Meet Adrian Smith Jr. | “Yarray” Music Producer, Artist & Engineer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Adrian Smith Jr. and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Adrian, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I am from Newnan Ga. My background and upbringing undoubtably impacted who I am today in every way. I was born into a family full of singers and musicians. My mother sang in a gospel group with her mom and sisters, my father was a gospel singer / musician as well. Being in this environment placed me in perfect position to learn and play the 4 instruments that I play today. That training and knowledge fueled my endeavors as a music producer, artist, and engineer. Aside from the talent, I still carry a lot of values from my upbringing that allow me to uphold and maintain good energy, as well as good character.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My story is unique because my producer journey actual started on my first deployment to Iraq back in 2009. During that deployment i couldn’t work the programs,so I only played the keys and melody’s. It was also the time that I had to make the major decision to reenlist or get out to pursue a music career. After surviving an explosion during an attack on our base. Pip Stallworth talked to me, I decided to get out and go to school for something music related. As an artist, my manager at the time lived in Jamaica. So after deployment I took a trip to visit Bob Marley’s “Tuff Gong” studio in Kingston Jamaica. I went there to connect and maybe collaborate with a few Jamaican artists. However, the actual blessing was talking to Bob Marley’s audio engineer. As he told old stories of the good times shared by him and Marley, I couldn’t help but notice how happy he was to still be in the studio doing what he loves. That was the day I decided to go to school to be a musical engineer. As I learned more about engineering, I leveraged the knowledge towards learning to produce music as well. The takeaway I’d like to give about my story is that, “sometimes you have to leave your comfort zone to get what you want out of life. So it’s all a matter of how bad do you want it”.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’d start most days at a coffee shop to get the day started with something productive. The must haves start with a day at Dave and Busters to shoot pool and play games. We would have to check out an Atlanta Hawks game. A night at Central Station night club would be great and definitely roller skating at Cascades.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to shout out Pip Stallworth for inspiring me to go to Full Sail University instead of a traditional college. He recognized the talent and potential in me for producing music and said, “You’re too talented to go to a regular school. Go do music”.

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Youtube: https://youtube.com/@yarray74

Image Credits
Zona Simz, Ray Ward Jr.