THE EVOLUTION OF… “MY TIME IS STILL VERY MUCH BASED AROUND IMPROVING”

ONE OF THE MOST GIFTED AND INNOVATIVE GUITARISTS OF THE MODERN ERA EXPLAINS HOW SHE DEVELOPED A UNIQUE STYLE THROUGH EXPERIMENTATION, INTUITION AND PLAIN OLD-FASHIONED HARD WORK. AS YVETTE YOUNG SAYS:

Words Amit Sharma Photography Howard Chen

The last few years have witnessed the rise of some truly astonishing guitar talents from around the world – each striving to carve out their own identity through the instrument, in the hope of telling stories that have never been told. Few, however, have felt as exciting as Yvette Young. 

The Californian Ibanez endorsee and founding member of Covet is someone who plays by her own rules, using alternate tunings, fingerpicking, two-handed approaches as core fundamentals to bring out the ethereal and progressive sounds in her mind. Having started out on classical piano and violin and later taken heavy influence from the more ambient soundscapes of shoegaze, she once jokingly described her genre as “detail rock”, though in all fairness it’s a term that fits quite spectacularly. 

In this conversation with TG, she looks back on her journey so far – the main challenges starting out, the secrets behind her most complex passages, tips for the pedalboard and what the future may hold for her own sonic evolution...

When you were starting to get more creative with guitar, what felt like the biggest hurdles? 

“This is so funny, but I never really felt like I got good on guitar. The way I spend my time is still very much based around improving. When I think about the term ‘good guitar’ I end up thinking about total virtuosic shredding. I admire that stuff a lot but I can’t do a lot of the things all these monster players do. When I think about getting, it’s more about getting faster at conveying what I hear in my head and translating it to the fretboard. For me, that’s when I feel like I’m good at guitar... When I can translate that vision instantaneously rather than sit around and dick around for a bunch of time!”

Is there anything you stumbled on that helped speed up that process? 

“Well, it all comes down to experience. I could view that question a bunch of ways. For example, with my tone it came down to playing around with lots of gear and getting to know the nuances of different pedals, amps or simulators. So tonally, that will come from spending more time with my toys and amp. It’s good to know how each knob will affect your tone. In terms of melody, translating those melodies from my mind to the instrument – that came from a lot of ear training. And my classical background played a big part there. I also think playing in so many different tunings, rather than sticking to standard, made it difficult for me to memorise shapes because I’m constantly changing the notes of each string. But it comes with time... The more I get used to every tuning, the quicker I get at remembering where certain intervals are.”