I first got introduced to Yoshi Flower through Elohim and the song “Panic Attacks.” Then, I had the opportunity to see Yoshi live when he toured with Elohim around the country. And again when he played in Vancouver with Washed Out. When I heard Yoshi play for the very first time, I was captivated by his sound and stage presence. He’s a rock-star in the making with lots of talent and potential.
Interview edited for clarity and length
RMR: Yoshi, could you describe yourself to people who might not know you?
Yoshi Flower: AMERICAN RAVER
RMR: Describe your sound?
Yoshi: AMERICAN RAVER
RMR: Before you were Yoshi Flower, you were 1/2 of Gosh Pith who had a Goldboy – Kiiara x The Weeknd remix that blew up. What made you start fresh as Yoshi Flower and not continue under Gosh Pith?
Yoshi: Well I followed a girl to L.A. on a whim [from Detroit.] I met her in NY, then she moved to L.A. and I was like ‘I’m moving to L.A.’ Then I got to L.A. and I was like “oh fuck that was crazy to decide that.” But I’m kind of a hopeless romantic or whatever. I realized that it was way harder to go to L.A. than it is to just be in Detroit. I tried writing and producing for other people, because I found out about the whole music industry which I had never been exposed to.
Through that people were really excited about the stuff I was making and they’d always be like ‘I wanna use that‘ or ‘That’s a really cool lyric/sound‘ because it was more alternative and more Detroit shit like me. But then when it would be time to put it out, they’d be like ‘Nah, it’s too weird.‘ So I was like ‘Fuck it, I’m just gonna do me.‘ It was hard to figure out how to do good things that weren’t myself. I tried to do things that weren’t me and it just sounded like shit. So I decided to put “Movies” out by myself.
I was just lost at the time. It was just circumstance, and I was just pushed to do it. I couldn’t use any other old name because it had just felt like a different person.
RMR: With all the non-stop shows (opening for Dua Lipa, Petit Biscuit…etc) and tours, what have you learned the most from being on the road and having all these experiences?
Yoshi: I’ve learned the most that I’m psycho [laughs]. But also that everybody attribute their own meaning to the smallest things. Like tonight, I was just going to the bathroom and a kid came up to me and was like ‘Yo, I can’t believe I got to meet you!‘ And I’m like ‘Are you punking me? Where’s Ashton Kutcher right now? But yea you can meet me, I’m a dude like you.‘ I realized from all these little experiences that people make meaning more than we know in the littlest things we do. For me and music, people latch onto parts of the shit that we make that we don’t expect. I think that’s what I’ve been starting to learn the most- you never know what will mean something to someone.
RMR: What inspired the title AMERICAN RAVER, the cover, and the tracklist layout?
Yoshi: It started with Interscope [record label] saying ‘Do whatever you want,‘ and I was like ‘Okay, I can maybe make some pop shit and you guys can probably make me famous real fast.‘ But that wouldn’t really be that honest. So then I sat down and thought ‘What do I know? What have I experienced?‘ I grew up middle class, moderately educated, moderately spiritual (my parents told me about God but they’re not forcing me to do shit), I have a decent voice, I look hot some days, I look ugly as fuck some days. I’m just in that middle. I’m looking around me and looking inside myself, and I’m like ‘Fuck, I’m literally an American that’s in the middle of being a radicalized person and being completely apathetic like it’s the 90s again.’ Then I was like ‘Shit! that’s an American Raver.’
And I was just thinking about how I could be myself at a party- do some drugs and dance my ass off. That reminded me of being American- how do you cope with trying to fit in? I’ll go to school, get this job, buy this car, I’ll find this person for self-fulfillment, and those are drugs. That’s the most intimate journey I’ve been on. I was thinking about that and wondering ‘When did I start being told the way it is, and someone else’s version of what it is and obliging?‘ When you go to school, the first thing you do is pledge allegiance to the flag. And I was like ‘Fuck that, I’ll make my own version of that shit.’
I said this in one of my very first interviews, and I was really surprised I said it: ‘AMERICAN RAVER came from a place of being fed up with everybody being taught someone else’s version of how things are. And I wanted to start doing shit that made us all think about our own versions of what could be for ourselves.‘ And that was really it. But at the same time, fucking rave! Let’s go!
RMR: I’m surprised to see Brandon Wardell [Los Angeles comedian] collaborate on the project. How’d you meet him and get him to do these interludes/skits?
Yoshi: He’s the type of dude that’s always making stuff. He doesn’t make just one big grandiose thing. We connected in Silver Lake at brunch and I was being so shy. Eventually I told him about AMERICAN RAVER and he had the idea of doing interludes on it. We went into the studio a couple months later. He listened to it, then he was like ‘Wait, wait, wait, let’s smoke a bunch of weed,‘ and I was like ‘Alright bro.‘ He’s smoking weed and listening all the way through. Then he just walks into the microphone room and was like ‘Yoshi, it’s your dad, you’re too horny! It’s too horny!‘ He did so much more stuff that we didn’t use.
I’ve been working on the whole album since “Woke” came out. I didn’t put any singles out for AMERICAN RAVER. Like, this is it. It’s fun, and it’s just an escape, really.
RMR: Another name stood out- Jesse Rutherford from The Nbhd. How’d you guys link up and get him to hop on the song?
Yoshi: I was literally walking on Melrose and Fairfax and talking to Talia [friend] and was like ‘it would be so sick to link up with Jesse from The Nbhd cause he’s the only other person that takes the type of influences that I do and puts it in the same world.‘ It’s not the same, but it’s similar. Then I walk into a store, and there’s Jesse. I’m like ‘Oh fuck, I’m not gonna say anything.‘ Then he was like, ‘Yo man that coat is sick!’ At that time, his hair was dyed two color, and I reply ‘Dude your hair is crazy‘ and he’s like ‘Let’s hang out!‘ I couldn’t believe it.
Then maybe a year passed, and we linked up in L.A. without intending to make a song together. We sat down and made that song [“FOR WHICH I DANCE”]. It was insane because we recorded that song with two microphones in a room, singing at the same time, and one take all the way through. It took a couple takes for me, because he would take this one part in the song where it goes ‘say something now’ [2:33] with this crazy note, and I would freeze up. The track was just acoustic for a while, but when I told him about the mixtape and showed him the title, he suggested finishing the song. He’s the best.
RMR: Speaking of people in the music industry, I’m kind of surprised you know Skizzy Mars. Since he’s not based in L.A. and lives in New York.
Yoshi: He’s my best friend! Yea we met, and it’s so fucked up because we’d hang out with this group of people all the time but we never talked. Then one day, I was like ‘I need to make new friends.‘ So I went up to him and we hit it off and started talking on the phone [5 months ago]. We talked for a couple days and I was like
‘Man I’m so nervous about this one thing. I do music and I signed to this label, Interscope, recently,’
And he’s like ‘Oh shit bro, I’m signed to Atlantic.’
‘What’s your name?’
‘Skizzy Mars.’
‘Dude, I’ve heard of you!’
‘What’s yours?’
‘Yoshi Flower.’
‘Bro, I literally just listened to you.’
Did we just become best friends? He called me last night and was like ‘I haven’t listened to the tape yet but I fucking love you.’ He gives me a lot of advice- he plays in random places like Kansas to be in service to his fans. I learned a lot from him and Jesse. He’s like the best friend I made in music other than El.
RMR: I know you and El [Elohim] were roommates, is that how you guys met?
Yoshi: We met because Gosh Pith was on this label Biz3 and Elohim was on this label too. And she was like ‘I fuck with that dude’s voice.’ I came to L.A. for a wedding and she was like ‘Pull up on me,’ and we talked for 20 mins but nothing really happened.
When I came back to L.A., I was like ‘El, introduce me to people you work with at the studio so I can eat. I had nowhere to live and fucked my life up.’ She said ‘Why don’t you just crash at my spot?‘ This is the 4th time we’ve ever talked. So I moved in 2 days later, and she was like ‘I’m going on the Louis the Child tour, bye. Here’s the keys to my car, keys to the house, and here’s my speakers and interface.‘ she came back a month and a half later and I had made the beat for “Movies”, the beat for “Just On Drugs”, and she was like ‘Aight bet, you should stick around.‘ I just moved out of her house like a week before tour started and now we talk all day.
RMR: Out of all the songs you’ve made, is there one that stands out/mean the most to you? Of course, they’re all personal but-
Yoshi: Before AMERICAN RAVER, it was “Just Cuz We’re Paranoid Doesn’t Mean They’re Not Onto Us.” I just loved it and I don’t know why. People don’t even really like it and it’s my least streamed song. My favorite song from AMERICAN RAVER is “OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”. Just because I snapped so hard on the production. I haven’t heard anything recently that’s that fire with that sample.
RMR: I’m curious to know about your Spanish “¡!” that you use quite often.
Yoshi: The only language I knew growing up other than English was Spanish, because Mexican town in Detroit was the craziest social-mobility-type place. When I was younger, Mexican town was like the spot in Detroit where people were just working so hard and trying to change their community because it wasn’t given to them as much. So I just always liked it, and that’s what I’ve been doing with this Yoshi project- it’s just doing shit that I like. It’s so simple. I also like it [exclamation points] because I don’t see anyone else doing it.
RMR: We talked about the inspiration and meaning behind American Raver, but overall, what inspires your music and what you write?
Yoshi: [thinks] idk who’s to say. if i knew, then that would be a supreme super power. As a human, you can kind of put yourself into a situation where you know you’re gonna feel something. So I think as an artist, it’s smart to put ourselves in the way of chemical imbalances, natural or synthetic.
RMR: Career goal for near future (1-3 years) and further (5+ years)?
Yoshi: 3 years? I wanna do a headline tour and put on a really good show for the people that have been supporting me. So career goal: headline tour, album, festivals- that’s all next year. The year after that is to collaborate with people that really inspire me and really making an impact.
30 year goal is to have a Lambo and be of real service- somehow figure how to be of service to people. Because sometimes I feel like I’m doing something good but I don’t know how to manufacture those type of moments. I wanna have a SiriusXM channel where it’s nothing but Yoshi. ‘This is Garden. You’re turned in. We’re playing songs that inspired Yoshi, Yoshi’s songs, songs that Yoshi inspired, people covering Yoshi, and Yoshi’s friends.’ I’ll be dead and be like ‘Ay yo, it’s yoshi, aka American Raver, aka Blue Reed, aka Shred-heeran, aka John Slayer, aka Young Niel.’
RMR: You relate to Young Neil [from Scott Pilgrim] out of everyone?
Yoshi: I do. I feel like I’m Young Neil, and El is Scott Pilgrim. Somebody was like ‘Yo was Yoshi Flower a concept where you’re Ramona Flower’s younger brother? [continues on concept]’ No, but that’s an amazing theory.
Speed Round:
Albums/artist on repeat?
Bakar- Badkid, Elliott Smith- From a Basement on the Hill
Last album you listened to?
The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour
Favorite career highlight?
Probably last night when my mom was like ‘I’m proud of you,‘ and I was like ‘I think I’m proud of myself.‘
Listen to AMERICAN RAVER below:
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