what is your name? (Yes, That's the Name): Talking Process, Progress, and Possibilities

what is your name? isn’t just a cryptic artist alias, it’s the moniker of a genre-hopping, sample-warping musician making dreamy, emotional music from Toronto. Whether he’s building tracks from samples, writing songs for virtual Urlfests, or finding the courage to sing over his once-instrumental beats, WIYN’s music feels like a personal diary you’ve somehow been invited to read. Kade Homa caught up with him to talk shoegaze, sampling, live shows, and the magic of a good fade-out.

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Kade: First things first: who are you? Tell me a bit about yourself and what you do.

WIYN: I'm just a guy who makes music in his free time whenever he can, although he didn't think it'd bring him anywhere till now.

Kade: With such a wide range of styles and genres you’ve created, from indie rock, to post-rock, to midwest emo, which artists or scenes have inspired and influenced your sound the most?

WIYN: Oh man, where do I begin? I always like to say Mac DeMarco, Boards of Canada and Toe whenever I get questions like these, but if I had to say ones that have influenced my sound the most, artists like Parannoul and Asian Glow are the reason I am where I am, especially with this music project. When I first heard their music a few years ago, I immediately thought "That's what I want to do.” Korean shoegaze was such a cool new thing to me at the time, the idea of venturing into that realm of music felt exciting to me. It was like watching people play basketball or soccer, you just wanted to be part of the action. Even though I don't take too much from shoegaze nowadays, I still feel their effects today in how I approach music. I love ‘em. Even Asian Glow, he's cool too.

Kade: On your first album, The Now Now and Never, there’s such a creative mixture of sampling, instruments, and sounds. What was the creative process like when creating some of the more ambitious songs such as the title track and Youthful Days?

WIYN: I think I was still very much “in the zone” from 2 0 2 1. In the other music project in particular, sampling had always been the forefront of my music and was always something that I started and built the foundation over. Right after I released “reverie,” I immediately went to work on The Now Now and Never, and naturally those same music habits stuck. I think within a week and a half I had already made heartache st and was already pretty much done with the title track. For the song youthful days, it was actually a 2 0 2 1 song at first that had never gone anywhere interesting, except for the sample. That sample from the very beginning that serves as the introduction and eventually foundation to the song; that’s been essentially left untouched since I first made it in 2 0 2 1. When I revisited this unfinished song and heard the samples again for the first time in months, I immediately thought “oh my god this needs guitars.”

So, I removed everything except the main sample, started recording each instrument one by one, kind of layering it as it went. You can even hear it happen in the song, first I added the jangly guitar, then I layered it with a rhythm guitar, then I was like okay what if I used my Korg Minilogue next to me right? I messed around until it became this almost ghostly high note that almost gave the song another dimension. Then finally when I was satisfied, I added the drums and bass. After that the whole song just kind of kept completing itself. Actually, it completed so fast and so effortlessly, it was practically done within like 3 days. It was just one of those songs where I didn’t struggle finishing it or coming up with ideas. I just knew when and where to record, and just also knew how to end it. It was crazy how fast I finished it, even to this day I am still kind of surprised by it as it feels like I didn’t actually write it myself, but that somebody else did.

Kade: On the topic of knowing when to end tracks, how do you know when you'd like to end a track? Is there a certain way you like to wrap up songs, or do you keep working until they seem to exhaust your ideas?

WIYN: Oh man, I don't know. It depends on the moment. some songs, usually ones where it feels like it can last forever, those I tend to fade out. I love fade outs. People think they're lazy, but I think they are beautiful. it just makes the song seem like a dream, it's just ugh I love fade outs, and I think they are underrated nowadays. People say fade outs are lazy, and they may be right in some instances, but sometimes there is just that one song I’d be making where there is no other better ending to it except a fade out, like youthful days or even U & I. like imagine youthful days ending with a chord that "completes" the progression. no! I don't want that beautiful progression to be over; I want it to last forever.

Kade: While we're on the topic of U & I, can you tell me a little bit about what it's like making music for the various Urlfests you've been part of? Is the creative process different compared to your studio albums?

 WIYN: Oh! I loved doing those Urlfests. They are not performed live, but they are original material written for those events. I sort of treat them as an “arena” to test out new sounds I want to pursue next, and because of that they just end up being really fun and experimental to make.

Kade: Between your albums you’ve shifted genres towards more singing, was that something you always wanted to do, or was it something that came along with time?

WIYN: I think at the time, it was something that I always wanted to do. projects like "the now now and never" and "side rd 1" felt to me like demonstrations of what I could do, as I was too scared to put vocals at the time. I've incorporated more and more singing into it as it felt like the "final piece" to my music, as I had been making instrumental music exclusive to that. Although lately, I have been interested in exploring the instrumental side of music again as I had been before.

To add onto that, I also like how vocals can not only add to the songs themselves, but how the lyrical content can add a whole new dimension in the creative process of a song, which is something I will always welcome when I create music.

Kade: Speaking of lyrics, where do you draw inspiration from, and do you have any specific influences on what you sing about? 

WIYN: I’m honestly not sure. I’m still very new to writing lyrics, and it’s sort of a stream from consciousness process. In the past I’ve used artists like Thom Yorke and Bob Dylan as “baselines” on lyrics, but recently I have started to embrace more abstract ideas from out of the blue, although this process lasts a lot longer than it did before.

Kade: You touched on 2 0 2 1 before, could you tell me about your work with that project, and how it has shaped your music as what is your name?

WIYN: Oh 2 0 2 1, that started as a side project back in, you guessed it, 2021. I think I stumbled across “tokyopill - m e t a d a t a” and it was like the coolest song I have ever heard at the time. When I researched more about the artist and eventually the genre itself, I grew more interested in making that type of music as well, so I started that project as I guess a ripoff of tokyopill’s sound haha. eventually after a while I realised that I actually enjoyed the sampling part of that project rather than the breakbeat or breakcore aspect, so I ended up focusing on that more. Honestly I would say it has definitely shaped my music in “what is your name?” because I have simply carried over the same creative process from there to here, just with an added recording process too.

Kade: With so many different styles and genres you’ve blended over the years, what are some styles that you’d like to incorporate in your music that you haven’t had the chance to yet?

WIYN: Post-punk. I just love the rough edginess of that genre, and the guitar work is something I want to approach in a similar way, although I haven’t found a situation in my music where I could squeeze in some post-punkiness.

Kade: What do you think about performing live shows? Post-punk lends itself really heavily to the DIY and live music scene, do you think live shows is in your future down the line?

WIYN: I would absolutely love to do live shows. I actually plan on doing them this year, or soon. Now that school ended, I have more free time to pursue that side of music. Should be pretty fuckin lit. 

Kade: Have you seen any live shows, in person or online, that have inspired how you imagine your own shows?

WIYN: Yes! I’ve always loved Mac DeMarco’s performances since I was in high school. The way he treats his performances so nonchalantly, but in a way that makes it seem like he’s doing it just because it’s fun; I want to bring that same sort of energy too.

Kade: Do you see yourself performing by yourself, or with a live band alongside you?

WIYN: Both, although a live band would be nice. I currently don’t know a lot of musicians that would want to play with me.

Kade: I'm sure there's plenty of talented musicians who both love your music and want to play live shows, so there's definitely a connection waiting to happen there.

On the note of live shows, would you want to recreate songs as they are, or experiment and rework them live?

WIYN: I definitely would love to experiment live, but I also would recreate them as they are. I’m still very much new to the world of live shows, so I have yet to experience what I truly want to do in that scenario.

Kade: With your music having such a vivid atmosphere, have you ever considered creating music videos, visualisers, or short films for your songs or albums?

WIYN: Yes! I am actually planning on making a music video this summer for a new song. I’ve always liked the idea of making everything myself, and to be able to have the creative freedom over a music video with my music makes it sound very fun to do.

Kade: Speaking of new songs, when can fans expect new music from what is your name?

WIYN: Patience is a virtue [laughs].

Kade: Well outside of making music, what have you been listening to as of late? Any new artists or songs that you’ve been liking especially?

WIYN: Frank Ocean has really grown on me this week. I’ve always liked a couple of his songs in the past, but I never tried to sit down and listen to something like Blonde to be able to appreciate his other tracks too. The production is just beautiful, and I kind of want to make something like that maybe.

Kade: Do you have any future plans to collaborate on a record, whether it's a split like Rabbit EP or a joint collaborative project?

WIYN: I am relatively open to something like that again, although I wouldn’t say it is a top priority for me right now.

Kade: One thing I’ve always been curious about is your name. where did it originate from?

WIYN: I don’t know where exactly it’s from, but I chose that name because I wanted to pick something that would look strange in a way that it would stand out in a list of other artists but still look cool enough to be on an album cover. 

Kade: And for a final question: what are 3 things that you would love to accomplish over the next year?

WIYN: Another album, perform live shows hopefully, and not be broke [laughs].

Kade: Thanks so much for your responses man, I think that’ll probably do it.

WIYN: Thank you for the questions.

Listen to their lasted album ‘My Name Is…’ below.