f: Hi Yazmina, it’s a pleasure to chat with you today, how are you?
Yazmina: Hey, I’m great thank you!
f: Please tell us a little about yourself, where you’re from and how you started making dance music?
Yazmina: I’m from East London, grew up in Hackney and have had an interesting journey with music so far. It all started when I started making rock music in my teens, which developed when I joined an electronic rock band for a couple of years, where I was writing songs, singing and getting my ideas down on my Mac (Garageband, of course). I went on my first girls’ holiday after college to Ibiza, and it was there that I discovered my love for House music, so I started making the most cheesy edits imaginable on Garageband, which I later upgraded to Logic. I had 2 House releases under another alias in 2016 and then left the industry when I moved to Prague for work. I returned to the industry in 2022 after going to an Ableton course at Point blank and that’s when I started to believe I could do this as a career.
f: Who did you listen to growing up and do they influence your music career at all today?
Yazmina: My mum was into a mix of new romantic, Arabic music and jungle that my aunt would have given to her at the time, so she would blast that out when she was cleaning the house, haha. Growing up, I was very eclectic from R&B to Indie to heavy metal, which moved to Dubstep and then House, and I think it all influences me now. I love good music and I don’t like to put myself in a box.
f: How would you describe your sound?
Yazmina: It’s definitely evolved a lot, I’m still experimenting with different sounds and finding my sound which I think will change over time naturally. At this current time, it’s a mix of Deep House and Tech House but I don’t want to really label myself.
f: What was your first release?
f: Which of your own tracks was the biggest labour of love to create / personal favourite?
Yazmina: I think “Alright” is my favourite so far as I feel it connects or at least I connect with it. This was released on a compilation with Under No Illusion records in 2024.
f: And your most successful release?
Yazmina: “The Principle” which was released with Nervous Records in 2024
f: You’ve just made your impressive debut on Yousef’s Circus Recordings with your new release, ‘Amnesia’ EP, what we can expect to hear?
Yazmina: Thankyou, appreciate that! Expect to hear two very different tracks, “Amnesia” which features lucky is more deep house influenced, very chord and vocal hook driven. Flangé Bongo is more percussive and peak time.
f: Are you pleased with the results?
Yazmina: Yes I’m very pleased! This was the first EP that I mixed down myself and I can hear the progression from where I was to where I am now.
f: ‘Amnesia’ features vocals from Lucky Samurai, what did he bring to the table?
Yazmina: Lucky brings the vibes! He is such a good vocalist, he came up with this pretty much on the spot when we were recording the track. We’ve got a lot of work coming together that I’m really excited to share!
f: How hard has it been breaking into the scene and what’s been your biggest triumph and your biggest challenge so far?
Yazmina: It’s definitely not for the faint of heart. I’ve learnt that rejection is a big part of the process and I think I’m at peace with that now. My biggest challenge is that I don’t chase trends because it feels inauthentic so I’m still waiting for my time to come. I think the biggest challenge so far is crossing over the releases to live. It’s an area I haven’t cracked yet but I’m working on it. My biggest triumphs are my releases with Hottrax, Nervous and now Circus, which are all bucket list labels, and I’m really proud of that.
f: What’s your favourite piece of studio kit?
Yazmina: My Maschine Mk3 is my favourite because I can be hands on. Outside of this, my synths etc are all in the box, with that said, I’m looking to get more analogue hardware, I think that’s the next step for me to evolve.
f: What’s been your favourite gig so far this year and where are you most looking forward to performing soon?
Yazmina: Playing Hoer was very cool and I also played at an independent festival in Folkestone which I loved!
f: Which dance track holds the most precious memories for you?
Yazmina: A track that speaks to me on multiple levels is “Let it go” by Louie Vega, The Martinez Brothers and Marc E. Bassy, the vocals speak to me as a queer woman and it’s timeless. Honourable mention to Au Seve by Julio Bashmore, this was my entry song into House music!
f: Who are your top 3 current producers?
Yazmina: There are so many! Kerri Chandler, Hilit Kolet, Dennis Quin, Dennis Ferrer, Martinez Brothers – I had to go with 5 sorry!
f: What else are you working on at the moment that you can tell us about?
Yazmina: I’m working on tonnes of new music and I have a lot of collabs in the works, watch this space for 2026!
‘Amnesia EP’ is out now on Circus Recordings.