ugly zucc is a young artist in the underground that has been steadily rising. Though relatively new, he already has an impressive library of songs featuring other rising talents such as 1800entity, Yung Prenup, and ggravee as well as collaborations with ColdWorldGang veterans YungJZAisDead, Adharmasatru, and Trey Scarlet. Last week I talked with zucc about several things; how he got his start, watching YouTube tutorials on making beats, meeting YungJZAisDead and producing the well received song “Like Prom Night”. We also discussed his future plans, which includes a duo EP featuring an unnamed artist and moving to California to make more music with his friends.
UU: What was your first song?
ugly zucc: don’t let me fall (prod. the outset)
From beats to mixing vocals – what was your learning process like when you were starting out?
When I was starting out I pretty much just watched a bunch of YouTube tutorials, and straight up copied them to learn things. Then I started making original beats, which I released. For mixing vocals, I learned in about 30 mins before I recorded my first song; it didn’t seem too hard since I knew how to work FL already.
I noticed early on you were already collaborating with veterans like YungJZAisDead, Adharmasatru, and other CWG members.. Even now some of your music sounds influenced by the CWG cute bell and chime-driven style. How did you end up working with YungJZAisDead and CWG in general?
I saw a tweet that scum posted asking if anyone wanted to join this Skype call, and I DM’d him asking to be in it and he added me. YungJZAisDead was in there and we pretty much kept talking in the Skype calls, and became really good friends. He liked my music, so he sent me a beat and the rest is history. We still work [together] a lot, because he pretty much taught me most of what I know about making cute “CWG type beats,” and I’m really one of the few people out of CWG that can really pull it off.
In addition to those bell-and-chime styled beats, I notice that you still put out guitar-driven trap beats. Do you go back to that sound because you’re drawn to it or is it because you want the variety in sound?
A little bit of both. I love to make guitar beats and I like to be diverse, but i’m trying to get away from the guitar scene really. I’ll pretty much only use guitar beats from my friends or make guitar beats for my friends.
You recently produced the single “Like Prom Night” off YungJZAisDead’s pink&blue album. The song has gained a lot of attention – with the video hosted on Astari’s YouTube channel, and shared on Twitter by No Jumper. Even reading the YouTube comments people were complimenting the beat. Was it a boost to your confidence as someone who is steadily rising?
All the love from Like Prom Night did really gave me a confidence boost. People are loving the song, and the beat and people are starting to see that I’m talented and know what I’m doing. It really makes me want to start getting more music out there and take this seriously.
Speaking of getting more music out there, you’ve already put out another song with YungJZAisDead and one featuring Yung Prenup. You’re moving at an impressive pace. Do you see yourself putting out an EP, mixtape or album in general?
I have a duo EP that’s going to be in the works in a few months!
You’re from Louisiana and still currently reside there. I know before you’ve said your goal is to move to California. Do you think this is because there’s a clear advantage in living specifically in California as a musician?
I mostly want to move to California so I can be with my bros and really focus on music and starting something, and its happening sooner than later.
You moving California would mean you being closer to a lot of the people you’ve already collaborated with like the CWG guys as well 1800entity. Regardless of location, is there anyone you would like to work with in the future?
Yeah, I really want to work with fats’e, dub, and notmorgn. I also wanna make some things with SK.
UU: Tell me more about your music as Zayr. I recently went through and listened to your discography on that page as well. I noticed a lot of the songs are sad and feature a lot of samples from movies.
Zayr is where I like to post my instrumentals on. Just another page to showcase my production without having to put vocals on it. I love to make sad instrumentals tho, I’m a very emotional person and music helps me let out. But I like to make really any kind of music, and Zayr is where I upload it all to. You never know what to expect what’s next on there.
https://soundcloud.com/zayrmusic
You’re creating music at an impressive pace. As someone relatively new, is there any advice you would give to those who are hesitant to try their hand at creating music or even those who don’t feel like their music is good enough to put out there?
Honestly, just keep creating and releasing music. Don’t stress over stats all the time, and try to meet people who have the same music interest and style as you. If you’re hesitant to drop your music, just do it. If you like it, there’s going to be others that like it too.
Thank you for taking the time to speak with me. It’s been really great seeing you grow as an artist and getting well deserved recognition. Do you have anything you’d like to say at the conclusion of the interview? Any shoutouts?
I’d like to thank you for interviewing me, and thank everyone who supports my music you guys are the best. I wanna shout out YungJZAisDeadisdead and all of CWG for supporting me, helping me, and overall being great friends. shout out to yung prenup, ggravee, 1800entity, and caspr too, they’re the homies