Joining us at the Level Awards space, in the Nexus Lounge, Miami edition, we spoke with 4YÛ about his recent rebrand, his musical hero, and how the incredible power of music helped him through a difficult time.
In 2016, at just 21 years old, the incredible Asian American DJ and Producer, formerly known as Gabriel Uy, first broke into the music industry. Now, after 8 years of success in the New York nightlife scene working with Hardwell, Tiësto, and Alan Walker, he’s rebranded to 4YÛ to present his music to bigger and broader audiences.
Along with the rebrand came a wave of productivity, with five singles dropping since the start of this year alone. In addition, he’s continuing to perform at venues across New York, such as Avant Gardener and Brooklyn Hangar.
He describes his work as an uplifting trance, big-room techno, and progressive house. All of his latest tracks have been released across a handful of underground labels, but he says he hopes to release on labels such as Armada and Scorchin’ soon.
Here at Nexus, we love to ask our Take5 questions – a series of fun, funny, or just plain weird questions designed to get to know an artist a little better. For 4YÛ we were really curious to know about the musical influences that inspired him and it seems one answer quickly sprang to mind.
“So my musical hero is Hardwell… I first saw him in 2013, and I was going through a rough patch back in the day. I was very introverted and not in the right headspace - a very negative headspace. When I heard Apollo for the first time at Electric Zoo in 2013, I smiled once again… That helped me discover dance music and music production, so I could smile and actually be happy for who I was for the first time.”
Outside of music, Gabriel says he’s particularly passionate about travel, especially when he can explore new places, immerse himself in new cultures, and appreciate some of the world’s most impressive architecture. Or, to use his exact words:
“I love to not look at my phone!”
