Meet Kyle Young: Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kyle Young and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kyle, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
My original idea was to create a brand that helped me promote my music. I find that people pay attention to your work more when someone else says that it’s good. I wanted to make something new and unique that wouldn’t cause any copyright conflicts down the road. My goal was to build an online presence that I could use to share mine, and other people’s work. My first step was creating a name. I knew that I wanted everything perfect and clean. I needed a name that I could get a website, and various social media handles with the exact spelling of my brand. After a few minutes of googling, I found a site that generates random words, and also searches whether the domain name and social media accounts are available. I pressed the generate button 3 times, and on the 3rd try I got “Youradica”. I liked it because it was a random word, the first 3 letters are Y-O-U like my last name (Young), and it sounded exotic like Balenciaga or something. I pronounce it u·rad·ic·uh. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do at first, but I knew one of my missions was to make hats. I chose headwear because I’ve always worn hats since a young age. The hats I started with were adjustable. This was really key because unlike shirts, you don’t have to worry about getting all of the sizes. Also, another thing I liked about choosing hats was, you can wear the same hat more often than you can a t-shirt. I fell in love with the idea of making clothing because it becomes a moving billboard. The more people I can get to wear my hats, the more awareness is formed. I also figured worst comes to worst I will wear my own hats and always have a fresh one! Youradica, was eventually defined as “Young Radical in California”, thanks to my dad. The journey has gone from making dad hats, beanies, snapbacks, truckers hats, bucket hats, and now the experimental unreleased shirts and hoodies. I have always admired the way that Supreme Clothing branded has their merchandise, and has various items unrelated to clothing. I wanted to do something like that. Some other products Youradica has powered are songs, music videos, a recording studio, and mobile apps. For the future I’d like to make more video content, host events and parties, and expand the apparel selection. Forming an indie record label is also a strong desire at the moment. 

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My main love creatively is hip hop music. I love to rap and produce beats. I have been doing it since about 2004. At the same time, I have always been a visual artist. As a kid I would always doodle and draw. As years passed, and technology developed, I progressed into more of the digital realm. My interests eventually floated to graphic design and video/ film work. Music came a little later. I feel that I am pretty unique. It’s something I am always hearing. I honestly just think I’m different. I know this because even when I try to be “normal” everything always comes out a little weird. I think this comes from my interest in multiple genres, and creative mediums. Sometimes before I finish a song, I can see the video, or the cover art. I think I have a gift of visualizing my final product, and then working backwards to fill in the pieces. I am most proud of never giving up. I have been at the creative thing for a while but never lost sight of the dream of being wildly successful at doing what I love. I have been tempted with jobs and career changes. I even became a teacher for 3 years and it was miserable. I am proud that I overcame the darkest time of my life, and moved back to LA to pursue my dream. I got to where I am by working with professionals. My dad has always had a media company, so I was able to learn the ropes from some really great industry people. I learned photoshop and animation techniques from people that have worked at Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. This helped me get jobs and work at a very young age. It also helped to start to build clientele. I eventually went to film school where I learned a ton about film production. This helped me become a producer on a feature film and secure more filming and editing work in the future. The whole time I have been compiling skills that I use to this day to make a living being creative. Nothing has been easy though. Whether it’s balancing time, money, or lack thereof, there are always challenges. I don’t mind challenges though, I like to learn from my experiences. Most of these hurdles were able to be overcome by staying positive, working hard, being patient, thinking outside of the box, and not panicking. One lesson I learned is to give people what they want. If you are working for someone, and they are paying you fairly, give them what they ask. Taking your ego out of someone else’s project is a great way to prevent stress. Taking your time is another lesson. There is no rush, do everything the best you can. The next thing might seem like a contradiction, but I would suggest to forget about perfection. Sometimes you just have to get your idea out and worry about the mistakes later. I’ve noticed people not putting out music because they are worried about what others will think about it. My philosophy is, if I’m thinking of my career as only one move, then I don’t see any longevity in myself. I think the most important lesson is to invest in yourself. Make your brand look great. I’ve made the mistake of blowing money on frivolous things, and then saying the productive spending is too expensive. This is backwards. Invest time and money in yourself and career first, and then party. I want people to know that like Youradica, you can do anything. I made a brand out of thin air that real people care about. It’s bizarre. I went from sleeping on the floor for 6 months to coming out on the other side with something to share.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I always take people to Hollywood, especially if you’ve never been . I think it’s a must see. Some of my other favorite spots are Venice Beach. It’s fun to skate down there and people watch. I’m convinced the west coast has the best Indian food. I’m always trying to convert people to Indian food lovers. As far as food we would have to make that stop.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to shout out my Dad, Joe Young. He’s been an inspiration since birth. He is a creator and artist as, and I wouldn’t be into any of the things I am into now without him. He is someone that is constantly helping others, sacrificing for his family, and deserves the extra shout out.

Website: www.youradica.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/youradica www.instagram.com/thekyleyoung

Youradica Run Mobile App:
Iphone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/youradica-run/id1516946372
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.beatquestgames.YouradicaRun&hl=en_US&gl=US