Please introduce yourselves

We are Yoshimi, made up of Lottie (the singer) and Luke (production). Lottie is at Corpus Christi studying English and Luke is on a gap year.

Describe your music style in three words

Ambient, atmospheric, electronic.

What was the thought process behind your group's name?

The name originally came from the album "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" by the Flaming Lips. The album means a lot to both of us and is one of the things which inspired us to start making music.

Tell us about being a band in Cambridge. What's it like juggling gigs/recording with your studies? 

We started recording music while studying at Hills Road, where we would share demos and rough recordings online. Having the ability to collaborate over the internet has been really useful when we've been busy with college, as we're able to work at our own pace. Luckily, there are plenty of small venues in Cambridge which put on gigs, creating a really thriving music scene in the area. We are able to write a lot of our work separately which is useful, as we can independently fit it around our workload. Most of our recording and practice happens during holidays.

How do you think your Cambridge experience has shaped your music? (or vice versa!)

We both have a really strong work ethic, which has come from the Cambridge experience. We always want to produce something better than what came before, and we are very critical of what we make. There is a lot of music which goes unreleased, as we feel it isn't completely in line with what we're making.

What are your goals for this academic year?

At the moment we're working on our third EP, which we hope to release early next year, and we're currently experimenting with different styles and sounds for our next project. Our most recent EP had a much more natural, authentic feel than our debut, which mainly featured a minimal, pastel design. We've found that establishing a visual aesthetic early on in the writing process has helped us to find a distinct sound for each release. We're also planning to create an all new live show, which we hope to debut in Cambridge at some point next year.

What's one piece of advice you would give to any Cambridge students wanting to start a band/solo career?

Practice, draft and re-write before you put any music out on any streaming sites. We started posting demos on Soundcloud, which allowed a lot of experimentation, before we put anything on Spotify or Apple Music. There is no rush to get music on those sites, it is far better to take your time and make something you are proud of and is reflective of your sound or style. Always keep your old demos, they are good to look back on, if a little cringey!

Where can we find you? 

We recently released our second EP, "Everything". It's available pretty much everywhere (Spotify, Apple Music etc.), and we're hopefully going to play some gigs in Cambridge over the next few months. We also have a Facebook page that you can like, and an Instagram account, if you want to keep up to date with our shows and releases!