Adrian Yunk aka Bitrat is a 16-year-old trap producer who grew up in the small town of Shawano Wisconsin. Music became his true source of inspiration after listening to artists such as Martin Garrix, Calvin Harris, and Yellow Claw. He created his first track which according to him sounded like “A crappy version of a Mario theme song” not happy with his first he made another and another, until eventually he had his first album. Eventually he ended up being the youngest act signed to Speedsound REC at the age of 15. An album and multiple singles followed as his fan-grew, and he has new releases currently in the works.
1. How long have you been in the music business and how did you get started in EDM in the first place?
Adrian Yunk: I’ve been in the music not to long actually, I would say about a year and half. Basically I got started in music after I decided it would be a good idea to give it a try and downloaded the FL studio demo.
2. Who were your first and strongest musical influences that you can remember?
Adrian Yunk: Oh wow that’s a really good question. Well I would have to say probably Martin Garrix, and Carl Cox. Those guys really know how to bring energy to a crowd and more importantly their music.
3. Is there any one of these that you’d like to collaborate with and why?
Adrian Yunk: If I could collab with either one of them it would be a dream come true. I feel like if that happened my popularity would boost an insane amount.
4. Is there any artist or producer in specific that you’d like to collaborate with and why?
Adrian Yunk: I’ve always wanted to collab with Rihanna haha. She brings out a lot of emotion on just about every track she’s on.
5. What do you think separates you from the crowd of producers emerging right now?
Adrian Yunk: What separates me I guess would have to be that music is everything for me. I feel like a lot of producers no matter what genre are producing to be cool or to make money. I produce because I love to inspire and I love that energy and that fun that you get when performing.
6. Which is your preferred piece of studio equipment that you never want to be without?
Adrian Yunk: oh for sure my laptop. I have all my music and production software on there as well as all my tools for when I do live performances.
7. What is your favorite style of music in the EDM genre? And do you work with all styles or just stick to one?
Adrian Yunk: Personally I really like Big Room and I love to produce Big Room just because it’s just crazy how much hype and energy you can get just from listening to a Big Room track. I have produced other genres of edm including trap at one time but now I can say I’m mostly an electro house and Big Room kind of guy.
8. What would say the biggest goal in the music industry for you would be?
Adrian Yunk: I myself as well as a lot of EDM artists would have to say tommorowland. It’s such a beautiful place and venue to play and the people there are just so happy and joyful.
9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music so far?
Adrian Yunk: Life personally would have to be when my mom passed away when I was 7 or 8. Music wise would have to be when i dropped from the first label i was signed to. Both were really hard to get past.
10. What key elements do you always try and infuse into your music, regardless of style?
Adrian Yunk: Emotion is the biggest key element for me. Whether it be Aggression, sadness, or happiness it’s the thing I try to bring out with the melodies and kicks in the track.
11. What’s your ideal producing environment? Locked away alone, collaborating with others, or maybe in a specific place etc.?
Adrian Yunk: For me it would have to be a nice quiet place with lots of room to walk around in and lots of mixers for mastering.
12. Which aspect of being an independent artist and the music making process excites you most and which aspect discourages you most?
Adrian Yunk: For me it would have to be when people tell me they like my music and they like listening to it. It’s really a feeling like no other. The bad side of that is when you feel like people don’t like your music or no one is listening to it.
13. How do you market and manage your music career? Do you have a management team or do you control everything by yourself?
Adrian Yunk: Really I control everything by myself but I do have a manager named Phil, and he helps out a lot when making sure things run smooth for me. Production wise though I do just about everything myself.
14. If you had the opportunity to change one thing about how the music business works right now, what would that be?
Adrian Yunk: The Demo teams. A lot of young artists aren’t heard because demo teams aren’t really listening to the stuff that’s coming in. Thus we have a lot of good tracks and producers never being heard.
15. If someone has never heard your music, which keywords would you personally use to describe your overall sound and style?
Adrian Yunk: I would say energetic and happy
16. Do you consider Internet and all the social media websites as fundamental in building a career in music today, and what is your personal relationship with the new technology at hand?
Adrian Yunk: I’m up to date on everything. Something a lot of friends and fans don’t know about me is that I’m a HUGE tech nerd haha. I’m always up to date on new music tech as well as just technology in general.
17. Do you have any certain things you need before performing, any rituals or things you do to get prepped?
Adrian Yunk: wow good question, before every gig I always thank god for everything he has blessed me with. Another huge thing I need is pizza and soda, I love pizza with a passion.
18. The complexity of the music tech world (Hardware, plug-ins, DAWs, etc.) can sometimes be intimidating. What setup do you use simplify to your music making?
Adrian Yunk: Personally I love to use physical hardware. I use an electronic drum set hooked up to an audio interface that goes to logic for my kicks. For my melodies and synths I use a Yamaha piano.
19. Are you usually able to sit down and just bang out your compositions, or are your creations work-in-progress for days or weeks on end?
Adrian Yunk: Months and months go into my track. I always feel like I have something to change or add to my tracks.
20. What are some things you like to do in your spare time when not making music?
Adrian Yunk: Really I like to either play games or work on some of my computers. Another thing I do when not making the music is performing it live.
Social media:
Instagram: adrian_yunk
Snapchat: adrianyunk
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