IAMWAVES
Yannick Ilunga a.k.a IAMWAVES was born in Brussels, Belgium in 1990. He was the last born to an Angolan mother and Congolese dad. Yannick and the rest of his family would often move from country to country due to his dad’s job at the time.
They then emigrated to South Africa where Yannick started school and finished his primary and secondary education.
Yannick recalls that he “liked music from a very young age.” He continues “I would sing the lyrics to most pop songs on TV from the age of 5 or 6 and learn all the dance moves.” He then found “a love for music and started experimenting with Hip Hop”.
Yannick’s main influences are God, he says “it may be clichéd but its true”, Kid Cudi, Mew, Phoenix, Spoek, his friends, his family and life in general also inspire him. He “feeds himself with positivity and tries to stay away from negative light and bad energy.”
In 2005 he started playing guitar and that’s when his love for music started to “become all that he wanted to do.” At a later stage he moved on to playing drums “to try and understand this genius thing called music.” It came in the way of his skateboarding which he “loved very much.” In early 2008 he then joined a band Called Fallen Within which grew apart in early 2009.
After the break Yannick had to keep the musical flame inside of him and that’s when he started IAMWAVES. He couldn’t stand listening to music and not liking certain parts so he therefore started making his own music. ” I try to make music. Not pop, not Hip Hop, not House, Not electro or any other genre of music. I just want to make music straight from the heart.” Yannick believes that “God gave me this talent, without God I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
Subsequently Yannick made “a little demo CD using a computer mic and basic loops.” He then met Ryan Dalton “who helped him grow as a musician and help him record one of his favorite songs ever”-a song he “still enjoys listening to today”.
In early 2009 he met Spoek Mathambo, Spoek saw the potential he had and “helped him artistically as well as by introducing him to his musical partner and friend Terrence (Dj Lapse)”. Yannick and Terrence spoke for a while and then started the group Popskarr, an electronic powerhouse from the shores of Cape Town.
They made their first appearance on the Earthdance stage which was “a big shocker” for Yannick at first but then they ended up “wowing the crowd”…
Watch out for him, Yannick looks to be the next big thing.
