On June, Goldenvoice, the masterminds behind Coachella and FYF Fest and us at LifeBoxset will present Santa Fe: a 3 night festival featuring outstanding talent from very different cultures in eclectic encounters that will be like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Ninja Tune affiliate Joe Corrales, better known as Yppah, will be one of our guests of honor and we got to chat with him about what he has in store for us at Santa Fe and some of his favorite music.

Catch him live at The Well on June 5th with Mexican underground mastermind Teen Flirt and Ecuador’s Nicola Cruz supporting Little People.

Get your tickets for Santa Fe‘s opening night right here!

LifeBoxset: We can bet you have a weird taste in music.

Yppah: “I do not know if it is weird it is just different from what I do. Most of the stuff that I listen to is kind of different from what I make.”

L: What’s the sound you really like that’s actually the most opposite from what you do?

Y: “I don’t know if its really weird, I really get a lot into like sixties and seventies psych rock and metal. Like Q65, they’re just one of those “garagy” bands. I have a lot of compilations with tons of bands like that, but they always stand out. I just like their style, they do it really well. Better than most.”

Y: “I really like Minimal Wave from the 80’s. It’s basically very drum machine and synth with not a lot to it. A couple of synth lines and really early drum machines. Sometimes there’s vocals, sometimes there’s not. I really like “The Game” by Linear Movement.”

L: Do you like anything more contemporary?

Y: “They’re not super up to date. I really like The Smiths, I always come back to the stuff I listened to growing up. A lot of shoegaze bands. My favorite used to be My Bloody Valentine, then it was Ride. I got a chance to see them recently. They just got back together and I was lucky they played an hour from me in Pomona. It was cool ‘cause it wasn’t really packed.”

L: Any guilty pleasures?

Y: “It’s not guilty. I’m really into Suicide. What would embarass me if people knew I liked it? I don’t know, I really don’t know. I’m really open with what I listen too.”

L: How about your label mates on Ninja Tune?

Y: “They put out a lot of Brainfeeder, so I’m really into that, like Lapalux.”

L: So it’s been a while since you put out an album… Why’s that?

Y: “Yeah, I had to start over with that. I started about 3 different times. I’m almost finished with it now. I’m in the middle of the final push.”

L: What was it that you didn’t like about your past work?

Y: “It wasn’t as much as stuff I didn’t like as much as it was about stuff that could be better. I kept accumulating different gear and trying different things. Every time I got something new it kept changing my workflow. I got to incorporate all the stuff I learnt over these 3 years into what I’m finishing.”

L: What do you think about the single / EP culture that’s going on nowadays? Do you still like working on LP’s?

Y: “I do. I prefer that. I’ve always been album focused. I’ve never made singles and then other songs around it. When I listen to music I like to do full albums, I have a hard time just listening to singles.”

L: When you work on music do you ask for other people’s opinions on your work?

Y: “No. The last album was the only time I actually collaborated with someone on another album, with the vocalist I had. Usually it’s just me. When I have songs I send them to other producer friends I know and just ask their opinion, mainly on the mix. I feel really secluded on the way I do things. If I show someone something it’s pretty much done.”

L: How do you know a song is finished? Specially when computer software makes it so easy to keep changing stuff…

Y: “That’s why it’s taking so long to finish. I moved more to hardware and just use the computer as a means to an end. I kinda just know. Usually when i bounce the final song out and take it to the car I know. Usually if it’s in the car it’s done.”

L: How has your live act evolved in the past years?

Y: “It changes almost every time. The preferred setup is with a live band. But it depends on who’s available. Recently it’s been me and my drummer. I’m running the electronic stuff, samplers and synths. That’s working well because its really compact and entertaining for me as well as for the audience. I like doing it that way.”

L: What can we expect for Santa Fe?

Y: “This is the most fun I’ve had putting on a live act. I added a modular synthesizer which i never thought i would use live because its unpredictable. But it’s gonna be fun to improvise with it live.”