Richard Youngs (b. 1966, Cambridge, England) is a musician based in Glasgow, Scotland. In a career spanning more than 35 years, his prolific output defies the existence of any discography. His work is an ongoing experiment in sound and song form, straddling the traditional and avant-garde, encompassing every genre and no genre.
Summer 2022, we are moving home, and for the first time in my adult life I have a dedicated music room. Automatic North is the sound of me in this room playing what came first out of the packing boxes: an analogue synth, a drum machine, a snare and a shaker. All digitally edited, since as well as playing instruments, I find that fun and exciting too.
I don’t do background music. When I listen, I listen. Nothing is casual about sound. Even music I don’t particularly like gets my attention. So, in some way, all listening is deep. As for extended listening, growing up – pre-internet – when often the only way to hear a piece of music was to buy the record, one thing I looked at on a sleeve were the track durations. Long tracks intrigued me. Side long tracks were the ideal. So, while my attitude was more punk than prog, the soundtrack of my teenage years was more prog than punk. I’ve since come to like everything and nothing, yet I continue to be drawn to long track durations. Stretching out still strikes me as something to aspire to.
Richard Youngs: analogue synth, digital editing, drum machine, hand percussion and snare drum. Summer, 2022.
Purchasing: https://longformeditions.bandcamp.com/track/automatic-north