Kat Harlton
Photo: provided via artist / PR Team
Rising genre-bending duo, YASSiN & Sean Terrio recently released their highly anticipated debut album, Just Try, via Believe Digital on all streaming platforms.
Just Try is an 11-track collection of songs that delivers exactly what YASSiN & Sean Terrio are known for, creating deeply emotional and highly fun music that blends sounds of soul, pop, blues, R&B and a touch of country. The album was produced by YASSiN with the help of multiple JUNO Award-winning producer, Kevin Dietz (The Glorious Sons, JJ Wilde, Alexisonfire). It showcases Terrio’s incredible range and compelling vocals, while exploring stories of love, joy and introspection.
Hailing from Oakville, ON, YASSiN & Sean Terrio met in 2019 while attending an open mic night, and after discovering their onstage chemistry, they immediately began writing songs together. In 2020, they released their debut single “Take My Time,” and went on to place second in Canada’s Walk of Fame Emerging Artist Program (2021).
Following two years of performing across Canada and several singles later, the duo has continued to gain incredible success and widespread popularity across social media, accumulating over 20 million views on TikTok alone. Earlier this year, they marked another major milestone when they were announced as a participant of the 2024 RBCxMusic First Up Program, powered by MusiCounts.
I had the opportunity to chat with the duo (referred to as YST below) about their musical journey, the inspiration behind their debut album and more.
Kat: Can you share with us a bit about yourselves and your musical journey so far?
YST: Overall, we think our musical journey can be described as “what happens when you don’t give up and shoot your shot.” We both come from similar backgrounds where it matters most but took the leap of musical faith at very different times.
YASSiN has been working with several artists for over a decade, wearing many different hats and learning about music, not only as a creative release and an artform, but as an industry of people. It started with shooting his shot, booking studio time to self-compose, produce and record music for films, becoming a producer, creative director and manager for a varying array of other artists, but not giving up on his dreams to be his own artist.
Sean is newer to the pursuit of music as a profession and lifestyle, taking to his first open mic stage at the ripe old age of 25. There were some unteachable traits in there, but the biggest thing for Sean was shooting his shot and, if I may, Just Trying (Picture Mikey from the kids show Recess)
Since joining forces as a powerful duo in 2019, we’ve experienced the highs and lows of “trying to make it”, but ultimately, we’ve found a great purpose in making music and entertaining crowds.
Kat: What was the inspiration behind your summer anthem “All Summer”?
YST: Conceptually, All Summer is a love letter to one’s future life and where you one day want to be. Literally, it stems from a long-distance relationship (not gonna say who) and the struggles of being so far from that one person to need be with always; the bridge that spans an entire country between two hearts and the love that flourishes when it is crossed (but it rhymes with SHMASSiN). The song is that journey of finding good, meaningful love, making it work with the cards you’re dealt, and to finally embrace it fully.
OR it’s just a fun summer song with a catchy hook and cool vibes; we’ll take either.
Kat: What do you hope fans take from that track?
YST: We hope people can make this song a soundtrack behind any situation in their life where they worked hard to get something that is truly good in their lives. Now obviously the lyrics are talking about L-O-V-E love, but the overarching theme of wanting to Close the Distance between them and where they want to be and celebrating this achievement once they have it, can be applied to many of life’s countless journeys.
In summary, we hope the song acts as a small uplifting force during a moment of someone’s day, telling them “baby, don’t you worry about it…”
Kat: How does it feel to be releasing your debut album Just Try ?
YST: Over the past few years of writing and recording this album, it seems like we have felt all the feelings. A lot of blood, sweat and tears were put into this record and to now be on the cusp of releasing it to the world is a funny place to be.
On the one hand, some days it feels that we already have released it; we made an awesome product, now onto the next thing.
But its also still our “baby” and introducing it to a wider audience can be daunting and/or nerve-wracking.
That being said, we are excited to show people what we’ve been working on in our time as a unit, to have folks learn a bit about the versions of us who created the album, and to hopefully relate to and feel some of the stories that we’ve worked to tell.
Kat: What do you find to be the most challenging part of your creative process?
YST: One of the more difficult parts of a creative process seems to be the time between sessions or creating anything in general. We’ve had a good handful of magical, creative moments where it seems like we were tuned into something else or something larger than the headspace one experiences on a normal day; that we were and are doing exactly what we were meant to.
But there’s a lot of time and experience, most of our time and experience, where we aren’t in that place and our minds, ironically, are more concerned with what the next thing will look or sound like. This experience is propped up by our own expectations and high standards, worrying if we will be able to replicate something we think is good, or find something new that will resonate with people; one can very easily fall into the mindset of trying to figure out what people want to see/hear and not what you want to make.
Reading this back, it seems like what we’re trying to say is that trusting in the process and having faith that things will come when they do, aided by our own hard work, preparation and abilities, can be a difficult thing to accept and settle into.
Alas, here we are, trusting in the process and having some faith that we can work with the Universe to get things that are good for us and our circles.
Kat: What has been a career highlight for you so far?
YST: There have been many personal highlights, too many to really get down into and flesh out, but there are a few that do stand out. For me (Sean), just getting on an open mic stage was a big highlight, seeing my name on a track in Spotify and just getting into a professional studio to work.
For us both, having our names on the marquee at The El Mocambo in Toronto was unreal, playing at the regal Casa Loma (yes, an actual castle), flying across Canada to play shows for people who actually paid money to see specifically US. Like, come on, that’s awesome.
A big one too and where we’re at now, is having a full album ready to rock, one that we’re proud of and that we carried all the way to the finish line. This is a big accomplishment for us, regardless of how well it does in numbers and blah blah blah.
BUT, some of the best highlights for us are hearing from random people (fans, I’m told they’re called) who were in some way helped by our music or our social media presence. Learning that something you made resonated with someone so much that they used it to walk down the aisle at their wedding, or that a certain song helped them push through a really difficult time; this is a reward that cannot be replaced and contains within it some simple yet extraordinarily remarkable aspect of the life experience.
All in all, connection and love are cool, so let’s get more of that.
Kat: Have you learned anything along the way that you would like to share with other aspiring artists?
YST: We’ve learned a ton, so much that we’ve now forgotten and need to re-learn it all.
But in all seriousness (and we are very serious), we’ve seen how when you ask for help, when you try something yourself, and when you are open to new things, you can go very far and change the place you’ve been in.
Making music can be really hard, especially when you rely on it as a main source of income or something that fills most of your days, and it can be really disheartening when it feels like nothing is moving forward. Maybe you’re not with a label with gazillions of dollars and connections, maybe you aren’t in a physical space where the arts are not well represented and maybe you feel burdened with a negative, close-off mindset that seems to reinforce that “I can’t do this, this is for other people.”
When we’re all born, we can’t even crawl but now, relatively speaking and considering all forms of ability, you’re flying.
So when you think about where you want to be one day, making boat loads of money or making enough to support yourself and your family, or having one person pay a few bucks to see what you’ve got, consider that there’s a process to flying that starts with a crawl.
Take those baby steps with everything you want, learn what believing in yourself feels like and gosh dang it, Just Try.
Kat: What else can fans expect from you for the balance of 2024?
YST: Now that/Once the album is out, we are shifting our focus to two things; our Christmas charity show (it’s gonna be yuge, details pending) and how we are going to make 2025 bigger and better than any previous year for YST. We would love to start touring more, in and outside of Canada, and take our live shows to the next level.
Keep your eyes peeled on Instagram and other platforms for our comedy bits, show dates and our faces.
YST, out.
Connect With YST
Instagram: @yassinandseanterrio
Facebook: @yassinandseanterrio
TikTok: @yassinandseanterrio