Meet Yoshimi P-We!

Yoshimi P-We (Yokota Yoshimi). Someone reading this may know more about her than I do. To others I know she's a brand new idea. Yoshimi plays trumpet, drums, guitar and keyboards. She's the longtime drummer for avant-garde noise band Boredoms (also evidently known as Vinfinitysignredoms), member of her own sound collective OOIOO, a collaborator with Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth in the punk supergroup Free Kitten, recorded an album with the awesome Yuka Honda of (now sadly defunct) Cibo Matto fame, and served as inspiration for and drummer on Flaming Lips' song "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots."

Those credits are enough to cement her as one of the most creative, talented human beings on the planet. But that's not all! Oh no... with Yoshimi P-We you get more! So much more! Tell us more, Don Pardo!

Don Pardo: This is Don Pardo! Not only does Yoshimi P-We create music, she also creates art (Yoshimi designs OOIOO's album covers), clothing and textile designs. Oh... and her scream is the loudest and shrillest since Faye Wray met a certain giant ape. Back to you!

Thanks, Don Pardo! And because of her inspirational status, she, perhaps more than anyone, is responsible for my being in Japan. Anyplace that produces people like Yoshimi P-We is all right by me. Of course, one of my goals is to see her perform here in her native country. Here's an ethereal OOIOO video for their song "Open Your Eyes You Can Fly:"



And here's more frenetic, tribal one for a newer song, "Umo:"



From what I understand, her first encounter with fellow Boredoms/Vooredoms bandmate Yamantaka Eye was during a UFO or Die show where- somewhat GG Allin-style- he was destroying a dead cat he'd found in the alley behind the club with a chainsaw. While what remained of the rest of the audience shrank back into a far corner to avoid flying bits of cat meat, Yoshimi found it somewhat boring and almost fell asleep. The next time Eye and UFO or Die played, Yoshimi was their drummer. From there she joined Boredoms and became a legendary presence in indie music.

Ah, what a tremendous, fearless, wonderful, giant of a woman! And one more thing. She's supposedly a big fan of the character Snoopy. She was billed at least once as "Yoshimi Snoo-Pe." I'm sure I read this somewhere, but I can't confirm it. So don't take its presence here as a fact.

Finally... presenting... "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots:"



Actually meeting her would be an outer space-type experience. Viewing the inner planets from the outer. But I'd settle for just knowing more creative people on my own level.