Justin Young
Known for playing guitar with Colbie Caillat, Justin Young is not only a talented guitarist, but is also a talented singer. We chatted about his music, growing up in Hawaii, playing for Colbie and his future plans. Visit his Facebook page (link below) for tour dates and more info!
Arin: What got you started in music?
Justin: I guess I just loved it so much growing up, I don’t think it was specifically one thing, I just had a love for it and I did it all the time and Hawaii is a very musical place to grow up so I carried my ukulele around school and I learned from other people, you know everyone kind of plays and sings, but I would just spend hours and hours of my time in my room trying to play Boys to Men songs. So that’s how I kind of fell into it, it wasn’t any particular person that pushed me in that direction, I just loved it so much. I had a career in Hawaii, for a school project we recorded a demo and sold it around school for an economic class and through that I got a record deal with a local record label in Hawaii and did music there for a while, then moved to LA and met Colbie.A: What’s it been like touring with Colbie and working with her?
J: It’s been great. We met through mutual friends in LA before she was doing much, but had a little bit of MySpace success and we became friends and were fans of each others music and we played some shows in the same places and hung out a few times and then she went on tour and just blew up all of the sudden and a couple months after she started touring, she asked me to audition for her band and I did and its been really wonderful for me and I can’t complain.
A: What is your favorite song to play with her?
J: That’s a good question. I guess it kind of depends every night, but “Lucky” is fun for me because I get to sing if Jason Mraz isn’t there, but it’s probably whatever new song we throw on the set is the one I look forward to most, but I guess there’s no one particular song.
A: What are your plans for your own music?
J: I’m still writing and recording, and I recorded a record over the past few years in-between working on Colbie’s stuff and I’m in the process of rerecording some of the tracks and fine-tuning some stuff and we’ll see what happens. One way or another I’ll be putting some new music out in the next few months and playing a bit more too.
A: Where’s the best place for people to find your music and keep in touch?
J: Probably on Facebook and Twitter .
A: What’s your favorite lyric you have ever written?
J: That’s a tough question. There are a couple of new songs that I’ve been playing and I like the lyrics because it’s rare that you express something exactly the way you mean it when you think it, because you have an idea and getting it out is one thing but putting it together in the form of a song is another and there is usually some compromise in that part, but I definitely feel like I’ve written a few songs that exactly articulated what I was feeling, but a specific line I would have to look up some lyrics.
A: What are you most looking forward to about this tour?
J: Probably just playing my own music. I love playing Colbie’s music and being a part of a back up band is definitely fulfilling in a different way, but it’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to really dig in to my own music.
A: What is it like to know you get to play a set each night?
J: It’s great to know that I’ll be able to really get comfortable with the set and some new songs. Getting feedback from an audience every night and building on a show is not something I’ve been able to do, only playing once every few months.
A: What can fans expect to see?
J: As a fan, I always enjoy seeing music in an intimate acoustic setting and there will be a variety of different artists doing just that. I’ll also have an EP for sale at the shows. I haven’t put out new music in 4 years, so that’s a big deal for me.
www.facebook.com/justinyoungonline
www.twitter.com/justinyoung
www.youtube.com/user/justinkyoung
