Article by: Clara Copps
Photo by: Matthew Cowen @mattcwen
“I’m running out of wind in the windy city” laughed south Florida artist Yeek on a chilly Tuesday night at Lincoln Hall. This remark made sense, as he had just spent the previous 3 minutes jumping around the stage, getting the crowd hyped up to his latest single “Feels like I’m flying” which was released at the end of October. He continued to bring the energy for the rest of the show, playing songs from his newest album “Valencia” like “3000 miles” and “Overthinking”.
The show was opened by LAN Party, a Chicago-based electronic and dance artist. He played music from his latest EP “PLUR”, in reference to a rave mantra he found in a 90s zine. The abbreviation stands for “Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect”. He was joined by rapper and friend Chase Alex, who joined him for a few songs. He did a great job of interacting with the crowd and getting everyone hyped up for the main act.
Sebastian Carandang, better known as Yeek, is mainly a pop artist but is continually pushing the boundaries of the genre, often dipping into indie rock and hip hop. He initially released his music on SoundCloud and was very much and still is a DIY artist, doing all the writing, producing, mixing, recording, and mastering himself. In an interview with Complex, he attributed this to getting tired of having to wait for the finished product, and not wanting to “be the guy to bug everyone all the time”.
His talent for making music is notable considering the wide range of sounds he includes in his music. It reveals his mastery of different instruments and software, not to mention performance. His stage setup was expressive, including blow-up figures and visuals projected on a screen that included video shots of the California countryside and a graphic of the word “Yeek” that was spinning on top of a neon green background.
Yeek’s performance energy also translated into his interactions with the crowd. He talked about being a Filipino-American man in the music industry and how he wants to see more Filipino representation in the music industry, a statement met by cheers from the crowd. He followed up with “Only in the West”, a song about the struggles of being an artist in California. Yeek mentioned that normally he likes to play with a full band, but since it’s really expensive to bring a lot of people on tour, he just brought his cousin to DJ for him.
Near the end of the set, a pit opened up in the crowd as we all danced to “Shake”, and someone immediately ran into the middle and did a backflip that was probably 90% successful. This is a good indicator of the vibe of this show: chaotic, but everyone matched the energy.
Although I had not listened to Yeek a whole lot before the show, his endearing and honest demeanor as converted me into a wholehearted fan. I’d recommend Yeek to people that enjoy high energy indie rock or artists like Dominic Fike and Roy Blair. You can listen to his new album “Valencia” on Spotify and Apple Music.