Sound Advice: Young Franco

Join Young Franco on Sound Advice, the weekly interview series covering artists’ journeys and their creative process. In this episode, we discuss Young Franco’s debut album’s cross-genre collaborations, using SoundCloud to build connections and much more.

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Welcome to Sound Advice, the series spotlighting artists’ creative process and their SoundCloud journey. We’ll get the inside knowledge straight from the source on how musicians, producers and creatives are leaning into everything SoundCloud offers to elevate their sound, get heard and catapult their careers. Sound Advice is now available in audio format on the SoundCloud Stories profile. 

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On this episode of Sound Advice, we welcome Young Franco to the show. Raised in Brisbane and currently based in Sydney, Australia, Franco — whose real name is Joey Da Rin — is an eclectic, open format producer and DJ, who makes feelgood tracks that move fluidly in between club music, hip-hop, disco house and indie dance. 

His production has taken him to some of the biggest stages in the world, whether he’s opening for Dom Dolla or performing at major festivals like Lollapalooza or Splendour In The Grass. After having toured the US and Australia extensively, this summer, he’s going on a solo headline tour of the UK and Europe in support of his 2025 debut album, ‘It’s Franky, Baby!,’ which you can find tickets for here.

Young Franco is probably best known for his surprising collaborations, working with artists from all around the world. From rappers like Denzel Curry, Pell and EarthGang, to UK drum ‘n bass, dance and hip-hop acts like Becky Hill, Scrufizzer, piri & tommy and Scrufizzer, Young Franco’s tastes are expansive and experimental; on his latest single, “Give Thanks, Give Praise,” Franco links up with General Levy, the legendary British jungle MC. Alongside his original productions, Young Franco has also given the official remix treatment to artists such as Dua Lipa, Charli XCX and Glass Animals.

Collaboration was definitely a big topic when we got Young Franco on the phone. He gave us tips on reaching out to people you want to work with, what to prepare when you’re getting in the studio and advice on recording vocals. We also talked about his DJ sets, the process of putting together ‘It’s Franky, Baby!,’ and found out more about how he uses SoundCloud to work on demos and explore new sounds. 

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LISTEN TO THE AUDIO EPISODE OF SOUND ADVICE FEATURING YOUNG FRANCO

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LISTEN TO 'IT'S FRANKY, BABY!' BY YOUNG FRANCO

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Things We Talked About In This Episode of Sound Advice

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How Living in Australia Inspired Young Franco To Discover The World

• We begin our conversation by hearing how a young Joey discovered dance music. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia, Joey was going out to watch bands and listen to DJs in local bars, clubs and DIY venues. With a tight-knit local music scene, and being far away enough for the typical global music centers of the Northern hemisphere, experimentation and open-mindedness towards music flourished. As a hip-hop-loving kid first, Joey loved discovering danced music in its intended context: the nightclub. As he explains, this was a formative experience for him; opening his mind to the potential for cross-genre sounds and scenes. 
• With Australia being so far away from those other, global music centers, Joey knew that he needed to utilize online platforms to reach out to other artists. This is when he becomes Young Franco and begins his SoundCloud journey. As he tells it, collaborating with other artists has been key to his craft from day one: reaching out to producers and vocalists through direct messaging, sharing demos and track edits back and forth. 
• Young Franco talks about one of his earliest collaborations — “DROP YOUR LOVE,” featuring DiRTY RADIO — and how that led him to getting radio airplay in Australia, industry connections and more.

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The Importance of Collaboration And Consistency For Building Career Momentum

• On career strategies, Young Franco reflects on what’s worked best for him over the years. As a young artist, he found the pressure to quickly release a debut album, in order to have an industry spotlight on him, a premature move. Instead, as he explains, he found that maintaining a steady release schedule of singles — a few tracks every few months, gradually garnering streams, airplay and further audience-building through cross-genre collaboration — was a more fruitful path.
• When it comes to knowing when it’s the right time to finish and release a track, Young Franco has some solid advice for fellow producers: only release tracks that you want to listen to, over and over again. You have to love your own music first before anyone else can.
• In those years, Young Franco had worked with a vast swathe of collaborations from across the world, and across genres: from hip-hop to house, disco to R&B, and most recently, in UK genres such as drum ‘n bass and jungle. The conversation flows towards some of his more recent collaborations — which feature on his debut album, ‘It’s Franky, Baby!’ — and how SoundCloud helped him connect with artists to make them happen.
• On his latest single, “Give Thanks, Give Praise,” Young Franco worked with British drum ‘n bass duo piri & tommy, and the iconic jungle MC General Levy. We hear more about how these tracks came together and how Young Franco worked with his collaborators to balance authenticity and experimentation.

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How To Prepare For Studio Sessions and Working With Vocalists 

• With a debut album stacked with production and vocal features, Young Franco has learned a lot when it comes to collaboration. He gives salient advice to other, young artists, who are keen to move into this kind of work. Preparation is key: go into a session with a basic idea already prepared — be that drums, a vocal, a sample, a bassline — so that initial spark can ignite. And then, also be prepared to sacrifice that preparation in order to work well, and quickly, with your studio partners.
• Harking back to the beginning of our conversation, where a young Australian kid was utilizing the internet to find collaborators, Young Franco reflects on how he uses SoundCloud today. After making beats with vocalists in mind, he likes to reach out to those artists through direct messages, establishing a connection.
• As he explains in detail, it’s the start of a process that’s led to some of his favorite tracks to date, like “Fallin’ Apart” with Denzel Curry and Pell, “Get Your Money” with Theophilus London and “Lose Control” with EarthGang. Throughout his collaborative process, Young Franco keeps SoundCloud at the heart of it all; from organizing demos to staying in touch with artists and discovering new music.
• When it comes to working with vocalists, Young Franco hones in on some core tips: You can’t fix a bad vocal take in post-production, so focus your studio or online time with a vocalist on getting the best, most natural take possible. Listen to your gut about what sounds and feels right — it’s better to try again in person than fight to recreate a good atmosphere on a second or third studio session.

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What’s Next For Young Franco, From Tours To New Music

• In 2025, Young Franco is flying high. He’s going on tour in the UK and Europe this summer, in support of ‘It’s Franky, Baby!’; starting off in France in late May and rolling through to London in early August. You can find more details of the tour dates here and listen to the album here. Until then, he’ll be back in the studio, working on new music.

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Links and Extras

Follow Young Franco’s journey on SoundCloud.

Press play on Young Franco’s 2025 album, ‘It’s Franky, Baby!’

Follow piri & tommy, who Young Franco first connected with via SoundCloud DMs.

Hit play on Young Franco’s collaboration with General Levy, “Give Thanks, Give Praise.”

Listen to Young Franco’s collaboration with Denzel Curry and Pell, “Fallin’ Apart.”

Explore some of Yung Gravy’s wide-ranging influences, including Jamiroquai, Beastie Boys and Daft Punk, to name a few. 

Find out more about Young Franco’s 2025 tour dates here.

Listen to the EDM Next: Level Up playlist on SoundCloud.

Never miss an episode and follow the official Sound Advice playlist on SoundCloud.

Getting The Most Out of SoundCloud

• Learn more about using DMs to connect with fellow artists and potential collaborators.
• Learn more about how to make a custom playlist on SoundCloud.
• Learn more about unlimited uploads, available with an Artist Pro subscription.
• Learn more unlocking access to unlimited distribution, available with Artist Pro.
• Learn more about getting heard with SoundCloud’s updated algorithm, available to Artist and Artist Pro subscribers.

To discover additional features a SoundCloud Artist or Artist Pro subscription offers, visit here. To catch up on past installments of Sound Advice and make sure you don’t miss out on future episodes, visit here.

_{CREDITS Host: Vivian Host, Executive Producer: Mike Spinella, Producer: KC Orcutt, Audio Engineer: David “DibS” Shackney, Coordinator: Trevor McGee, Editorial Associate: Lauren Martin}

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