Adrian Younge

Composer, arranger, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Adrian Younge — also a film editor, business owner, and entertainment law professor — quickly transitioned from sampling records with an MPC to playing several instruments. During the late '90s, he performed bass and keyboards in a band but grew frustrated with relying upon his mates, so he adapted by learning to play more instruments, as well as the ins and outs of analog recording. Drawing from his love for Italian film music, he conceived Venice Dawn and circulated 1000 copies of an EP he wrote, played, and produced in full. Several years later, he was asked to edit a Blaxploitation-style film titled Black Dynamite, and he also provided the music. Released in 2009 on the record label of Wax Poetics magazine. In late 2011, Venice Dawn was revived (and eventually expanded into a performing group) for the sake of Something About April, another nostalgic yet utterly unique recording steeped in late-'60s and early-'70s psychedelic soul. Although it seemed custom-made for sample hounds, it was thoroughly engrossing from front to back, with equal emphasis on songwriting and production. Younge subsequently worked with one of his favorite soul groups, the Delfonics. The collaboration led to Adrian Younge Presents the Delfonics, released on Wax Poetics in March 2013. A busy man, Younge also operates the Artform Studio, a record store and salon located in Los Angeles, California.