feels good to me, it will feel good to other people too.
Q: Have you taken inspiration from your parent’s musicality?
York: I think you can certainly see my parents’ musical fingerprints throughout my artistry in the same way that all of us are inevitably influenced by our upbringing. People often tell me my voice is similar to my mum’s which I take as a massive compliment. As for my Dad, I wouldn’t be able to produce music without him – he taught me everything about that side of things.
“It felt like the moment I knew something had clicked in my career.”
Q: What is a moment now that you think will stick with you through your career?
York: The day that I released Monaco left an indelible mark on my brain. I was in Amsterdam at the time having just filmed a video in the south of France. The amount of people who streamed that song on day 1 blew out any expectations I may have had. It felt like the moment I knew something had clicked in my career. I’ll never forget it.
Q: Finally, in your music do you hope to spread a certain message?
York: I write a lot about love and heartbreak. My message is to accept the bad with the good. I cherish my heartbreaks and look back on them with fondness knowing that they make my story so much more emotionally rich. That’s why my music can sound joyful and upbeat while being about something sad. We all need to get our hearts broken from time to time. It’s what makes us human.