I once had an author friend tell me that when people find out you have written a book, you suddenly discover that everyone is writing a book. And it gets worse; they want to tell you all about it, in excruciating detail. I can tell you the same applies to being a music writer. When people find out what you do, you quickly discover that they, or someone near and dear to them, play in a band of some description – and that description is usually something like “blech”.
So when new neighbours moved in – two very hot looking, twenty–something guys – and my daughter let it drop that her mummy was a music writer, it was no surprise to me that one of them turned out to be in a band called Yoshi. He told me however they had nothing recorded yet but they were working on it. And by working on it I mean starting their own record label, Fwoosh Records and accompanying clothing line – as one does.
A friendship grew between my daughter and I and the neighbour boys, based on proximity, we share a landing and hall, the boys youthful, gregarious exuberance and our openness, humour, and constant willingness to participate in their silliness. They baby-sit occasionally, get me drunk when necessary, and look after us like big brothers when we really need it. They are good neighbours, so it was with some trepidation – fear of it being crap and that I would have to say so — that I listened to Yoshi’s debut single “Headphones” and was absolutely delighted to hear something I really liked.
Their eclectic mixture of hip-hop, powerpop, punk, ska, and maybe a bit of electronica is fun, youthful, intelligent, and utterly refreshing. I found myself very quickly addicted to the track. When I sat down and talked to some of the guys in Yoshi I learned more about their concept. Think the Gorillaz without Damon Albarn; a virtual band, no names, no photos, just music, concept, and animation. If it weren’t for their talent and drive it would probably fall flat, but already they have drawn attention from BBC Scotland’s, Radio One DJ, Vic Galloway, along with the various print media, these boys are on their way up. And up they deserve to go. “Headphones” is just the beginning, the rest of the album is under construction and there are more fun, funky t-shirts to come too. Yoshi is on its way up… I just hope that the neighbour boy fixes the hall light before he makes it big and moves out.
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