EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Thred

Hello there! How are you doing? What happened in the 5 months since your last release with Eonity? 

Well, I got a lot of love from the release “Back Up”.  Also in the time, I’ve really honed in my sound design and a new style of Thred!  This track is a decent example, but the tracks that will be released later this year will really show what I’ve been up to!

What will be the first thing you’ll do (in terms of musical activities) once the pandemic is over?

Playing shows for sure!  I am playing a festival coming up soon (social distancing and limited capacity of course).  Once everything is said and done and venues can run at full capacity, I’m hoping to play wherever and whenever I can!  Really craving some live music!

What is the most challenging part of collaborating with other artists?

I haven’t had too many issues with collaborating with other artists, doing it in person becomes a problem just because of everyone’s weekly schedule.  Otherwise, I’d say just starting one for me has been the biggest hurdle.  Meaning having an intro or concept of a track that both artists enjoy and agree on.   

Let’s go back to the beginning of your career. How did it all start for you?

I started off just DJing on my laptop by myself at home on virtual DJ.  It was pretty hilarious!  I was teaching myself, not mixing in key, horrible transitions, I knew I was horrible at it.  I kept practicing until it all started to make sense.  Once I got DJing down, I got sick of trying to find tracks of a style and sound I wanted.  So I figured why not make them myself.  I got Pro Tools from a friend of mine and started teaching myself.  Back to square one, it felt like I was absolutely terrible, I couldn’t figure out how to do a lot of things I wanted to do.  At the time I didn’t know what to call these “things” I was trying to do.  Didn’t know what sidechaining my drums wас and so on, but I kept trying and kept pushing and it brought me to where I am today.  Weird sounds, track concepts that don’t make sense to most, but I enjoy it and that’s the big takeaway!

What’s the meaning behind your artistic name?

Back in High School sportspeople would have nicknames, or just called by their last name.  I was called by my last name “Johnson”.  Our friends would like to say words incorrectly just for fun.  So my name went from Johnson to Yonson, to Yarnson, to Yarn.  So my nickname became Yarn prior to DJing and producing.  Once I started I needed a stage name.  Hey!  Yarn works! Haha!  After becoming more serious I realized there was a bigger artist named Yarn so I decided to rebrand.  I reached out to Bently of Pixel Terror, and he liked the Yarn concept and suggested that I roll with it.  Thanks to my friends not wanting to pronounce words correctly, and Bently, Thred was born!

What is one track that never gets old for you no matter how many times you hear it?

Jilax – Clouds. It’s not very old, but I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to it.  Still to this day I can’t help but throw on a “bass face” and groove to it!

Do you have stuff in preparation, future collaborations, or personal projects?

OH YES!  I basically have the rest of the year already planned out for releases as well as a new project with a friend of mine!

What is the story behind your latest track – Always There?

It’s actually kind of sad, the idea behind the track is depression, anxiety, etc, will always be there in the morning.  I wanted to write a darker song, with the words “It’s always there in the morning”.  Fortunately, Splice has endless samples and I found those exact words fairly quickly.  Once I found those I went to work.

Finally:

Any important people in your life you wanna mention, thank, or talk about?

My friends at High Caliber Records – they have always been there for me!  My girlfriend and daughters.  They are my biggest fans and supporters. All while having to deal with me talking about music and listening to my insane tracks.  Of course Lucky and Daniel of Eonity.  They reached out to me and the timing couldn’t have been better, really pulled me out of a bad place with producing music.  I haven’t known them very long but they’ve done more than they know!

Anything you wanna add to end up this interview?

Stay safe and keep working towards your goals whatever they are. Your effort doesn’t go unnoticed and it will all be worth it! 

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