Yogi
House, Soul, Disco, Deep
Although only DJ'ing for the last 7 years or so, Yogi's musical background stems from his youth when he first learned to play piano at the tender age of 7. By age 14, he was playing in cover bands around Sydney on a variety of instruments and by 21, was starring in musicals and theatre productions across the pro-am circuit. But as with most DJ's, his career started rather humbly, playing at friends parties and even for free at several bars across Sydney, "just to play".
Yogi's first real gig was at the infamous Globe Nightclub, playing his brand of deep soulful house music. In the few years following he has played and held residencies at all of Sydney's premier venues such as Home, Tank, Chinese laundry, YU, just to name a few. Yogi has also played at major festivals such as Good Vibrations '05, '06 and '07, Heinekin Thirst 2005, several times interstate at Canberra's Lot 33 and Minque and also during the snow season at Lake Jindabyne hotel.
Yogi has managed to play a few gigs recently in the United States, too, whilst promoting his music for the Miami WMC '07. He DJ'ed and sang alongside his partner-in-crime in Random Soul, DJ Husky, at an official Winter Music Conference party, hosted by one other than Jay-J of Moulton Studio's San Francisco notoriety. The party's talent included Jamie Lewis, Ron Carroll, Mark Grant, Albert Cabrera, Scott Wozniak, Sarah Main and of course Jay-J himself. While in L.A. the boys also got to play at a hip little club called Tokio, alongside veterans Andy Caldwell and Julius Papp.
The list of international artists Yogi has supported locally and abroad is also on the rise. This includes Roger Sanchez, Erick Morillo, Mousse T, Kaskade, Bobby & Steve, Martin Solveig, Chris Lum, Swirl People, Lawnchair Generals just to name a few. Recently he was backing DJ for Latrice Barnett on the Sydney leg of her Hemmesphere 4 CD launch tour.
Speaking of Hemmesphere CD's, last year the good people at Jam Recordings asked Yogi to play an integral part in the release of Hemmesphere 5. Yogi was asked to DJ mix CD2, to which he gladly accepted. He included 3 of his own productions and tracks from all of his favourite artists, along with an over 50% Aussie track-listing on the disc, to which he is very proud of.
With 3 of his own tracks already released on vinyl, 2 ministry of sound remixes under his belt and quite a many more on CD compilations, Yogi also wears the cap of writer/producer/engineer in the studio.
Yogi's first release was with house music's one and only Miguel Migs on his San Francisco-based label, Transport, which included Yogi's sexy soulful singing styles. Following the release on Transport, his next track was through another San Francisco label owned by Julius Papp, another veteran of the deep soulful house scene. It also includes another dash of Yogi's vocals, this time as a duet with up and coming Sydney vocalist Melinda Jackson.
The list of international artists that Yogi has worked with (side-by-side in the studio) is nothing to sneeze at too. This includes Jay-J, Richard Earnshaw, Chris Lum, Vincent Kwok and DJ MFR.
As mentioned earlier, Yogi has a studio/ live project known as "Random Soul". Alongside fellow DJ Husky, the duo has been busily at work, for the last year or so, in the studio writing and producing their brand of house music. They have had major interest from Jay-J, who has started his new label, Shifted Music, out of NYC and is looking to sign a number of Random Soul's and Yogi's productions to the label. On top of the release with Jay-J, the boys have had another 4 EP's signed to Swank Recordings and Celebrity Records in the U.S. along with major interest and a 4 track EP in the pipeline with none other than Miguel Migs of San Francisco's Naked music notoriety, soon to be released on Salted, his new label.
Currently, Random Soul has completed around 15 original works, a truck load more is still in the woodwork and they show no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
At 30 years young, the future is looking very bright for Yogi. With his DJ'ing, production, engineering, singing, keyboards and bass playing, he has managed to find a unique blend in the studio and live, to bring some soul and passion to his chosen medium, house music.
