June 21st, 2021

SoundGym Hero: Yuriy Mikhailov

Yuriy Mikhailov in the studio

Started attending music school at the age of 6, A signed artist at the British record label "Anjunabeats" and currently located in Kyiv, Ukraine, Yuriy Mikhailov is this month SoundGym Hero.

Who are you and where are you from?

My name is Yuriy Mikhailov (aka meHiLove). I was born 24 Oct 1986 in Kyiv, Ukraine into a family of musicians, my parents are honoured artists of Ukraine. my Mom is a singer and my Dad is a jazz guitarist.

How did you get into music and for how long have you been making music?

When I was very young, I liked to put a stool in front of me, take drumsticks and tap out different rhythms. I also liked to approach the piano and play something. My parents noticed my passion for music and decided to send me at the age of 6 to a music school in the piano class.

Soon we got a synthesizer and even then I tried to create something of my own. In 2001, I graduated with honours from a music school. But I decided not to go further to study at the academy of music, since I was fed up with classical music for 8 years and I wanted to have a higher education. Therefore, in 2003 I entered the university to study programming because at that time I was fond of computers and everything connected with them. But already in the first year of university, I realized that I didn’t like programming, and I returned to music again, but that time - to electronic music, as I always loved dance music, listened to it a lot and wanted to try to create something myself.

One day a friend and classmate told me that there are various programs for creating music on a computer, and that's how I got to know FL Studio (at that time Fruity Loops). I began to study the program in my free time, but at that time there was no such an abundance of training videos (in my opinion, there were none at all :), I had to study everything by trial and error method, which took a lot of time. When I studied the program a little, I began to try to create my own tracks, which I then gave my friends to listen to. Friends highly appreciated my work and this motivated me to continue in kind.

After graduating from university, I became even more self-taught in music, sound engineering and sound design and looked for a job related to music more or less, as a result of which I worked in various companies as a music editor, sound engineer and sound designer. But at the same time, even at work, in my free time, I wrote music :)

And only after 6 years of creating music and accumulating experience, in 2010 I released my first EP "Minutes of Happiness" on Dark Pleasure Records. Also, in the same year, another track of mine "Shine On" was recognized as the best in the style of "Progressive" at the competition "The Best Track In Ukraine 2010" and later released on Paul Oakenfold's label - Perfecto Records.

This marked the beginning of my musical career, then a lot of tracks and remixes were released on top labels such as Armada Music, Black Hole Recordings, Perfecto Records, Infrasonic Recordings, Alter Ego Records, Silk Music, etc. Several of them hit the TOP100 sales in the best electronic music store “Beatport".

My tracks and remixes began to sound often all over the world in radio shows of top DJ's such as Armin Van Buuren, Above & Beyond, Paul Oakenfold, Paul Van Dyk and many others, I also performed a couple of times as a DJ on the same stage with such world-class stars as Richard Durand, Ronski Speed, Swanky Tunes, Tucandeo, DJ IRA (8kays), etc.

Realizing that music is what I love most and want to do on an ongoing basis, in 2017 I left another routine, office work and began to devote myself completely to it. And for more than 15 years now I have been living this way, creating music, which I am extremely happy about, In 2021 I finally signed to one of the best labels ever "Anjunabeats" and as of now, I've been making music for about 15+ years.

What do you like to do for fun outside of working on music?

The sport was always a big part of my life! So I do a lot of snowboarding, bicycle, gym, beach volleyball, Also, love having fun with friends and sometimes playing computer games :)

What's your most useless skill or talent?

Interesting question! I don't even know, fortunately, or unfortunately, but I, apparently, do not have such talents.

What inspires you and what makes you want to keep making music?

I get inspired by nature, travelling, our universe, sometimes by listening to good music. Also, I get inspired by people (listeners). When I see all those reactions, comments, messages etc. on my music, I understand that my creations bring to people positive emotions, that my work is not in vain.

I will keep making music cause I live by it and it's the best what I can do, This is all about musicians, We make music for people! :)

If you could sit down to a session with any artist, who would it be?

It will be really wonderful to sit down to a session with Hans Zimmer! He's a genius, It is not my main musical direction, but I sometimes create epic, orchestral compositions.

Besides, in the future, I would like to write music for films. Therefore, a session with Hans Zimmer would be an invaluable experience for me!

Any habits you have before starting a session?

Coffee, or sometimes whiskey or cognac, and I like to work at night cause anybody disturbs me and silence and tranquillity reigns around.

How did your latest EP, "Universe", come about?

I like to watch different science TV, one day I watched a program about our Universe and it's inspired me on creating my latest 3 tracks from "Universe" EP - "Universe", "Gravity" and "Stellar", you can listen to the main track of "Universe" EP here:

If you could pick one, what would be the theme song of your life?

This is a very difficult question for me since in my life I have listened to an endless amount of different music and I have many favourite compositions, but since I only have to choose one, it will probably be "Beautiful Day" by U2!

I love this group since childhood. And I listen to it to this day. Their songs never get boring and always inspire. I consider them to be true geniuses to reach out to.

What is the favourite piece of music gear you own?

My favourite piece of music gear that I own is a Yamaha HS7 monitors, they sound so clear, with them my sound has reached a new level.

What is your favourite SoundGym feature?

My favourite SoundGym feature is Learning. I watched ALL tutorials at SoundGym, I have watched a lot of training videos before, but I like the fact that the SoundGym videos are already selected and well organized and that I don't have to filter tons of training videos myself.

Also, I like the daily workout, cause it's kept in good shape, really push us to develop our ears and improve the technique.

What does the future hold for Yuriy Mikhailov in the music industry?

I hope that I will make more & more different music in different styles, will release a few albums, singles, EP's and will travel around the Globe with gigs where I could bring my music to people! ;)

 

You can follow Yuriy Mikhailov (meHiLove) on InstagramVKSoundcloudSpotify and YouTube.


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