Interview: Yuuf on Building Sonic Worlds, the Journey Behind Mt. Sava, and Finding Inspiration in Nature

Ever since I discovered Yuuf and their Alma's Cove EP earlier this year, I've been excited to find out more about the UK-based 4-piece. The band describe their sound as Global Psychedelia - a rich fusion of West and Central African rhythms, psych-rock, Thai music, Mexican cumbia, even ambient Americana. A perfect fit to our psychedelic playlist selection.

Last week Adrin, Anthony, Hugo and Oliver released their brand-new EP, Mt. Sava (via Technicolour), and I thought it's a great milestone to share with you a glimpse into their sonic universe. The guys were kind enough to respond to my questions right away, so I'm excited to share our chat with you. Hope you enjoy it!

Mt. Sava vinyl orders available on Yuuf's Bandcamp.

If you could describe your new EP Mt. Sava, using a single word, what would that be?

Desert.

The EP tends to shift the landscape to a more mountainous terrain - do you see your music as conceptual releases that feel like a journey through Earth, or are there other inspirations?

We are definitely conceptual composers and have created worlds around all EPs. Some of them can be felt sonically and some find conceptual traces all the way into our visuals, environments, and even outfits. We always find inspiration in nature, whether that's for our artworks or the music itself.

How do you incorporate this (let's call it terrain) change into the release, besides the settings of video performances? Any field recordings or?

We use plenty of field recordings of the given surroundings and also try to recreate some environmental ambiance on our instruments. Some percussion instruments naturally have quite a watery sound, for example. We also let the respective terrains influence the song names of our pieces. Most names of our EP Alma's Cove are water-themed or liquid-sounding. The same applies to the world that Mt. Sava inhabits, for example, the name Ørken Bloom, which is a fusion of Danish and English (Ørken = Desert).

How did the new EP's recording process differ from Alma's Cove and In The Sun?

For the three EPs we kept the recording process fairly similar. We recorded everything in our studio in Battersea. We usually record everything live as a band and do some slight overdubs to enhance some parts or sections of the songs. We did get some new ribbon microphones Coles 4038 that we used to record the drums, handpan and percussion. They sounded great. We’re all quite inspired by late 60s early 70s records so we sent all our mixes to tape.

The Mt. Sava EP was also slightly crazier to get done because we gave ourselves some pretty tight deadlines. We recorded the songs finding extra days when everyone was free. It was maybe a slightly more erratic experience. But extremely fun nonetheless and we think this is our best sounding record to date!

You guys met while studying in Brighton, but what's the more precise story - how 4 people from around the world met and started making this kind of music in a random city in UK?

We actually met studying in London. None of us lived in Brighton. It’s one of those mistakes that will stay on the Internet for a while, haha. Anthony and Hugo both grew up in London so it was natural for them to then go and study in the same city. Oli and Andrin came to London from their respective countries Denmark & Switzerland. Though we did go to the same uni the first time the 4 of us played together as a band was a few years after!

Your sound is inspired by the rich fusion of West and Central African rhythms, psych-rock, Thai music, Mexican cumbia, even ambient Americana. Have you been to these places, experienced the local cultures and where did the love for those experimental global energies come from?

All four of us are really into discovering new music and experimenting with sounds. The members of the band have travelled a lot and explored local music scenes including music masterclasses in Thailand, exploring the blues scene in Atlanta, and playing with west African ensemble Zantogola led by Alex Dayo.

Learning new music from different cultures feels like learning new languages and as can be seen by our song titles we love to mix languages.

How does living in London impact your career in music? Do you think it's important for young bands to be in the center of the music industry - cities like London, Berlin, Paris, LA, etc?

Yuuf wouldn’t exist if Andrin & Oli had not moved from their home countries to London to pursue music. Being where the industry is situated is definitely good but also these big cities are usually more expensive so it is a hard balance to strike.

You're signed to Ninja Tune's Technicolour, how important is it to have a team/label in 2025, and do you have any advice for bands who just start out?

I think if you’re trying to make music a full-time pursuit, it’s important, as there are so many different aspects of the music industry you need to cover. Also having a team around you can make achieving things and accessing resources a lot easier, which would be a lot harder to do by yourself. As our band is a collaborative project, it makes sense for the team around us to be involved because it’s more fun like that. 

Advice wise, I think just be honest and passionate about what you’re doing artistically. As well just finding the right people you can be vulnerable around and have fun with, is probably the most important thing!

You've cited Skinshape as an artist that inspires you - who else is out there?

Yes Skinshape is amazing! I think some of our influences range throughout the band so, we’ve all picked one band/artist that inspires us. 

Oli: Tyler The Creator 

Hugo: Francisco Tárrega

Andrin: Manu Delago

Anthony: Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section

What's on your playlist these days, any young/up-and-coming artists the world is sleeping on?

We curate a playlist on Spotify and YouTube that we update monthly. You'll find plenty of pieces from all around the world that may have inspired our writing in some way or that we enjoy listening to that month. This month has a lot of soulful and perhaps autumnal tunes like "Manteau Chagrin" by Coline Rio, "Haven" by Svaneborg Kardyb, "Deus Deus" by anaiis and "A Hand Carved Garden Tool" by Floating Action. 

Who is an artist you would like to play with on the same stage?

They are so many artists we’d love to share the stage with! So we thought each of us would give one answer.

Hugo: Mac deMarco - Incredible performer, love his songs and also incredible musician.

Andrin: Bon Iver

Oli: Dijon

Anthony: Whitney

What's next after Mt. Sava?

We want to gig as much as possible. There are so many countries/cities we want to play in! But more importantly we want to write our first album. We would love to go somewhere outside of London for a few weeks to write it. Maybe bring our studio gear on the road and write and record in different random homes around Europe.