Yvette Young’s name instantly evokes her signature fingerstyle finesse, rooted in two-handed tapping and a fluid, pianistic approach to guitar. Her work with the math-rock band Covet has redefined modern guitar technique, sparking awe among fans and musicians alike.
But in recent years, Young has been turning pages in her artistic story. She’s begun releasing solo music and diving into experimental projects that stretch her creative boundaries—reshaping not just how she plays, but what kind of artist she wants to be.
One of the most intriguing chapters? A collaboration with Hatch, a company focused on wellness tech and bedtime audio, where Young created Emo Sound Baths—a sonic series inspired by emo aesthetics and ambient textures, designed to soothe listeners into slumber.
“I got really excited because there’s a lot of synchronicity,” Young shared, speaking from her studio where the project took shape. “I’ve been making a lot of ambient music lately, and including the word ‘emo’ just felt kind of funny and unexpected.”
Serendipity played a role in this shift. Right before starting on the Hatch project, Young had just returned from NAMM, where she unveiled her signature Walrus Audio pedal—the Qi Etherealizer. At the time, she mentioned wanting a pedal that could help spark ideas. It turned out to be the perfect tool to help her fill 20-minute ambient pieces with emotion and texture.
“Starting from scratch can feel so overwhelming,” she admitted. “But with the Qi, I’d just play a progression, hit freeze on the granular or phrase sample setting, dial up the reverb, and I’d suddenly be in this beautiful field of sound. That would inspire the rest.”
She paired the Qi with other favorite gear—Hologram’s Chroma Console, Collision Devices’ Black Hole Symmetry, Meris’s Mercury7 Reverb, DigiTech’s FreqOut, an EBow—and cited inspiration from Hammock, Jesu, and even black metal. With those elements, she built five unique audio “microcosms.”
Known for melodic density in her guitar work, Young faced the challenge of sustaining musical interest over 20-minute tracks while holding back the urge to over-compose.
“I’m naturally a verbose melodic writer,” she said. “But with these longer pieces, it’s more about the overall feel than spelling out every little detail. It taught me to think about abstraction, to focus on mood and texture instead.”
And in that space of abstraction, unexpected emotions surfaced. As she listened back to her recordings, she was struck by the feelings of nostalgia they evoked.
“Some tracks reminded me of walking through my old neighborhood or sitting by a lake from my childhood,” she recalled. “So I added field recordings—like morning doves, cars, and sampled wind chimes—to give them a sense of place.”
These sonic details helped deepen the emotional resonance, turning each track into a miniature world.
Of course, Young’s guitar choices remain central to her sound. For Emo Sound Baths, she explored tone with a shimmering pink Ibanez outfitted with P-90s—possibly a hint at a new signature model—an Ibanez bass, and a Harmony acoustic she described as “beautifully dead.”
Her love for alternate tunings also shone through, including a variant of the classic American Football tuning (F, A, C, G, C, E) and other creative arrangements like F, A, C, G, A, E and D, A, D, F#, A, E.
Despite the ambient shift, these recordings still sound undeniably like Yvette Young. The blend of dreamy tones, textured harmonics, and emotional sensitivity is unmistakable.
When asked if her foray into soundtrack-style work was financially driven, Young was clear: it’s about emotional alignment more than money.
“I was in that grind—tour, tour, tour,” she said. “Then I had this moment where I thought, ‘Am I even enjoying this?’ Some really hard things happened to me over the last few years. I hit a point where I genuinely considered quitting music altogether.”
She reflected on the risks she’s taken in her career—from leaving a stable job as an art teacher to pursue music full-time—and how this new phase feels like another creative leap.
“Now I’m investing in studio equipment, leaning into making music in a different way. And with streaming being so bad at compensating artists, it’s hard to survive unless your heart’s in it. Projects like this one with Hatch give me that feeling of alignment.”
Fans fearing that this ambient pivot means the end of Young’s live performances can breathe easy. She emphasized that touring isn’t off the table. In fact, more solo music is on the way—including a music video featuring some on-stage guitar smashing. She also hinted at several collaborations and a new tour with Covet, joined by Claire Puckett on bass and Jessica Burdeaux on drums.
“I’m a musician,” she concluded. “That means I make things. I explore sound. If I can get paid doing what I love, then that’s the dream. This is exactly where I want to be.”
With her signature blend of technical brilliance and emotional depth, Yvette Young continues to redefine what it means to be a modern guitarist—not just dazzling with fretboard skills, but creating spaces where others can feel, heal, and even fall asleep to the sound of her art.
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