Heartache has never sounded as fun as it does with Yuno. The singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist born Carlton Joseph Moodie spent years honing his skills out of the spotlight, and made a noteworthy reentry to the music world when he inked a deal with Sub Pop in February. He's now dropped two singles, “No Going Back,” a Trojan horse that cloaks its gut punch of a breakup tale within an exterior of chunky bass and dreamy lalalas, and "Why For" a cathartic scream where guitar and trap-tinged percussion create that sense of tension and release that is essential to great emo tunes.
Yuno’s idiosyncratic tunes are the product of an artist who is fully in control of his creative process. In addition to writing and playing every part of his songs, he also engineers them, directs his own videos, designs the album art, and even shoots his press photos.
“It’s basically what I’ve been used to my whole life, I always kind of did everything myself. I actually wanted to start a band in high school and I gathered friends together. We [found] a drummer and bass and guitar, but we never actually practiced anything,” he said. “And that kind of got frustrating for me, until I realized I made beats and played guitar and I could learn how to sing, so I could make all my songs myself.”
He started experimenting with one-off releases with big gaps in between. Fans who found Yuno through standout singles like 2012’s “Sunlight” or 2013’s “Grapefruit” have had to display Jai Paul levels of patience while awaiting more tunes. According to his Bandcamp, “No Going Back” is Yuno’s first release in more than four years, the product of a lengthy period of learning that clearly paid dividends on Moodie. “Amber,” the opening track on the EP, is a Hot Topic T-shirt dipped in tie-dye. The urgent vocals are pure early 2000s ennui, but instead of being punctuated by blasts of guitar, they’re backed by a sunny synth and brawny percussion. The project channels the glitziness of his earlier tracks, but replaces some of the sweetness with more earnest emotions and visceral scenes.
His latest single, “Why For,” combines chunky guitar and crisply sequenced drums, an open-hearted song punctuated by Yuno’s homespun style. “It’s been a year, I’m still stuck in this hole / It’s not your fault you found another home,” he sings, channeling the candor and bare emotion of bands like Rancid and AFI into an arresting story of heartache and suburban melancholy. He does the same in the self-directed video for “No Going Back,” which shifts between scenes in his hometown of Jacksonville and New York’s Lower East Side, where he wants to live in the future.
“It’s a combination of where I used to be, where I am now, and where I’m going,” he explained of the video.
With Moodie coming in June and a tour currently underway with Twin Shadow, it’s pretty clear Yuno is well on his way to where he wants to be, and the rising multi-hyphenate took some time to chat with us about channeling his emo influences, how he connected with Sub Pop, and what he thinks of the catch-all term “bedroom pop.”
Can you tell me the origin of the name Yuno?
I used to make music under the name Unouomedude and that was my AIM username handle, but it was very difficult to spell and pronounce, and one of my friends from high school called me Yuno for short, and I just went with Yuno because it’s four letters.
How did the signing with Sub Pop come about? How do you feel now having that support and being part of that community and the lineage of that label?
It happened really randomly, [Ishmael Butler] from Shabazz Palaces[and] Digable Planets, he messaged me on SoundCloud telling me he liked my music and that he worked with Sub Pop. And that was pretty much it—we just kind of kept in touch for a while and then one day he said he wanted to show my stuff at a meeting at Sub Pop and he’d tell me what they said, and he said that everyone seemed to like it. So shortly after that, they flew me out to Seattle. I got to meet everybody and I signed to Sub Pop. And then began to work on some new music, which took me a little while to figure out where exactly I wanted to head, but I feel like I got to a good place with that.
Can you tell me a bit about what you were up to for the years you were off the grid? What was the music you were making in that period like? Is that what’s coming out now?
Yeah, a lot of it is the stuff that’s coming out now. I was doing a lot of learning— just doing little cover songs, just experimenting with different recording techniques because I got a Macbook and I used to use FL Studio, but when I got the Mac I had to switch over to Ableton, so I was learning Ableton from scratch. That’s what I mostly spent that time doing was getting up to where I felt I could create whatever I wanted with it, and when I finally got to that point that’s when I started finalizing the songs.
I feel like not a ton of artists use FL studio with as much live instrumentation as you do.
Yeah, I’ve never heard of other people doing it, I had to figure out how to do it just because that was the only thing I had and knew how to use. My cousin taught me how to make beats, because I actually wanted to make a rap about pirates for a school project and he made the beat for me and I just wanted to continue. All my friends thought it was funny, so I wanted to continue making funny raps for my friends. That’s when I started using FL Studio, but I always played guitar so I figured I could incorporate guitar into my songs. So, I had to figure out different ways to record and drag files into FL studios and then I figured how to actually record my instruments into the program.
When you first started making music it was all pretty much DIY, right?
Yeah, it’s always been DIY, just me in my bedroom making my songs.
What prompted that? Were there artists you liked who worked that way? Or was it just a product of your circumstances at the time?
It’s what I’ve been used to my whole life. I actually wanted to start a band in high school and I gathered friends together and we’d always come up with this concept of a band, and we’d find a drummer and bass and guitar, but we never actually practiced anything. And that kind of got frustrating for me for a while, until I realized I made beats and played guitar and I could learn how to sing, so I could make all my songs myself. That’s what I started doing, haven’t changed that since.
You've talked about HIM’s Razorblade Romance being a big influence, as well as bands like Rancid and AFI. I definitely hear that with some of the newer tracks like “Why For,” but not as much with “No Going Back,” so what did you generally take from those acts? How do you think that translates to the music you’re making right now?
I’d say a lot of what I learned was songwriting techniques and texture and sounds, different guitar tones and bass tones, just how to write a hook. It’s the same thing with artists like Jack Johnson and Regina Spektor, and Tegan and Sara have been really big influences on me. And Flight of the Conchords also, who are a Sub Pop band, the way they do a comedic approach in different genres of music, although they do these different genres they still sound like Flight of the Conchords. That’s definitely been something that’s influenced me. Figuring out ways to make different styles of music, but still sound like myself.
There is a lot of talk in hip-hop right now about that emo and pop punk influence. As someone who grew up listening to that stuff and had it shape your music, do you see that? What do you think of that connection?
I think it’s cool. I know people definitely get influenced listening to each other, so one kid who grew up listening to emo and hip-hop combined and some other people who grew up listening to both combined it too. I’m not really upset it’s getting popular, it’s something that’s cool to hear because I don’t really hear that emo stuff anymore, but I also listen to hip-hop, so it’s cool to hear the combination. And I’ve always kind of had that connection with emo and hip hop, specifically from the “You’re So Last Summer” music video by Taking Back Sunday. It had Flavor Flav in it, and I realized Adam from Taking Back Sunday had a good flow on the song, which is something that definitely influenced me about having flows.
I’ve seen your music described in a few places as “bedroom pop.” Do you like that term? Do you think it’s kind of limiting?
[Laughs] I don’t know exactly what it means, but I literally make my music in my bedroom, so I’m fine with it. It’s very descriptive, but maybe if I didn’t make it in my bedroom I’d feel some sort of way about it, but it’s fine to me.
You’re like the literal embodiment of the phrase.
Yeah, I’m like four feet away from my bed making my music [Laughs].
Is that reflective of your personality?
Yeah, I don’t go out much. All of my hobbies are related to my music, so that’s always been a cool thing for me. I take my press photos, do my videos, these are all things I like to do that I do constantly, but for work.
Could you tell me a bit about the idea behind the “No Going Back” video? I like how it captures the sense of suburban summer malaise. What was it like directing and getting everything together for that?
It was pretty much me by myself, my cousin helped me out with parts of it, but basically I just went around to places that I normally go to. I just drive around in Jacksonville, went to my neighborhood, went to the mall I used to go to growing up, but now it’s half abandoned. Kind of not a lot going on here. I filmed the other half in New York, where I want to live on the Lower East Side, so it’s a combination of where I used to be, where I am now, and where I’m going.
How do you feel about touring with Twin Shadow? Do you have anything special planned for your live set?
I’m definitely excited about playing these shows. I’m a little bit nervous, but mostly excited. These are going to be my first live shows ever really. I got a band together, we’ve been performing as a three-piece. We’ve been practicing separately for the most part, we’ve gotten together a few times but it’s coming together. I’m really looking forward to getting in front of an audience and seeing what people think about it. My live set up is definitely gonna change. I don’t really go to many shows myself, but I watch a lot online, and I just want my live show to be something I would want to go see.
What are you listening right now?
There’s this rapper Slowtide I’ve been listening to a lot lately. I listen to a lot of UK hip-hop, so I’ve been listening to Octavian and House of Pharaohs.
