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Yu Su (苏玉) was born and raised in Kaifeng, a city in central China's Henan province, just south of the Yellow River. After highschool, she moved to Vancouver to continue her education, later on discovering her passion for making electronic music, which, she'll admit she never imagined becoming her career. Fast forward a few years later and Yu insisted is doing what many thought impossible and staying true to herself, creating a place for herself in the electronic music realm.

We caught up with Yu to speak about her music, life outside of music, her hometown, and plenty more.

01. "Home" as she remembers  

After hearing Yu was born and raised in Kaifeng, people who aren't from China might be curious about the city, but people who are from China might actually be shocked… because generally speaking, Kaifeng, a beautiful historical city that is filled with ancient attractions, has nothing much to do with electronic music.

Although Yu's hometown might not have a thriving electronic music scene, her unique upbringing makes her the artist she is today. "If a person who is trying to create art but doesn't have a certain area of experience that is rich enough, then the creative output must be bland and empty. Therefore people (artists) must thrive to be multifaceted, only in that way can we add depth to our creations," shares Yu. She used to dislike emphasizing her background when she first started out as an artist, thinking that kind of distinction would put tags and labels on her and potentially influence how audiences received her work. Later on, she realized instead of fighting it, she would rather let people get to know who she is through her work and let the music speak for itself.

Yu continues, "I want to let my music convey the stories that I want to portray. Perhaps it is hard to understand what's in a person's head, but I can use my art to make people get me, understand what I'm trying to say, and that I can deliver my own uniqueness."

02. How did your music career start?

Like many Chinese families, parents tend to have some sort of obsession for their children to be somewhat artistic. Growing up as Chinese kids, we would always be signed up to all sorts of extracurriculars - piano lessons, dance classes, exoctic Chinese instrument practices… afraid that we would not be competitive enough later on in the world. Yu was no exception; her mom bought her a piano when she was four, and that opened up her door to music.

The first time Yu went to a club was when she was in college in Vancouver, after a friend dragged her out one random night. As an anthropology major at the time, she didn't have much knowledge of EDM, let alone the club scene. However, that one night completely initiated her curiosity in this culture. She started researching online what equipment and software one needs to make electronic music before diving headfirst into the scene.  

In Summer 2018, she decided to quit her job at the museum doing archive work and focused on making music full-time as an artist, including taking on gigs as a DJ.

When asked about her plans on whether she would want to keep touring and DJing, she said yes if she doesn't have any major life changes, although she might put a pause on it when she decides to have children. "I'm very much looking forward to raising my child under a creative environment, that's why I want to have kids," she explains

We asked Yu what the differences are between performing in China and Europe, saying "In other countries [outside of China], I just need to fulfill my job as a DJ and perform a good set, and people will dance to my music; but in China, there are so many inconsistencies, not many people are familiar with electronic music, the audiences are less well-versed in this genre, therefore to me, they are like blank sheets of papers. It is interesting that I can bring new experiences to them during my sets."

03. The Eastern elements in Yu Su's music

Yu's cultural roots are actually already explored in her latest body of work. Her album that was released January of this year, Yellow River Blue, contains a lot of eastern cultural nuances in the title itself.

Curious if the album is related to home or being homesick, we asked and Yu replied, "If you think it is then it is, if you think it's not then it's ok too. I like when people read my work subjectively in their own ways. Like the first track on my album 'Xiu', the word 'xiu' is actually taken from my mother's name. And in terms of Yellow River Blue, it's just what the words literally mean by themselves, nothing too deep."

04. Breaking boundaries as an artist

In this stage of Yu's career, she wants to be challenged creatively in different areas. For example, she designed the music for Chinese fashion designer SAMUEL GUàŒ YANG's fashion show. SAMUEL GUàŒ YANG is a fashion house that mixes and merges Chinese, western historic, and contemporary references in their designs. With Yu's music creation aligning with the brand's ideology, it created a dynamic that flowed seamlessly in both worlds.

"It was 2019 since I last performed in China, later on COVID hit and then I just stopped. If there is an opportunity to tour in China again, I'd like to perform in Arnaya. It'll be a destination where I can enjoy what the coast has to offer while performing. Besides music, I really enjoy the environment outside the cities," shares Yu.

Yu currently wants to stay in Vancouver and keep making music for the foreseeable future. To her, Vancouver is the perfect place where she can tune in with nature and be from not the distraction that plagues major metropolitan cities. What Yu longs for in her musical journey and her work is like a river stream that is subtle and sustainable, and not like a bloom of firework that's here today and gone tomorrow.

We look forward to what Yu will bring us in 2022, and hopefully we can catch her at one of her performances soon. For now, you can find her curated sets on her NTS monthly residency.