A songwriter who has learnt his craft by the serene northern New South Wales beaches, how did you get into music in the first place?
I have three older brothers who love music, they always had music playing when we were growing up. I was going from Talking Heads to Joni Mitchell, Michael Jackson to Primus, Elvis to Daniel Johnston. It gave me such a diverse palate to imagine myself as an artist. I started playing guitar quite young and began songwriting around age ten, using poetry written by my brother Alexander.
You are currently working on a new collaboration with established producer, Miramorf. Tell us a bit more about this.
Miramorf is an ambient and psych trance DJ from my hometown of Bellingen. He is also a talented guitarist and composer. I worked with Miramorf on a few tracks on my last album. This time I want to give Miramorf free license to push the boundaries of my music, so we have created a unique release exclusively available on Bandcamp called ‘To the Sun and the Moon’ by Yhan Leal and Miramorf.
How would you describe your sound and how did you come to it?
Ethereal, mellow, groovy, dreamy with plenty of rhythm. I’ve come to this sound organically over the years by playing for many hours in intimate settings like rural street corners, quiet coffee houses, folk clubs and living rooms.
You will be performing in Melbourne in early August. What can Yhan Leal fans expect from your shows?
I’ve got all these new songs I’m really stoked on and want to share them with the people of Melbourne. I’ll share my story and process on the songs and have some laughs. I’d also love to meet people, so If you come out please hang out and say hi.
Catch Yhan Leal at the Wesley Anne on Thursday August 1 and the Edinburgh Castle on Sunday August 4. Both are all free. Check out Leal’s Facebook page to find out more about the artist.
