song: sunline
yoshi
by mikrosopht
whats your name, your artist name, and your favorite flavor of ice cream
I think my name is private, I dont know why. I have an issue with it, until I feel completely at ease with myself as a human being, I feel like I have to continue to use another name for my artistic endeavours. So that artistic name is Yoshi, and Yoshi loves "Zitronen", which is a German ice-cream flavour. Them Germans know how to make the good ice-cream. Go to a place called Mainz in Germany, you'll see, es ist sehr gut. Einfach Gut. Jah.
where are you primarily located and what are some of your favorite places you've traveled?
Brighton, U.K. I have large family in America too, Maryland, so I'm sometimes operating from there. I don't like it so much because I find myself boxed-up in this town house with nowhere to go, but for my poetry it really helps to be locked away in this depressing room. I don't drive you see! Everything comes to the surface in those situations, so good for poetry, bad for life. . Anyway I'm moving away from your question... I haven't travelled as much as I would have liked. I'm planning on going to Morocco this year, find myself some cheap hotel, see the sights then do some writing perhaps. My favourite place was Egypt though. Not so much the sights as the atmosphere. The vibe. The whole Middle-East is the place to be for any artist as far as I'm concerned. The people are real, they are living. Good things come out of that. Pure expression comes out of that. So I dig the whole Middle-East from a creative stand-point. That IS where it's at. Iraq was one of the hotbeds for Artists and Musicians too until that recent war for those weapons that didn't exist. But yeah, for me the whole Middle-East is very inspiring. I have my eyes on a few other spots around the world that look really inspiring too. Astrakan in Russia, Xinjiang in China, And of course Afghanistan, which is where I'm originally from.
what types of art do you like to make/absorb
As far as visual art, I do what I can. I wasn't blessed with the natural ability to paint, but I still paint. I have stacks of canvases laying around with all kinds of things on them. My best friend introduced me to the world of art, she was a fine-art student here, so I have really come to appreciate art thesedays, I know what I like and what I don't. That's as opposed to before where I had a pretty basic attitude that all modern/abstract art was nonsense. A lot of it still is, that's a fact, but every now and then something will just strike me. it's nice to be struck.
have you ever been in a fight
Well, I've stood up for myself. I've pushed someone hard a few times and they backed off. But no, I've never been in a proper fight. Being punched in the face, that's a feeling you could explore isn't it?! I've been mugged once, but only for 50p. I felt very emasculated though. I dislike violence, I would put anyone straight in a very firm way if they hurt animals, insects or any living thing. Even if it was a good looking famous lady. I pull no punches with that kind of stuff, us Muslims don't dig cruelty to animals! As for being punched in the face, the best I've seen it displayed was in the film "Punch drunk love" where Adam Sandler is about to be punched and he really shows this fear that is really primal I think. No fights for me though.
being into hiphop would you consider gang starr a big influence ? what musicians have you gotten the most out of
Hehe, where did you get them from? Gangstarr, I hugely respect, but they didn't really influence me. As far as hip-hop, my main influences have to be, Rza for his production, and also now for the way he's expressing himself as an artist with the Bobby Digital stuff. I guess most of my influences are non hip-hop though, Marvin Gaye, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Laswell, Kate Bush, the 11th century Afghan poet "Rumi", Ryuichi Sakamoto...so many people. Too many for me to name now, "it's like trying to find a fart in a jacuzzi"....
do you like to swim
Yes. I love it. I love water. do you? :)
yes.. i'd like to go more than i do now. do you drink water ?
Always, and me too about the swimming thing, I haven't swum in two years I think. That was in America. I always drink water, I'm a firm believer in the time-honoured practice of water-drinking. You could say I'm following in the footsteps of....say, Bob Marley, in that I enjoy a glass of fresh water. I'm continuing his legacy, as well as a great many other peoples, by keeping up this fine tradition of water-swallowing. I love it.
do/have you ever partaken in any paraphrenalia related activit(y/ies) ? re: i was biking earlier and accidentally found some kids hanging around in the woods.. haha.. ?
I don't get it. ? hahahaha
marijuana or other drugness
Ohhh, right. Okay. Well no I have to say I haven't. Not even weed. Most of my friends do, or have, but I've never been interested in it. My music is alive with passion, I don't need it. Inspiration and passion kind of remove the need for me to get high. My brother does enjoy the weekly hit of Nitrous-Oxide in whipped cream cannisters though. That's always interesting to watch. You're a good interviewer!
tell me about your musical projects, past present future
The past is irrelevant! Presently, I'm looking to release an EP of maybe 5 or 6 tracks, circulate it around the local community in CD and Vinyl, and through the internet internationally too. I'm kind of in the process of setting up my own record label too, along with my brother. I want everything to be in my hands, I have the security and peace of mind that I have a talent in making music, so having finally realised that, I now further realise that I don't have to comprimise myself by sending demos to record labels who "kind of" fit my style. No-one can contain my style under a genre, and I know once people listen to my music they will be affected, so I figure, release it yourself, on your own terms, with your own artistic-friends doing artwork, and your trusted ones helping you out. Life is a mug full of milk, and I love my vitamins. I start drinking the milk and things start to happen you know?
there is definately a trap artists fall into where making a demo for some label takes the soul right out of the music... what do you think of the music as a business today in relation to being an artist trying to get your voice heard? any advice to aspiring musicians
I think so. I'm not going to lie, I've sat there in the past and thought of record labels I liked, and thought, okay they make this kind of music, so maybe I have to do that too. It's really a symptom of the sickness that is label making, and genres. As far as the business today, It's bad. That's about all I will say, hehe, people can read the more educated thoughts of KRS or Chuck D to get the lowdown on all the shisty politics that goes on behind the scenes. Advice? I mean I'm an aspiring artist myself, so all I say is things that I am taking to heart too, it gets cliched if people keep saying it, but the truth often is cliched, "all you have to do is be yourself." If your a boring moron who talks about perverted nonsense then you might be a novelty for a few weeks, or in the case of eminem, for a few years, but trying to be consciously different, or trying to consciously shock people always has more downfalls in the long-run. You have to know yourself, I've heard so many rappers who just don't have the ability to look at themselves, and their styles in relation the industry as a whole. It's like they don't know how wack and played out they sound! It's funny. Know yourself, know your limits and strengths, then you got to be honest with yourself and ask, is this what people should be hearing? Is this useful? I mean, I make music to relieve stress in my soul and so on, but I also make it to be of use to people. Emotionally, politically, whatever. Music is a beautiful thing.
yoshi website