Interview with Yesh: The Spotlight Series Ep. 4
The Spotlight Series is a documentary series by The Yakpo Collective that highlights prominent Tibetan contemporary artists and their artworks. The series exist to provide resources for generations to come, in order to foster a learning environment based on art and creativity.
What is the song “Glass” about:
Over these years, the glass has broken, been melted down, and remolded into brand new glass bubbles around our major cities. We stare through it, into light, then dark, then inevitably straight back to ourselves. Waiting until the glass bubble cracks a little bit, starting the cycle again - faster and faster, a little more dazed every time. Lasso la ri re ro lasso la ri re ro. Glass is an inorganic solid at the same time liquid material which is transparent or translucent. Glass is everywhere.
What is the song “Amala” about:
As we are all trying to make sense of a new reality, I thought this is the right time to share "Amala". I hope it can help you in these times of change, while we are adapting to a new world. "Amala" means mother in Tibetan. As humans all of us have Mother Earth in our roots. We are all raised differently, but every one of us was born from our mothers. The word mother can mean different things to different people, we can all relate. For me it represents purity, a pure state of mind. A mother points us back to our roots. We start with a mother each & every one of us. We are all in this together and stem from the same place. The bond between people even when you don’t see each other that much, it's a feeling that we share. Human connectivity. The embrace even when we are in distance, we have emotions & feelings to share that are important and contribute to the human creature we become. Its a time to remember that we are all connected. COVID-19 changed everyones daily life, for ever forward. And maybe our lives are going to look different for the next year and beyond. I have confidence we will get through it. We will not let it beat us, we will continue. One foot in front of the other. Stay safe folks, be kind, community is everything now, even from a physical distance and share.
Interview:
Kunkyi Tsotsong: Can you tell me a little bit about what you do and your background?
Yesh: I’m a musician, singer, songwriter. Born and raised in Swiss with Tibetan parents, moved to the states 11 years ago. I feel home wherever my friends and families are but nowadays we’re connected virtually. Home is anywhere. I can’t choose between America and Swiss. My mother is still in Switzerland.
K: How did you start exploring music?
Y: I think it was kind of always a part of my life growing up and I think I had a different upbringing than what’s normal. I grew up in a children’s village in Switzerland called Kinderdorf Pestalozzi and there were 15 different houses. One was a Bosnian house, we had a Cambodian house, Ethiopian house. I grew up in the Tibetan house with 15 other Tibetan kids- my parents were house parents. My brother and I grew up in a household with 15 kids. There was music from every culture like we had dance, choir, and we sang from all different cultures. We had to learn their dance, they had to learn our dance. I was part of a dance crew. We had a dance crew of 10 years old. There was music all the time. All sorts of different music. I was one of the younger ones growing up in the house. The older ones would play Bob Marley, Tracey Chapman, everything. Also my parents- my mom loves music. I guess everyone in the Tibetan culture. It’s a thing for refugees that keeps us alive and survive. It’s music, you know? My mom loves old Hindi music. My dad used to listen to Elvis Presley. It was just there (music). I don’t think I had a phase where I was like ooh now I want to explore. It’s always been a part of my life. Switzerland took 60 Tibetan kids. My parents were one of the first Tibetans in exile in Swiss. They grew up in that village. They worked and moved out but then the village asked them if they wanted to be house parents in the Tibetan house. I was 1.5 years old when they moved back. The name was Yombulakhang - the Tibetan house. I grew up in the Tibetan house - house no.15. There was one kitchen, one church, one sports center where you have gatherings. It was a community. They changed the concept but it’s a community.
K: What does your creative work mean to you?
Y: It means everything. It’s about expressing myself, different ideas in new ways. So it’s stepping outside of the box-getting to know oneself better. It’s a way of experiencing life for me. It helps me to see things differently and also explore the unknown because the way I work is I’m very fluid and organic. I am always getting into different horizons and unknown spaces. I think it helps one to understand and celebrate its own diversity and uniqueness. Every human being is so unique. Every individual. And it's a way to create something personal. Different feelings, different experiences.
K: Was there an important moment in life where you decided to follow your path as an artist?
Y: I don’t think there was. First of all, I think it’s a privilege. I feel very privileged to be able to create. I don’t have to worry about the need to fight for my food or surviving day by day. There wasn’t like a specific moment where I felt this is- I wanna be a musician. It was more of an accumulation of different events and factors in my life. It was a journey and process- that led me to where I am now, to being a songwriter and singer. No key moments but different kind of epiphany moments. And following unconsciously your gut.
K: Do you think your Tibetan identity influences your work in any way?
Y: I do think-I think being born as someone is nothing to be proud of first of all. Being born, you don’t have a choice. You’re just born. It does influence- it’s part of my DNA. It’s a combination of everything so yeah it does without being like okay I want to create something very Tibetan. It just comes naturally from my joy, suffering, and my heart. No matter what I create, it’s in my DNA. So it does, without a choice. I think it’s good to see also as a Tibetan artist, you kind of feel obligated to create a voice by being Tibetan but without pinpointing Buddhism, Dalai Lama, and political issues. By just being Tibetan and making art, that is a new voice to keep Tibet relevant. It is our duty as an artist to be honest and authentic. So I cannot deny not being Tibetan.
K: Where do you get inspiration from behind your pieces, works, and music videos? And what is the process usually like?
Y: I feel inspired by a lot.I have an overactive brain. People inspire me, I love storytelling, I love listening to stories. Movie Makers, painters, no matter what, I feel blessed that I feel. There’s never a dull moment. I just like connecting the dots and trying to see things different. I’m inspired by anything- not only by objects but also people’s minds. If they do something good, if they’re selfless. So I think all these factors play a role in my sound.
K: What are your favorite parts or details from each of your new music videos and why?
Y: The favorite part is that I'm working with a girl that I met. Her name is Jane- she’s doing creative direction and she’s from Hong Kong and moved to NY 13/14 years ago. For past videos, I worked with female artists and photographers. I like working with females. I think we should support Asian women. It wasn’t a moment where we wrote a script or story line. I created the sound with producer Mountain Christian. Half a year ago, I started just jamming out with him and making music and he was the one that produced glass. We invited over this cellist from a friend we know, and we built the sound. And after that, Jane heard the song and she said oh I see you dancing. And I was like oh yeah. And automatically I named this song glass because it’s about- I take the subway a lot- being in a subway and glass is like a fluid, liquid that is see through and transparent / translucent. And we’re all in these bubbles, each and one of us- I wanted to create this story of being in a city. And we filmed it on Christmas where the city was empty before the pandemic. It was being in a big city but being in your own bubble. Being surrounded by all these skyscrapers and people and having these moments of being fluid, being fast, dazed. The bubble can crack also, it’s like remodeling. That was the inspiration for the music video. Listening to the song while I walk, it's kinda just following your own drum beat. It’s being in tune with one self. It was really fast. She followed me, she also did camera work, she basically did everything. She said can u go there? We looked for locations and she just started filming and she said can you go there and dance? And I started free styling. I think she wanted to capture that.
K: Do you ever get an artist block and what do you do to overcome it? Any tips?
Y: I think I do. Of course we all do, we’re human. We all have downs and ups but I don't think I get mad about it or I don’t freak out. It can be weeks or months where I just keep doing things but nothing comes out. And I think you just have to write it out. You can’t overthink things-just write it out. It may be the opposite of what you do. I'm not a painter, maybe I should paint. Or reading, going to museums. I think if I have a block what helps me most is if I’m alone. In solitary. I think a lot of people do the opposite maybe- they look for things or inspiration but what helps me most is if I find my inner calmness. I don’t think it’s good to search so much. It’s good to let go and not to take yourself too seriously.
K: What do you want viewers to take away from your music?
Y: I hope I can give them memories and I hope for some people, make it less lonely. I wanna make people more connected. Emotions: you don’t know why you feel- you can’t grab it, it’s a feeling. That’s why I’m fascinated by sound and music- you communicate with.. what is music? What is it? It's crazy. I want people to feel something like I'm chasing the sound or specific chord for a song. It's a moment of something where you feel very alive. I think the world is now becoming- it’s beautiful how many artists go back to the rawness-just feel- I just wanna evoke something- maybe it makes them sad or happy, maybe it makes them something. And I like evoking a feeling that the sound might be even within them and they were never able to grab it.
K: Are there any artists right now that you’re listening to or inspired by?
Y: I love music in general. I like to listen to old music. I'm not someone who’s updated on what’s up and coming now.
K: What is your most treasured tool or something you can’t live without as an artist?
Y: Although I like having a violin or cellist instrumental, I can’t play it. I just play piano chords. I guess hard drive or laptop- we have to depend on that. What I’m really inspired by is movie soundtracks- people who score. I don’t know specific names but that inspires me a lot.