Today we’d like to introduce you to Yucef.
Hi Yucef, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My not-so-brief story starts up north in Campbell, CA, a quaint and affluent town at the heart of Silicon Valley, Bay Area. A city bustling with coders, tech entrepreneurs, and parents with expectations of high-achieving children. My Algerian immigrant family, particularly my dad, was no exception to this demographic. This immense pressure to be “impressive” and “top-performing” plagued my mental health since a very young age, a struggle that intensified after my parents’ divorce in 2012, when I was just eight. We moved from the suburbs of Campbell to urban South San Jose, where my sister Esma, my brother Hakim, my mom, and I all crammed into a small apartment in a low-income neighborhood. The challenge of navigating tense family circumstances, financial hardship, and those ever-persistent high expectations nurtured a mindset that, to this day, paradoxically fuels both my ambition and my anguish.
Reading served as the first of many coping mechanisms I’ve used to navigate this inner turmoil. Without a means to afford books or a computer, the Campbell library became the stomping grounds for me and Hakim when we would spend time with our dad. It was around this time Papa introduced me to classic novel authors like Ernest Hemingway and Herman Melville. Afraid I would fail his standards, I began to read at a 12th-grade reading level by age 10. What I originally interpreted as a benchmark of intelligence quickly evolved into a genuine love for reading when I read the Percy Jackson franchise. The concept of a series—many stories that all connect to each other with the purpose of world-building—provided me with a profound escape.
As I approached my tween years, my fascination with the series format naturally led me to comics, particularly manga. Popular series like Naruto, Pokemon, and Sword Art Online fueled my need for escapism. Eventually, I started following YouTube tutorials to create fan art of my favorite characters, which ignited my first true creative passion: drawing. One manga, Bakuman (often mistaken for Bakugan, the card game), particularly enthralled me. It’s a story about two young mangakas, artist Moritaka Mashiro and writer Akito Takagi, navigating career rejection, heartbreak, and their unwavering determination to be featured in the coveted Shonen Jump magazine. I mention this because, for the later part of elementary school after I moved, my neighbor-turned-childhood-best-friend, Emiliano (@mili_jpeg), and I shared that exact same dream.
My artistic journey from then on was deeply intertwined with my friendship with Emiliano. It all started on the school bus. I noticed Emiliano’s Pikachu pin, and being an awkwardly social extrovert, I offered him an earbud from my MP3 player, loaded with Pokémon and Geometry Dash OSTs. This was around the time I first discovered electronic dance music (EDM), and I was eager to share it. Just like that, EDM was adopted as the soundtrack to our creative endeavors. Emiliano and I always had a friendly rivalry, pushing each other to become better artists during countless hours spent drawing together. We’d have weekly, sometimes daily, sleepovers, cooped up in the tiny room he shared with his three siblings, motivating one another to hone our craft, hoping to create better futures for our families. Set to the sounds of artists like F-777, Panda Eyes, and Waterflame, this period of intense collaboration and creativity culminated in us landing a feature in a teen comic-artist contest hosted by the library after completing 5th grade.
When middle school began, Emiliano and I attended different schools, but our passion for storytelling remained steadfast. I convinced my mom to buy me a pen tablet for my 12th birthday, which I used to digitize my artworks. Having a computer of my own opened up a whole new arsenal of creative tools, and YouTube was always my go-to for learning. Inspired by art YouTubers such as Mark Crilley, Baylee Jae, and Draw with Jazza, combined with over two years of drawing experience under my belt, I felt ready to share my creations. My first video, titled “Manga Channel Intro,” was a three-minute-long compilation of my early artworks. Once I started to mass-discover various niche YouTube communities and create my own content, a whole new world of opportunity became visible to me.
I was no longer just a traditional artist; I became a video editor, animator, game designer, graphic designer, and, eventually, a music producer. Over the next four years, I documented the development of my craft on my YouTube channel, gaining my own little community along the way. Music production quickly dominated all other creative outlets when I discovered a Dutch YouTuber named Dylan Tallchief. Dylan used to run a stream where he’d review and ‘fix’ subscribers’ tracks live. Every Sunday, I’d wake up at 6 a.m. to join his streams in hopes of having my track featured. After months of tweaking and editing, I uploaded my first song onto SoundCloud right after my 14th birthday. That marked the beginning of an unprecedented seven-year career evolution.
My creative outlets are more than just hobbies; they were, and continue to be, essential coping mechanisms for dealing with past trauma, all centered around a lifelong passion for storytelling that has helped me navigate and escape my trauma and, eventually, grief over losing my dad.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Life, especially when pursuing your passions, is rarely a smooth road. The challenge that has far surpassed my aforementioned childhood trauma happened just last year when my Papa died of a heart attack, July 24th, 2024. For the past few years, I’d seen him bravely battle congestive heart failure. While the doctors had gently prepared our family, telling us it was likely only a matter of time, a stubborn part of me was convinced to believe otherwise. My dad, through all the adversities he’d ever faced in his life, had this incredible spirit; he always, always kept pushing through. That resilience remained a vital part of his character.
Desperately clinging to the hope that he’d continue to defy the odds, I had plans to see him in Montana after I returned from studying abroad in Singapore. I vividly remember the liveliness in his voice when he left me voicemails; he’d leave messages asking how everything in my life was going, and his genuine emotional investment in my well-being was always so clear. Even over the phone, I felt that profound love, and the memory of his voice still echoes in my mind. I was so confident that I would see him soon and tell him all about the incredibly formative chapter I had just finished in Southeast Asia. Since he lived in Montana and I in California, it had been over a year since I’d last seen him in person. Little did I know then that our last goodbye would truly be the last.
Papa was, and remains, one of my biggest supporters, especially when it came to my music. After all, he’s the one I have to thank for introducing me to the beauty of classical music throughout my childhood, laying that foundational appreciation for storytelling through composition. From the moment I started creating under my alias, narasu, he believed in my vision with a conviction that often outshone my own. He would always tell me, ‘You’re a star, Habibi-o, Gzali-o; never stop believing in you’re dreams.’ One of the most poignant and treasured reminders I have of this is a Post-it note he’d received from his health clinic. On it, in a shaky hand—which I initially thought was perhaps just a reminder for himself so he wouldn’t forget something—he had written my first (official) alias, narasu. Finding that loose note on his desk spoke volumes about his unwavering support and how much my musical journey meant to him.
He loved me more than anyone on this earth ever has. The finality of his absence, the fact that I can’t just pick up the phone to update him about my life, share a new song I’m composing, or even just hear his voice, remains a constant, painful reminder. I would give anything, truly anything, for just one more conversation with him, one more piece of advice, one more chance to tell him how much his belief shaped me. This loss isn’t just a challenge; it’s a profound shift in my identity as an individual and as an artist.
Navigating life and my creative path without his physical presence has been the hardest part of my journey. What has felt right so far has been adopting the more personal alias: BOUZY (short for my family name, Bouzina).
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As a musician, artist, and overall creative, my work has always been about storytelling. Both my narasu and BOUZY aliases have served as vital conduits for this, allowing me to translate complex emotions and lived experiences into art.
My journey with this mission started with narasu and the release of Secret Sounds, Vol. 1 during my junior year of high school. It was a landmark project for me. Containing tracks I’d started producing as early as my freshman year in 2019, Secret Sounds was the culmination of my entire high school experience, all distilled through my deep passion for music production. It’s a collection of niche, chronically online EDM sub-genres, ranging from heavy dubstep to euphoric future bass and everything in between, with the EP concept projected through a fictional character I created named Nara. Since its release in 2021, I envisioned that each new stage in my creative development would be chronicled by a new volume of Secret Sounds.
The period following that project marked an incredibly formative time in my personal life. I graduated high school, started college at San Diego State, experienced my first heartbreak, and, crucially, learned that my dad was diagnosed with congestive heart failure (CHF). I took a creative hiatus for the majority of 2022. With my dad’s health worsening, a need for my artistic identity to align even more closely with my personal journey became apparent. This led to the establishment of BOUZY in 2023, my current production alias. Unlike narasu, BOUZY is not about a character; Yucef Bouzina and BOUZY are one and the same . It represents my artistic growth, alongside a new creative direction that I’m embracing.
This new direction didn’t emerge from sheer willpower to break through my creative block; it was catalyzed by a remix competition I entered. Hosted by some of my biggest inspirations in color bass—Paper Skies, Skybreak, and Sharks—the competition offered the possibility of creating an official Trinite remix. I teamed up with one of my closest home town friends and frequent collaborators Benjamin Phipps (@mrbenphipps), where he layed down an insane electric guitar melody, galvanizing endless inspiration. We didn’t win, but what I learned from the experience was transformative for my production direction. That track, which garnered incredible reactions from the color bass community and whenever I played it in live sets, marked an important milestone in finding my path out of that 2022 hiatus, and into the more festival-inspired sound I’m pursuing now. While narasu was a pivotal start, establishing my sound in these narrow lanes of EDM, BOUZY represents my opportunity to grow as a musician, not just an audio engineer. I want the BOUZY project to serve as the central ‘mecca’ from which various projects and sounds can emerge, with narasu being a cherished extension of that.
What continues to set me apart from the everyday beat maker is my relentless pursuit of versatility. My creative direction stems from an incredibly raw place, deeply cemented in my experiences. I’ve never been afraid to be bold in any of my creative mediums—I firmly believe in constant experimentation and in swinging for the fences. My ADHD-fueled, hyperactive mind means I can’t be contained by a single style or medium. Rather than serving as a limitation, it’s been a driving force behind my creativity. This overall creative vision has naturally pushed me to develop skills across various mediums, all driven by a love for music and human connection. While original music is my primary way of delivering these stories, I’m also an audio engineer, DJ, designer, photographer, and video creator—constantly evolving.
This drive extends far beyond my art; my career in public health has proven to be an increasingly relevant part of my life’s work. Ever since my dad’s CHF diagnosis, I’ve dreamed of assisting vulnerable populations that are not unlike his. My ultimate goal is to intersect my creative work with this passion. I envision BOUZY being a platform to host fundraisers, like charity festivals, that promote local community health and wellness. I’ve already begun to make strides on this path, DJing for community service events with my local Rotary (Club 33) and collaborating with HealthCorps of San Diego for a wellness event they hosted. Ultimately, I hope to use the platform I build to procure funding and establish a low-cost health clinic for underserved populations right here in San Diego.
San Diego’s community has given me so much already. San Diego-based EDM pioneers like ISOxo and Knock2 have catapulted abrasive, underground bass music, into the main stream with their duo ISOKNOCK. They truly paved the way for a massive (often untapped) audience that’s eager to experience the exciting, diverse world of electronic music beyond mainstream genres like House. My experiences at numerous local festivals over the past couple of years have confirmed that the underground scene of San Diego has an unparalleled energy and support, supported by a vibrant nightlife, and I’m excited to contribute to that and help connect fellow creatives, such as my most recent collaborator, now close friend Mike Manangan (@punchbggy)
When I think about what I’m most proud of, it’s not just one project. Honestly, it’s the resilience I’ve found within myself—the ability to navigate profound life experiences and translate that pain and joy into art for others; for you all reading this interview. It’s about balancing life’s many responsibilities with a steadfast commitment to exploring diverse creative mediums. I believe my journey speaks to my character, my uniqueness, and the versatility I strive for. I see labels as limitations, and I just want to keep advancing the space and find others who share that same vision. To continue that journey of sharing my story, I am proud to announce that Secret Sounds Vol. 2 will be released on my Papa’s death anniversary, July 24th, 2025.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Risk-taking, for me, isn’t so much a conscious decision as it is an inherent part of trying to build something authentic and deeply personal, especially as a creative. My general approach has always been to swing for the fences. When your work—from my early narasu project to the current BOUZY alias—is rooted in translating raw, lived experiences and complex emotions into art, there’s an intrinsic vulnerability, an emotional risk if you will, in putting that out into the world.
Every time I’ve chosen to evolve—whether it was defining a sound with Secret Sounds, Vol. 1, navigating the creative hiatus and personal challenges that followed, or establishing BOUZY as a direct reflection of my growth and a tribute to my journey with my dad—it involved an incredible amount of risk. Especially when you’re just starting to build a fanbase, a major change in identity could potentially undo years of work and recognition within online communities, since relevance can fade so quickly. Even deciding to release Secret Sounds Vol. 2 on his anniversary feels like a significant, deeply personal risk, but one that’s driven by a need to honor his memory and continue sharing my story, just as he encouraged.
The pursuit of multiple passions itself feels like a constant balancing act. Even now, as I’m crafting these responses, I’m simultaneously juggling tabs for my public health homework, managing my music Instagram, coordinating club events (HUGE shoutout to the Middle Eastern North African student union @mena_sdsu), and participating in an internship webinar. Perhaps that’s the everyday risk many of us involved, multi-talented creatives navigate: the risk of stretching ourselves too thin, risking burnout, yet daring to pursue all facets of who we are and what we dream of achieving without compromise. For me, the potential for genuine connection, authentic expression, and honoring the journey makes those risks imperative to success.
Pricing:
- Album/EP Mixing and Mastering: $50/song
- DJ Services: $100/hour ($150/hour if providing PA system)
- Artwork: 50$ simple/flat colors ($100 for full render)
- Photography: $200/session
- Video Editing: Varies
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/bouzy
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/djbouzy/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yucefbouzina/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@djbouzy
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/djbouzy
- Other: https://djbouzy.bandcamp.com/
Image Credits
Mike Mannangan
