Time to read: 7 minutes
This week we introduce you to Free Spirit, Visionary and Artist, Yariv Etzion, a.k.a “Stereo Underground.“
This cutting-edge Tel Aviv-based producer, composer and educator shared the booth with John Digweed, Lee Burridge, Guy J, Danny Howells, Hernan Cattaneo and many more.
Yariv is also the co-founder of the biggest music school in his country “BPM College“.
His forward thinking instrumentals speak louder than words, and his bootleg for “Radiohead – Daydreaming” reached more than 900K Plays on Youtube. Besides his original music, Yariv released official remixes for Sam Paganini and D-Nox and Beckers, and countless top charts tracks including “Flashes feat. Sealine” that became a Progressive house anthem all over the world.
In 2019 he released his debut full album “The Art of Silence”, an eleven tracks Album, with one of the most prestigious labels “Balance Music”. The album is showcasing his musical journey and wide perspective on sound and life, with massive support from the industry.
To complete his Artistic vision, Yariv has conquered new grounds and built his “Space Controller” which is a unique customised Midi controller that he uses to control every aspect of his live performances.
Hi Yariv! Thanks for talking with us today. What would you say is unique about what you do?
I create things that haven’t been here (The World) before.
And what makes you stand out in it?
I see what everyone is doing and then I do something different.
What inspired you to go into the music industry?
I was born in a musical environment, my father loved classical music, my big brother was a heavy metal Guitar player and my sister loved 80’s synth-pop and played keys. Since I was six years old, the only thing I wanted to do was to create music. Later on in my life I also discovered that I love to invent new things.
I am truly inspired by the quote of Abraham Lincoln “The best way to predict your future is to create it”.
That’s a great quote indeed. What is the most challenging aspect of your work or the biggest challenge you have dealt with and how did you overcome it?
I think that the most challenging aspect of my work is to be original. In music production, there’s always a conflict between what the industry “wants” and your personal vision.
I overcame that challenge by the success I got. I saw that my music became much more interesting and successful when I was true to myself rather than trying to please others.
The music and entertainment industry has been hit particularly hard by the Corona Restrictions. How has this impacted your life? And where do you focus your energy at the moment?
I lived the quarantine way before it was fashionable. For me Covid time is a blessing, I had more quality time with my 1.4 years old baby, I wrote 2 new EP’S (6 Tracks) that got released and reached the top electronic music charts. Also during our second wave and full lockdown in Israel, I’ve managed to book a flight to Greece and took my wife and kid to a month of pure relaxation on Corfu island. On the business side of things, the pandemic forced us to move to an online domain with “Zoom” based learning and we developed a new platform for one-to-one mentoring with top artists from the industry https://www.121bpm.com
So, all in all, I can’t complain.
It’s inspiring to hear you have used this time to focus on the things you CAN do. Looking into the future, what is your Mount Everest? What would you love to create in the world?
I don’t really have a mount Everest, but one of my biggest ideas is to create a platform that will inspire little kids to learn new things, such as music or other forms of art in a Virtual Gamified world. I was a terrible student as a kid, but I can see now that the problem was in the system, not in me.
That is such a cool idea! What is the most inspiring thing that happened to you as a result of iDiscover?
iDiscover gave me an amazing set of tools to understand many things in my past and the ability to better control most aspects of my life, both personal and professional.
It’s always amazing to hear the impact we have on peoples lives. What do iDiscover and its community mean to you?
iDiscover is truly amazing, the programme is very balanced between Mind and Spirit. For me, it’s like the key to understanding the Matrix, it’s super deep, and yet very practical. I met so many interesting people who came to share their fears and thoughts. All of them are truly unique individuals.
What is your most sacred daily/weekly/monthly ritual or performance hack that really works for you?
The first and most important thing is Gratitude, every morning and evening I take the time to be thankful for what I have. The second is “Cause and Effect”, that way of thinking lets me zoom out and understand every situation and human being.
And what is your guilty pleasure?
Looking on the internet on hotel rooms and villas for my next vacation.
Haha, It’s almost better than the real vacation, isn’t it?! To finish the interview. What is your favourite quote or the question you want to leave us with?
Do you really want to be that person?
A great question to think about. Thanks for the interview Yariv and I’m wishing you all the best with your future plans.