Graxie

I am curious, creative, mindful, spirited, sensual.

Grace Young—musician, designer, technologist, entrepreneur. Most of all: human.

This is my manifesto. Ideas, in no particular order, that grow and evolve. That drive what I make and do in the world.

Curious

Technology in service of humanity

Technology earns its place by improving a life or contributing to a more sustainable future. I build tech that benefits, not to extract another fortune for the already-fortunate.

Mindful

Beyond “can we build it?”

Design is a discipline of empathy — your skills, applied to improving the lives of others. The question that matters isn't “can we build it?” — it's “who lives better because we did?”

Curious

Build the better thing

You can't supplant a broken system by arguing with it. Build something better, and let people walk across. This thinking runs through all my work, be it instruments and music tech, the renewable energy transition, fashion, web apps.

Mindful

Sweat the big picture into the details

Strategy and detail are a singular practice — the vision shapes the build; the build teaches and reshapes the vision. Some pick an altitude and stay there — I value the round trip.

Spirited

The good stuff is on the other side of 'maybe'

The best parts of what we make are often gifts disguised as accidents — the wrong note held a beat too long, the “mistake” that becomes the spice. You can't plan magic; you can only make room for it.

Spirited

IRL is irreplaceable

Musicians who've spent their life honing their craft, pulling something together live, in the moment — no recording, no Reel, can capture that. The energy lives in the room, in the body, phone down, fully there.

Sensual

Craft is sensory

The grain of a finish. The warmth of a tube amp. The hand of a fabric. A peated whisky beside a late-night vinyl listening session. You feel quality before you can explain it.

Creative

Digital smarts, analog soul

Technology should serve the people making the thing, not replace them. The best tools disappear into the gesture and leave more room for the human-to-human connection — more feel, more play, more presence.

Curious

Shared value is not a slogan

A business is only worth building when it creates more value than it captures — for the people it serves, the people who make it, the place it sits in. As something that lives beyond its founder.

Sensual

For the joy of it

Not every creative pursuit needs to earn an income. A song can just be a song. A bass can just be a bass. Doing it for the joy it brings is enough.

Mindful

What lasts is who you worked with

Products get sunset. Companies pivot. The people and relationships — the trust, the shared wins, the hardships weathered, the craft learned together — compound for decades.

Creative

Create the things you wish existed

The music I hear in my head. The instruments and pedals I want to play. Clothing that fits a trans-femme body. I begin by creating something I want but can't find. I make first for me, but if I'm seeking it, others might be too.

Curious

Fail informatively

Everything we try might fail. If we build in the open, even the failures leave something behind — a path cleared, a dead-end mapped, a foundation someone else can build on.

Mindful

Take your time

Not everything needs traction by Friday. Ideas percolate and don't have a pre-determined arrival date. Exploring without a deadline isn't a lack of focus. Some ideas need a season; some need decades.

Curious

Eclectic is a feature

I have eclectic interests, that run deep. Synthesis is my superpower: bringing together ideas from across worlds that don't usually meet. This can't happen without following the muse.

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Passion meets purpose

I made this

The Forgotten Lights

Writing, performing and producing confessional, political, guitar-driven indie rock. Principal songwriter & producer.

Musology

Pedalboard-friendly digital smarts for guitarist's analog effects chains. Designer & co-founder.

Kinfolx

Fashion for trans-femme bodies, from the first sketch. Sustainably-minded, Australian made. Founder.

Tree of Us

Blues, R&B, fusion. Expressive improvisation. Fretless bass beside guitarist & vocalist Scott Brinckley.

Kraken

Accelerating the energy transition to improve one billion lives. My "day job" is C&I Team Lead on the Australian Markets team.

Anachron

Coming soon

Multi-scale guitars with modern features in familiar silhouettes. Made to order, Sydney.

Earlier

Working out loud

Journal

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