We first came across Yashlinn when he came to one of our Producer Huddles. This super creative, talented and humble guy told us he hadn't been producing for very long, and of course all levels of musician is welcome at our events... but when this guy played his tracks, Pino and I were blown away. His sense of unity and encouragement really stood out for us too as we strive for all of our Huddle members to feel uplifted and motivated when they leave one of our events. Luckily for us, he took a chance on us and himself and entered our competition and look where it got him; rubbing shoulders with some of the industries finest in L.A at istandard's Beast of the Beast competition! He won this prize through Instros Only, and we followed him on his journey out there. We will be posting a vlog with Yash soon telling us about his experience but for now you can get to know the guy we love working with, we highly respect and genuinely couldn't be more proud of.

Yashlinn: Hey guys! First off I wanted to say a HUGE thank you to Instros Only for the amazing opportunity. What you guys are doing for the UK producer-scene is a blessing. Hats off guys!

Denise: How and when did you get into music production?
Yashlinn: In my first year of university I started playing keyboards at church in South Africa. The keyboard I used was an M1-Korg and it had a sequencer. I knew that if I could figure out how to sequence on it I could make music like Timbaland (I was a huge fan at the time). After finally figuring out how to use the sequencer I realised it was a very limited platform but later that year I got introduced to Reason v 1.0. This was where I really started to develop as a producer.
 
Denise: Who are your biggest musical influences (production-wise and in general)?
Yashlinn: There were 2 bands in my family growing up, The Salem trio & Salt of the Earth. Their songs were filled with rich chords and vocal harmonies which shaped my musical ear. I also listened to a lot of gospel artists and the ones that really impacted me were Fred Hammond & Commissioned, The Winans & John P Kee.
Production-wise I was influenced heavily by Teddy Riley, Timbaland, The Neptunes and Babyface. The Gap Band, George Clinton, Stevie Wonder, Toto & The Police, to mention a few, were also on heavy rotation on my cd player. 
But I have to say Michael Jackson gets a category on his own. He's probably the artist who influenced me the most.  
 
Denise: What software/hardware do you use to make music?
Yashlinn: I’m a Reason-head, since version 1.0. I use Logic sometimes as well but I’m just super comfortable on Reason. And my hardware kit consists of a Novation SL MKii 61, Focusrite Saffire Pro 24, BLUE Bluebird Condenser Microphone, AKG K-77 headphones and of course my MACbook Pro.
 
Denise: What artists have you worked with/are currently working with? 
Yashlinn: You can hear my most recent production on the Call of the Wild mixtape by rapper Alexander Vanguard (@alexandervanguard). On the mixtape you'll also hear spoken-word artist “Mr. K” (@mrkpoetry) and singers Jenae Mills (@jenae_mills) and Thomas Seyah (@thomasseyah). That project really kicked things into gear for me. Recently I did a remix for hiphop artists Krash X Elements (@krashxelements) which will drop before the end of this year. I've also had the opportunity of working on a song for R&B/Soul singer Ruth Ellen (@itsruthellen) which will feature on her project out in December. And lastly I’ll be doing a collaborative instrumental EP with Jeriah Nadesan (@jeriahnadesan) focusing more on arrangement and composition about June next year.

Denise: Do you actively attend music workshops/industry events? If so, what benefit do you think they bring, if any? 
Yashlinn: The Producer Huddle is the first music industry event that I've attended and then of course the Instros Only showcase. In terms of benefit. It's MASSIVE!!! I mean, I'm going to LA! :) But really speaking as producers we tend to be guarded and pretty sensitive about critique to our music. Sometimes that can lead to the music not leaving our laptops. But events like the Producer Huddle & Instros Only Showcase gives producers a real chance to have their music heard & critiqued by industry professionals but in a way that builds and motivates us to master our craft. 

Denise: Where can people hear your music?
Yashlinn: Soundcloud and Instagram but I'll be posting most of my music on my website where artists will be able to purchase music for promotional or exclusive use. 
 
Denise: What does the future hold for you (what are your career plans)?
Yashlinn: I believe that I am called to do music. For me it’s on a soul level. I’m a person of faith and my music is guided in this manner. There are quite a few artists I want to work with and to achieve this, my plan is to have my home studio completed in course of next year. I also sing and compose so next year I want incorporate more of those elements into my music. After the competition in LA you'll find my Beast of the Beats set on my Instagram, as well as my first solo EP (probably around mid 2017) and a Soundkit for producers to chop up :) 
You'll find all of this on my website (yashlinn.com) which I plan to launch in February 2017. So look out for that! 
In the long term I want to open a record label through which I would be able to develop talent and promote up and coming artists/producers.​
Blessings.
​
Follow Yashlinn on Instagram, Twitter and Soundcloud: @yashlinn
Click below to hear some of that FIRE Yashlinn entered the competition with...

Introducing the Instros Only Producer Showcase 2nd place winner... r7 music! She won a skype session with the legendary Focus3dots.
I was super excited to carry out this interview as the Instros Only team had only met r7 music a couple of times at the Producer Huddle before she decided to enter the showcase. In person she is quiet and humble, but when she takes to that aux, she's a BEAST.  If you see this girl put her hood on when she plays her track, be prepared to be blown away... 
There aren't many female producers out there, let alone uber talented ones like r7 music so we were very blessed to have her compete at the showcase and very proud of her for winning second place.

Denise: How and when did you get into music production?
r7 music: When I was in my early teens I was a dancer to begin with I did a bit of tap, ballet and street dancing after a while I gave it a rest because I realized one day I was curious on how to start creating my own beats and possibly becoming a record producer.

Denise: Who are your biggest musical influences (production-wise and in general)?
r7 music: I listen to so many different genres of music in my head that it is exploding with names but to name a few production wise are Timbaland, Oak, TIm & Bob, Danja, Darkchild, Bryan Michael Cox, Ryan Leslie, Dot Rotten/Zeph Ellis and also a producer collective I was in called 'Beat Creatures' they were all very inspirational and play a part in my music but theres many more the list will go on.

Denise: What software/hardware do you use to make music?
r7 music: I use a PC laptop which I am running Fl studio 12 for my production and I use Logic Pro but mainly for recording and mixing. I am now starting to invest in hardware synthesizers just because it's more exciting and it sounds alot warmer. I recently purchased Roland SH-201 which is a really cool analog synthesizer and I have been recording some bits using Nord Lead 2x which is also another synthesizer which sounds amazing too.

Denise: What artists have you worked with/are currently working with?
r7 music: I have worked with a few artists such as Mercston, Daniel De Bourg, 73V3N, Sinclair, Dot Rotten/Zeph Ellis, Jordan king, AV, Ruff squad, Tone, Gabi'el, Mega 12 & many others. I also do producer/songwriter collaborations too.

Denise: Do you actively attend music workshops/industry events? If so, what benefit do you think they bring, if any?
r7 music: Yes, I attend some music production exhibitions which allows you to browse and use equipment that you might want to purchase for yourself. For producers its very difficult getting your instrumentals heard apart from online social media but attending producer events/showcases allows you to showcase your talents to the public and attract new listeners and its a good place to network with different people who are in the industry, it's great exposure.

Denise: Where can people hear your music?
r7 music: I have a soundcloud page www.soundcloud.com/r7music
I upload stuff from time to time also my instagram page is www.instagram.com/r7music I upload some previews of stuff I create and studio clips etc, and I have some older projects on Link up TV & SBTV under the name R7.

Denise: What does the future hold for you (what are your career plans)?
r7 music: To keep creating music and build my own studio base & release some projects with some of the stuff I'm working on now and in the near future.

Check out one of r7 music's tracks here:

We held our very first Producer Showcase in September 2016 at the gorgeous Bird of Smithfield in London. We were very blessed to have the legend Focus...(producer for Dr Dre, Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, Lil Wayne, Kendrick Lamar and the list goes on and on), J Hatch (co-founder of iStandard) and Flukes from pioneers of Funky House music, Crazy Cousinz, judging some amazingly talented producers from all over the UK and Europe.
Footage can be found on Inspirels Magazine (our official Press for the event) Youtube from the night, and our Instagram.

I caught up with Black Bell Beats who came all the way over from France for the competition, and placed an impressive 3rd on the evening... AND got a standing ovation from Focus...
​I'm pretty sure that alone was worth the trip over for!

Denise: How and when did you get into music? 
Black Bell Beats: My parents were not lucky enough to be able to learn music so they forced my sister and I to do it!
They took us to a music school at the age of 6 but we were already surrounded by music at home everyday. 
Speaking about music production, my cousin (Malos, a french hiphop producer/rapper) is the one that showed me for the first time what an MPC was, what sampling was etc...

Denise: Who are your biggest musical influences (production-wise and in general)?
Black Bell Beats: Production-wise I'd say Dr Dre (and pretty much all the aftermath team), J Dilla for sure, Rick Rubin, Lil Jon, Bangladesh, !llmind, Timbaland, Pete Rock, 9th Wonder and the list goes on. I'm also a big fan of what the LA based collective Soulection is bringing to the table right now!
In general, anything that has emotions in it, it can be Soul, Rock, Techno, Classical Music, Reggae, Dancehall... the last 3 albums that really smacked me in the face were Anderson .Paak "Malibu", Alabama Shakes "Sound & Colour" and The Internet "Ego Death".

Denise: What software/hardware do you use to make music?
Black Bell Beats: Started on the MPC 2500, now working with both Maschine and Logic and a couple gigabytes of sounds from everywhere. I'm actually trying to figure out a way to incorporate Ableton Live in the process because you can do a lot of cool stuff with it.
I mostly work in the box but sometimes I use a Nord Stage keyboard, a Blue microphone and an old turntable when I'm a in a "vinyle mood". Everything is running thru a Universal Audio interface.

Denise: What artists have you worked with/are currently working with?
Black Bell Beats: Not a lot actually, I did something with an artist from Toronto called "Kavale" and "Crescendo" who is a rapper from my city.
The biggest act would be "Ol' Kainry" a french rapper who was really huge in the early 2000's but he is coming back right now, I have a song on his last mixtape and we'll be working on his next project soon.
The main focus right now is my band, "Dirty South Crew" (from the north of France tho...) we are working on our 3rd album which will be released in 2017.

Denise: Do you actively attend music workshops/industry events? If so, what benefit do you think they bring, if any?
Black Bell Beats: I wanted to be good enough to attend events like these, the Instros Only Producer Showcase was the 2nd time I showcased my tracks in front of industry heads.
What benefit they bring? I can speak about my setup in an interview lol. I think the main thing is relationships, I've met  lot of great people that I'll see again to make music and it also pushes me to be more creative and to improve myself, so Big up Instros Only!

Denise: Where can people hear your music?
Black Bell Beats: www.soundcloud.com/blackbellbeats

Here is one of the tracks Black Bell Beats submitted for the Instros Only competition...