“Who are these adorable humans?”
When a random user left this comment on Ysanygo’s online set at the Zandari Festa in 2020, nobody would’ve thought it would make such an impact on the sibling duo that they’d end up drawing inspiration from it for the name of their recording studio.
But Ysa and Ygo Ferraz have always shown us that they knew exactly what they wanted despite their young age. You can see it in their deliberate choice of matching outfits when performing and experimenting with genres when making music. Now, you can see it in the way they run their newest venture.
Located in their hometown in the south of Manila, Adorable Human Studios marks the fulfilment of the siblings' dream to work with more artists and broaden their perspectives when it comes to producing music.
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And the duo really means business. As Ysanygo, the siblings work very closely together, collaborating on music and lyrics. With Adorable Human, there is more structure: Ygo works on music production and co-production while Ysa helms the business side of things.
Ygo tried to explain. “Basically, Ysa is in charge of—
“Emails!” Ysa cut him off, chuckling. She also leads their songwriting service.
“When we write or produce, we like to do this kind of thing where we think of an artist [...] and write in their perspective or imagine them performing that song,” Ygo also said.
“We've been wanting to do the music production service for a while,” Ysa furthered. “Because Ygo is sometimes consulted by other people. Ygo has a lot of beats [that] could be used by someone else.”
Indeed, the “babies” of the local music scene are all grown up (and apparently it’s all that they’ve been hearing these past few weeks). Ygo, now 21, is leaving the nest to attend college in Quezon City while 25-year-old Ysa is preparing for the architecture board. Gone are the days when throwing chocolate drink-themed parties is their (well, Ygo’s) thing.
“I guess we wanted to break out of our shell as Ysanygo,” Ygo explained. “Become different versions of ourselves. Like a different persona.”
Despite the many changes, though, one keeps the two grounded: family. Like with all their other projects, parents Edward and Gel Ferraz are 100% supportive of Adorable Human Studios.
“When we started this, our parents just told us to push forward and be consistent about it,” shared Ysa, while Ygo declared that “it’s a real family affair.”
In fact, everyone’s favourite indie mom is the copywriter of the recording studio! Tita Gel, as she is fondly called, came up with the descriptions for their service offerings as well as the copy for their first few posts on Instagram—a relief to the pair who revealed that the most challenging part of putting up the studio was social media marketing.
Tingnan ang post na ito sa Instagram
“She was in an ad agency years ago. We asked for her help.” Ysa explained.
“Her professional help,” Ygo emphasized. “When we were trying to market the studio, it was all new and fresh and we didn't know how people would react to it.”
“We kept thinking about what's the edge of Adorable Human Studios,” added Ysa. “Because you know, there's a sea of producers. So how do we market ourselves as well and how do we stand out?”
And have they found their edge?
“I guess [we go] back to our description sa studio,” Ysa mused. “We translate your ideas into warm hugs.”
Ygo agreed with his sister. “I think our edge is that we aim to make honest and warm music. It's like how we do our own Ysanygo music as well.”
All this and more is reflected in their first promo video, shot using Ygo’s phone on a tripod on the balcony of the studio.
“[It was] very DIY,” Ysa recalled while giggling. “Ygo and I took turns pressing the record button.”
“Yeah, it was a whole experience,” said Ygo, laughingly. “[I was like,] 'Okay, you naman. Okay, violin time'.”
Tingnan ang post na ito sa Instagram
The whole exchange was a great reminder of the siblings’ work dynamic, something artists who decide to work with them are expected to experience as well: easygoing, warm, with the occasional kicks and giggles. And Ysa and Ygo look forward to collaborating with others in real life. Since Adorable Human Studios opened during the pandemic, they’ve only worked with their (secret) roster of clients online.
“It's definitely new compared to the old, traditional way of how people make music which is done face to face in the studio.” Ygo acknowledged. “But [at] the same time, it's pretty handy in a sense that people don't really have to travel that far because we live in Laguna. We could [also] work with people from other countries.”
For now, the two patiently wait until their existing clients finally drop their music sometime this year—especially since one of them is a dream client.
“We have a lot [of dream clients] and one is ticked off the list,” Ygo enthused. “They inquired and we were like 'Ohhhhhhh, okay.' It's a good thing for us because we've been fans ever since. We're still in awe that [they] would like to work with us.”
Aside from this, the duo has so much more to be excited about, including the release of their debut EP as Ysanygo this year. They're also looking at adding more service offerings for Adorable Human Studios.
“In the future, we might offer studio solutions, soundproofing and stuff. When I pass the architectural boards, we'll work on that part of the studio.” Ysa divulged. “So aside from [producing] the music, we can contain your music! It could be [a] consultancy and I could offer to design and construct.”
As things get more and more exciting for Ysa and Ygo Ferraz, we are left with one thought: these adorable humans are here to stay.
“I guess this is [all about] longevity. There are other artists who also branch out into producing music because I think that's also how you make your mark or leave a mark in the scene.” Ysa talked about their motivation behind starting Adorable Human. “We were able to do something with Ysanygo; we were able to collaborate with other people. [So now] like we're...spreading the Ysanygo.”
For more information and updates about Adorable Human Studios, follow them on Instagram.
This interview has been edited and condensed for brevity.
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