Matthew Fish and Kristopher Yoshihara, author and musician

10/26/2025

Today, I am doing something new. I am introducing a client who has written over 40 books, and I am introducing a talented musician who has a popular YouTube channel. They are one and the same person.
Matthew told me he was very sick during the promotion of his book, “All the Best Roads Still Lead West” in December 2020. Privately, he told me he had a very aggressive form of cancer and was concerned about how much time he had left to live. I thought he had died because I didn’t hear from him until the latter half of 2025.
Kristopher has an interesting sound. His music has a gentle rhythm and a pleasant melody. The vocals are soft, also. His music is easy to listen to. Here are the cover of an album, a picture of the band, a track from the album titled “I Just Want to Do It All Again” and the picture Matthew uses on his YouTube channel below that:

You can buy his books here:
https://www.amazon.com/matthew-fish-books

Here is the review and interview we had for his book, “All the Best Roads Still Lead West”: https://www.wordrefiner.com/book-reviews/all-the-best-roads-lead-west
His author X account: https://x.com/Matthew_MFish

Here is his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KristopherYoshihara

His musician X account: https://x.com/Kristopher21320
His musician Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/kristopher.yoshihara

Copyright © 2025 Mark L. Schultz, except for the musician’s music and art

34 Comments

Kristopher Yoshihara

10/27/2025 01:14:00 am

Hello, and thank you for having me back, from the believed dead even! I really appreciate the chance to talk about my change from author to full time music. Music has always been a huge part of my life, just as much as writing has. I started playing guitar when I was 13 and stuck with it, branching out to different instruments over time.

I’ve worked with a lot of bands and had some great mentors along the way. I always wanted to either be a musician or an author, but circumstances initially led me more toward writing. Then, after a cancer diagnosis, I felt pushed to focus on the road I didn’t take putting all my spare time into making music.

I started revisiting recordings from 2019 and used them to create my first album, which came out in 2020. The lockdowns gave me the time and space to create a lot when I felt up to it, and I’ve kept going ever since.

With cancer now being less of a concern and both anxiety and depression being a bigger part of my life, songwriting has become a real outlet that helps keep me calm and I feel heals me in a way. I try to write about topics that feel underrepresented in music, and that’s led me to connect with amazing people who deal with similar issues. I find a lot of comfort in music because I started it alone, doing all the recording, mixing and publishing. Which was very reminiscent of my writing, but now I work with an extremely talented team of other musicians, video content creators, performers. So, while writing felt like a very solitary experience, music has really become a much more social and collaborative experience which has helped my life a great deal. Sorry, that's a bit of a long introduction. With that out of the way I'm happy to go from here and thanks again for facilitating the chance to do this interview!

Mark

10/27/2025 11:31:22 am

You're welcome, Matthew. I will call you Matthew when we are talking about books and I will call you Kristopher when we talk about music. Let me know if that is not okay.

Lets talk about writing first because that is how I knew you before cancer.

First questions.

How old were you when you discovered the power of words?

Who inspired you to write?

Kristopher Yoshihara

10/27/2025 01:39:52 pm

Thanks! That's perfectly alright. I was going to initially publish my music under the pen name Matthew Fish, but I realized that, aside from the name already being in use from another indie artist, I wanted to put music out that carried the weight and honesty of lived experiences, so I finally put something out in my own name.

When I was very young I read constantly. Often, I would stay up all night reading and end up falling asleep in school. I don't know exactly when it hit me that I wanted to be an author, but it was very early in life. I remember that I would read and enjoy a lot of books, but with some stories I would be disappointed with the ending or had so many ideas on how the story could have gone a different way that would have been more intriguing to me. So, at some point I think around twelve or so... I was writing these really terrible stories into a notebook and I was absolutely loving it, because I could make it as weird or surreal as I wanted, like most things it was all comedy or parody. Which is fitting because my first songs were complete nonsense and they are terrible because i wasn't taking it seriously at the time. I even ran across one of my really terrible songs from 10 years ago and found out it's still up on YouTube. That was an entertaining experience to see how far things have come.

Who inspired me to write is an interesting question. I'm not completely sure. I've always loved reading multiple genres, I read a lot of Stephen King at an age where I probably shouldn't have been reading Stephen King. Where the Red Fern Grows really stands out as a book I read way too many times, I had a grandfather who lived extremely rural that entire area reminded me of the Ozark setting, which my time in rural Missouri with him during the summers inspired my first successful book A Window in the Earth. I've found a lot of inspiration in the story of Christopher McCandless, though I know that lately he's a more polarizing figure than he used to be. Mainly due to his views on minimalism and his views against the type of society that we live in. So, Jon Krakauer is a definite influence with how he captured his life so well in Into the Wild. I guess though, what I felt gave me...in a sense, permission to write was ultimately Stephen King's book On Writing. I used to believe that I had to go to college to be an author, that I had to have certain credentials. His book made me realize that I could pull from my own life and just write in an honest fashion and just be a storyteller. Which was a great realization, because I am multiple times over college dropout who did not do very well in high school either. However, it was kind of like a realization that it didn't matter that had me starting to take writing much more seriously at a young age.

Mark

10/27/2025 03:15:53 pm

You have some powerful writing influences. I am still reading King's On Writing." The biographical part was interesting. I haven't finished the latter half. I think many authors have taken his command against adverbs too far. Some awfully awkward sentence structure has been created to avoid that part of speech.

A piece of paper, such as a diploma, is only worth what you paid for it. It is no guarantee of ability or credibility. Like you, I attended numerous colleges while refusing to take out loans to finance that goal. I went to 6 or 7 colleges without ever getting the sheepskin because I only finished about half of the classes I started. Real life was more important.

New questions.

You wrote 41 books before the cancer struck. What genres did you write in?

What themes were you exploring?

Kristopher Yoshihara

10/27/2025 04:44:45 pm

A lot like my music, I like to experiment and always felt that sticking to one thing was just not as interesting as stretching out. I'd been a fan of so many different genres, just as I am with music, that I like to experiment and if I had a spark of inspiration for a genre that I hadn't written in, I'd get excited to do it. I feel it went a long way to prevent getting burned out. Which I feel is also true when it comes to making music. So my first book, well first good book, was a mix of mystery, a young adult book with supernatural elements. From there, I wrote a few more supernatural but also more slice of life books. Eventually it would lead me into returning to a comedy type book, like Einstein and Nuclear Space Dolphins Vs. The Terrorist Comet Armageddon. Which people enjoyed, but it was probably a bit jarring given the serious nature of a lot of my work. But I've done Sci-fi, I believe you reviewed one, The Bittersweet Song of Canary, and Fantasy in the Lemniscate Tower and the Sword of Shells. Also, the last book that you reviewed was more of a travel, slice of life story. I tend to like those a lot. Low stakes, but more about personal connection. I enjoy a lot of modern movies and books but I feel like a lot of material is end of the world, high stakes things which is perfectly fine. I just enjoy a variety of different stories. My favorite movie, Defending Your Life is about as low stakes and just comfy as you can possibly get while still managing to be an emotionally impactful piece of cinema. I really think it's more of a question of what have I avoided over the years. I know it's been popular, but I just don't understand the LitRpg genre and have never been a fan of the zombie genre. I love horror, but it's always been psychological horror and not things I find have been a bit overused. Though people consider C-Shapes a zombie book and I have no idea why, but it's also one of my most successful books so I never argued the point.

Regarding themes, it's always been about human connection. My main goal has always been about creating believable characters and allowing them to fill in the story for me. Something I always found that was underutilized in a lot of novels I was reading was just taking into account how people interact in real life. In real world dialogue people fumble with words in situations, they interrupt each other, they don't always have the right words to say, and it takes a bit more time to express that. So, I always made sure to include those kinds of details as I kept writing. But I'm not sure if that counts as a theme exactly, but I suppose, mainly the themes have been about travel, choosing experiences over material things...I'm not trying to push people into living more minimalistic even though I feel it's a very freeing way to be, maybe just a gentle nudge or reminder to enjoy nature or do something fun outdoors in the time that you have on this earth to do so. Or sometimes my theme is a comedy and shooting trained dolphins into space to stop comets from hitting the planet.

Mark

10/27/2025 05:58:30 pm

Your Best Roads book was my favorite of the promotions. Slice of life stories have a thin line to walk, in my mind. Too much of the mundane details can be boring but my interest in the story never waned and the ending was a bit shocking for me.

Without a human connection most stories will be flat and uninteresting for a lot of readers. With the plethora of reading choices available, many readers will close an uninteresting story and move on.

Experiences, shared experiences especially, have a lot of value because you can't take anything physical with you into the next life.

New questions.

Why did you choose not to write more books with the cancer staring you in the face?

Do you think you will return to writing or will you stick with music for the foreseeable future?

Kristopher Yoshihara link

10/28/2025 08:50:47 am

I'm really happy that you enjoyed All the Best Roads Still Lead West, I really wanted to capture the idea of two people forming a meaningful connection while traveling across the country on a grand road trip, but one that felt very grounded in reality and honesty. The ending was always on my mind as a conscious choice to present something that was unexpected, but hopefully in the best possible way.

Mainly, my reason for not choosing to write more books once I had a cancer diagnosis and I wasn't getting any good news or answers, was honestly, from a fear of starting something and not finishing it. I've always had a very insane work ethic, and I also feel that putting so much time into another book would have hindered my recovery. Once I start a project I will often work 10-14 hours a day on it. It stays in my head and ideas just never seem to stop so sometimes it can take a lot out of me. Due to these kinds of potential issues, I decided instead to take the path I always wanted to and went with music. I had, at that point, written lyrics for so many years and had so many ideas that it was an almost healing experience to embrace my music and take it much more seriously. Also, that's when I found out that I could self-publish music just as I could a novel. For the longest time I thought the barrier to entry was needing to get in with some kind of label, big or independent, or just had to have some kind of representation. Knowing I could represent myself, and later others, that led to me releasing my first album We Are all Losers, in 2020, which I had recorded most of in 2019. While it laid the groundwork for my serious work that dealt with issues such as anxiety, depression, and other societal commentaries that I cover in a lot of my music, it also contained a more lighthearted feel with a few jokes and songs that were a bit silly. But just like with writing, that's how I always approach stepping into something new. I always deflect my nervousness about putting myself out there at first with a bit of humor. It was one song, Is This the Best Way? That really stood out to people and really gained a lot of traction. I had told myself at the time that I'd be happy if like, a hundred people listened to my songs, but found that tens of thousands of people were listening to it and I was floored by the reception.

Will I ever write another novel? That's something that I've asked myself a lot. I still get book ideas, and I'll write them down. I'm back at the point where I've applied the same work ethic to my music where I do spend anywhere from 8 hours to 12 hours working on recording, mixing, mastering, and just doing take after take to get the right sound or right vocal performance. The thing that makes me lean towards answering with a pretty confident no, I don't think I will return to writing, is the fact that I have people I work with, great people, great band members who contribute a lot to our current sound and it makes it both easier and rewarding because since 2023, I'm not just a solo act. Writing is often a very solitary experience, with my worsening depression and anxiety after my cancer diagnosis I don't enjoy being too much in my own mind, alone. If I was still making music just on my own, I feel like I would probably would have burned out and maybe I would have gone back to writing. But I was very lucky to find likeminded people who have similar issues that I do...and we all love making music. So as long as the band exists, I'll be staying with that.

Mark

10/28/2025 10:12:19 am

Writing the first draft of a book is a very solitary experience! It is necessary because you can only improve the first draft after it's out of your head. After the second or third draft then beta readers can help and it becomes a group project. Then an editor, then a proofreader for the final polish.

Writing music and lyrics is a little easier because the volume of words is much less. Bandmates can help polish the music and lyrics.

New questions.

Have you entered any writing contests?

Have you won awards of any kind for your writing?

Kristopher Yoshihara link

10/28/2025 02:41:11 pm

That is definitely true, writing can be much more of a collaborative experience once you've finished. It's just the idea of a few months of daily isolation that makes me a bit more hesitant to make a return.

I have, in the past, entered a lot of writing contests. I placed very well with A Window in the Earth in the contest that Amazon used to have, I can't even remember the name...but I did end up making it to a point where I did win a few promotional based prizes and had my book featured for a period of time, which was great exposure for when I was first starting out and when ebooks were just becoming easily accessible through Amazon finally reducing the prices on Kindles. I remember when they used to cost around seven- to eight-hundred dollars. I entered in yearly, for as long as they had the contest but never made it as far as A Window in the Earth did. I also entered a lot of other writing contests over the years, nothing recently. The most notable one I entered was with a publishing company that I will not invoke the possible wrath of, but I believe that they may be out of business at this point. I entered what I consider my most important book, Charolotte's Feathers, which was written about eighteen years ago and it's even more scarily relevant in the negative way that certain people get treated by others. The idea was simple, it was about a young college student who had lost everything, his girlfriend he was planning on marrying, and his parents all passed in a relatively short timeframe. One morning, after dealing with heavy drinking and depression he is visited by an angelic form of his deceased girlfriend and told that he has seven days left to live, but he has a choice--die alone or take the entire human population with him. From that point he goes on a journey where he relives a lot of memories, both good and bad, and really takes a hard look at things in the world that are really difficult topics. Things that I feel are often overlooked or things that people have become desensitized towards. That book won me a publishing contract, and it was one of the worst experiences that I've ever had in my entire life. It became such an ordeal with the unprofessionalism and back and forth with different editors and people pushing me to make changes I felt were really odd that it got so bad to the point that they threatened to sue me, and they said they would get someone else to rewrite the book to their liking. Both of which I believed at the time were scare tactics, and they eventually just dropped me, thankfully, especially when they landed the author behind Who Killed Roger Rabbit, but he never actually published with them either, so I've always wondered if there was also some kind of shenanigans going on with that venture as well, because I don't think it ended very well. But I've always felt I was better off without a publisher, I don't write conventional books that that follow a formula, and I would be miserable if I was ever forced to write that way.

Regarding awards, I can't say I've had much in regard to any type of award past the aforementioned doomed publishing contract. I think the best thing that ever happened was that I ended up on Amazon's main page a very long time ago, even if it was just a small picture on the sidebar, they had for promoting eBooks, and making it into the second place spot for top one hundred books in the YA category with A Window in the Earth. I did also win a professional review from Publisher's Weekly from an Amazon contest as well. However, none of these things are really major awards or anything. Just, small achievements, but they helped a lot at the time.

Mark

10/28/2025 04:56:09 pm

Nice awards! Congratulations. That publishing contract left a bad taste in your mouth.

I think you got lucky when the publisher who shall not be named got tired of arguing with you. There are so many ways a publisher can take advantage of a writer. You can not trust the contract they put in front of you without having a knowledgeable attorney go over it carefully.

New questions.

What was the first book you wrote?

What was the last book you wrote?

Kristopher Yoshihara link

10/28/2025 05:14:25 pm

The first book that I wrote was a massive project called We Dreamed of Fate, started it when I was around nineteen, and it was a huge sprawling fantasy epic. It was also really terrible. I've gone back and looked at it over the years and there's nothing salvageable about it. I just chalk it up to it being practice for A Window in the Earth, which was a much more manageable and grounded book without forty characters to keep track of and just missing plotlines.

Interestingly enough, the last book I wrote was The Sword of Shells, which was my take on a more traditional fantasy novel, I wanted to write something that was adventurous and light. Where characters were kind and trusting, it seemed like a lot of fantasy I was reading at the time had a lot of brutality in it so I wanted to create something more focused on beautiful and fantastical moments and a setting that was about a love for nature with the conflict being set in a world that did not feel dystopian. It was something I started right before All the Best Roads Still Lead West and finished shortly after that story. It was one of the only times that I worked on two novels simultaneously. Since the genres were so drastically different it made for a pretty interesting experience but not one I'd do again honestly.

Mark

10/28/2025 09:10:51 pm

What an interesting contrast on multiple levels.

Years ago I heard about an editor, who may or may not have been real, when handed the first novel by a new author would throw it in the trash and tell the writer it was good he got the practice novel done because now he should go write a good book. The truth is real, the first novel by an author is not usually worth publishing because there is so much to learn about writing a novel. The first book is an experiment.

Some authors have more than one work in progress at a time. I have recommended it to authors also because if they get stuck in one story they can jump to another and keep writing in the flow.

New questions.

What are your musical influences?

Who are your favorite musicians and why?

Kristopher Yoshihara

10/29/2025 01:50:19 am

I do think that for the right author, that technique could work wonderfully. For me though what I found to be an interesting...I guess I would call it "side effect" was that the fantasy novel ended up suffering a bit because I lost track of the passage of time during the novel while switching back and forth. So, the Sword of Shells had moments where things just happened too fast and I had to spend a great deal of time cleaning that up and fleshing out the story to slower the pace to something I found more reasonable. Much more time than I would when I'm going over a book a few times to ensure I've not made any huge plot mistakes or errors. That was actually the final bit of writing that I worked on while concurrently making what would be my first music album.

My musical influences are quite diverse. I suppose, starting young, I lived near St. Louis, family was military, so we ended up leaving Hawaii for the mainland. I actually hadn't been back in exactly 8 years to the day. This would mark the anniversary that my dad passed away in 2017. Kind of off track there, but back to St. Louis, I went to a lot of concerts when I was in high school, every weekend and as many as I could. At that moment in time concert tickets were cheap, and some of the best acts were always stopping by. I ended up getting to see a lot of talented artists like Dave Matthews Band, Gin Blossoms, Goo Goo Dolls, Cowboy Mouth, Weezer, pretty much the height of early 2000's alternative music. I believe this had a huge effect on me wanting to make music. My first couple of albums have that kind of early alternative vibe to them and every now and again I'll release something that sounds like it belongs somewhere in the range of what was more prevalent a decade ago.

It would be impossible for me to talk about musical influences without mentioning an indie artist who I was friends with named Derrick Hart. I was volunteering at a nature center in Bloomington, Illinois and part of that involved finding music acts to perform on beautiful stage they had right at the edge of a tree line in just a really tranquil setting. He was one of the people I reached out to, and we got to know each other, and I got to see, and be a part of, the process of recording. I was surprised to find that he was making these really great songs by recording himself in GarageBand, which is a DAW or Digital Audio Workstation. The realization that a lot could be achieved by recording into a laptop just blew my mind at the time and I spent a lot of time learning as much as I could about how to get the best results from programs like GarageBand and Audacity (another great beginner friendly program for making edits and adjustments.) My first three albums were made using this technique until eventually switching over to Pro Tools, which had a very steep learning curve, but in terms of what I'm able to produce now definitely makes it worth it. So not only was Derrick Hart's music some of my favorite songs at the time but just understanding how he recorded as an indie artist really changed my trajectory towards being a musician. A band that has been extremely influential, is the band Low Roar, which I connected with deeply due to their emotional honesty, Ryan Karazija, the lead singer who has unfortunately passed away, sung about difficult topics and lived truths, which is something I always strive for--lyrical honesty. I write songs about things that I know or feel, we don't chase trends or try to appeal to everyone. Also, like Low Roar, we don't stick to one specific genre...another thing I really felt that listening to their music validated that it was okay to experiment a lot with sound and style. For the same reasons I'd also add Robbie Williams. Once again, someone whose music I've just enjoyed ever since I discovered it a very long time ago. His flair for theatrics and honesty about mental health issues made his music really stand out. His willingness to change up his musical styles over the years spanning from pop to swing, jazz, and these big band older style productions really left a huge impression on me. Finally, I would have to add Todd Carey, a musician with decades of great music, and a friend. Though our styles are very different, he's someone I've known for about fifteen years, and he's really shown me what you can achieve when you put the time and effort into something you really care about. I'm not sure if he remembers this, but he was down playing a show at the nature center sometime around 2010, and before he was set to play, he was asking me to put some music on from my iPod, just to have on in the background before he performed. Someone suggested that I put my music on and I took it as a joke and laughed and said that essentially, no one wants to hear that. Todd Carey is a very lighthearted person, and for the first time I saw a very serious look from him and he said, "Hey Matt, don't think that way, don't say that." I don't

Kristopher Yoshihara

10/29/2025 02:06:49 am

(continued sorry I didn't realize I had typed so much)
I don't think he knows how much that stuck with me. It's strange in a way, how just one reply to something I said has stayed with me through all these years and I'm not sure he realizes how much it meant. I ended up choosing something else, because at that point I was too embarrassed to play my own music, and looking back I still think it wasn't great but...it helped form who I am today as a musician.

Regarding my favorite musicians, it's pretty much everyone I've mentioned above. With exception of Joji, I'm a huge fan of his music, and he has an amazing amount of depth and talent that I hope to get close to achieving someday. Also been a huge fan of Bon Iver, a musician who always surprises me with his releases and how drastically he is willing to change his sound, very experimental and vastly unique.

Just for fun, for anyone who wants to hear some of the songs that I feel helped shape my band into what it is today, here are two songs from each band that I would recommend giving a listen.
Derrick Hart - Coldness, You're Winning so I Quit
Low Roar - Give Up, Don't Be so Serious
Robbie Williams - Forbidden Road, Better Man
Todd Carey - Where Are You Tonight? Watching, Waiting
Joji - Daylight, A Glimpse of Us
Bon Iver - Perth, Beth/Rest

I think that in those songs are the groundwork for who we've become as a band--building off of what we learn from great musicians and learning how to be different in our own way.

Mark

10/29/2025 09:08:42 am

Balance is important and working on multiple projects at the same time didn't work well for you. A lesson learned. Finding your limits can only be done if you push against them.

Thank you for sharing about the recording softwares, influences and favorite bands.

New questions.

Who are your band members?

How did you meet the members of your band?

Kristopher Yoshihara

10/29/2025 02:21:34 pm

My band, which... honestly, I'm not a huge fan of the name. I don't know what I would have come up with though, but since we did not start out as a band and rather instead picked members along the journey, the name had to stay pretty much just Kristopher Yoshihara Band because otherwise we'd be starting completely over after already collaborating prior to the official lineup that exists today.

The first person I met and started collaborating with is the wonderful Madeline WIllbell, someone I relate with very well on the depression/anxiety front and fellow lover of cats, who I actually met on Reddit, we were both in groups that were about depression, anxiety, and making music. We became friends and I've always loved the violin. However, it's just something that is completely is out of my wheelhouse. I've tried playing the violin over the years, multiple attempts and I've never had anything sound remotely like music. Also, I can play the piano, a lot of my early music had piano, but it was much simpler stuff. She can play the violin and piano like nothing I've ever heard before. So, our first attempt at working together was on a song called The Tide, just a short violin section toward the end. It worked, but it was difficult. We did not have the same kind of setup that we have now. I believe we were just using discord to communicate at the time and sending files back and forth and recording over them and rearranging things in Audacity. It worked and I was amazed when heard her own music. People have said she's the perfect counter to my rougher vocal tone. Though her comfort zone is more in the folk/country genre, however she's been contributing vocals for about three years now and doing just an amazing job. I'll admit at first trying to include her in my earlier work was difficult working with the more beginner toolset that I was using, and the volume level of mixing her into the track was daunting and getting the timing right. It's hard when the person you're recording with is not in the room with you. But we started with just her doing a few lines here or there in songs and now she's doing complete harmonies and we've sorted that all out thanks to programs like Soundtrap and jack trip, which make it so that we can harmonize and perform just like we would as a live band. Now, almost every song features her throughout the entirety, which is what I would want from a band. I want the people in it to have an equal part in the vocals because I believe it makes the music, we make more interesting, almost conversational at times.
The second member we picked up, the youngest of all of us, is a friend of Madeline Willbell who lives in Las Vegas. She grew up fascinated with the upright bass, and she's extremely good playing it. She's been in a few jazz bands, and even some theatrical productions. Her vocals are very bright, and she adds another layer that just elevates the sound. What once used to sound lonely and depressing, well, purposefully so, now feels more alive and almost celebratory at times, even if the subject matter has stayed consistent. She's the most rebellious one out of us, and she's very proud of that. She will stand up for the band when both Madeline and I are a bit more on the meek side. She can definitely outplay me on the bass, so her contributions have been wonderful. She's also been learning cello for the past four years and has made a lot of great progress and has a friend who has contributed trumpet sections to songs like I Just want to do it all again. It was also hard to get her vocals, her first few songs were often spoken lines that I felt added a unique quality to the songs that she was featured in, but now much like Madeline she is fully present in pretty much every song we do.

Kumo, which is what he goes by and is the most reclusive member of the band. He is a retired DJ who kind of comes and goes and works on projects as he feels like it. But a lot of the drum or percussion backings that we have he has made for us. He's been absent for some albums, and I'd love to have him around for all of them but I know that he has his own things going on...and it makes it much better when he does show up and is interested in working with us. Just recently he asked for all of the cut songs that didn't make it onto the album We Change With the Seasons. In that time we had recorded a single called Talk to Me and was planning on releasing it, but it ended up being an eleven song companion album because he had gone through and remixed ten cut songs from We Change with the Seasons. He's extremely good at what he does and he's super efficient. He breathes life back into songs that we abandon, and he doesn't seek any recognition, in fact I'm sure he's not enjoying getting the attention from this, but he deserves it. In past animated music videos, he was always depicted as a giant red bear, which was an unusual but fun choice. But yeah, he'll go months without conta

Kristopher Yoshihara

10/29/2025 02:33:39 pm

without contact and pop up one day and check in on what we're working on. I'm happy to say that he's working with us on next year's album or will be there for most of it.

Finally we have the very talented Vlada klets, from Ukraine. She is our artistic performer, dancer, and producer of many of our music videos. I actually met her on Fiver. I was hoping to find someone that could express in a performance the music that we were producing and she more that exceeded any expectations that we had. She's very kind, wonderful to work with, and amazing at what she does. I often give very little, or sometimes no direction at all and she's able to take the songs that we make and truly bring them to life. She has a way to taking the soul and feeling of a song and capturing it in a stylistic performance that always impresses us with her unique ideas and interpretations. Recently she choreographed a dance, with the help of another choreographer Kate Oleynik. I feel that this performance is a beautiful presentation of song that represents what we've all been able to achieve over time.

That performance can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZRBnp43tA8&list=RDMMFZRBnp43tA8&start_radio=1

I find it absolutely fascinating that I was able to connect with people who I have so much in common with, but at the same time we all come from vastly different backgrounds and places. As I said before, without these people, I might have stopped making music...or at the least I wouldn't be producing at this level or amount of enthusiasm. We all prop each other up and it is by the far the best band I've ever worked with--which pushes me to only try harder and harder to make the best music we can.

Mark

10/29/2025 03:24:24 pm

You are right about the band name. It should stay as it is. What would you change it to, the Not-So-Local Band?

You are teaching me a lot about the music business. Thanks. I know nothing about the inner workings.

Vlada is a talented dancer. The stark setting is a good choice, she uses the empty space well.

New questions.

Is it hard to work with them considering how far apart everyone is?

How long does it take to record and master a song for release?

Kristopher Yoshihara link

10/29/2025 04:15:10 pm

That's a more than fair point. I think it's more of an aversion to being the center of attention when I feel like everyone works equally and everyone's input is important and valid. That and with my anxiety disorder, I never really enjoy being the center of attention on anything. Which is also I've only appeared in videos in a ridiculous horse-head mask, or the cover of Just talk to me has me rather hidden in the shadows.

It was difficult at first, I would say that if we were trying to pull this off pre-covid lockdowns, it wouldn't be possible at all to achieve the level of synchronicity that we are able to achieve. In a way, the lockdowns really made this a lot easier and over the years newer programs that allow us to play together as a full band though we are not in the same room like Soundtrap, Jack Trip, and even discord. These advancements in remote recording I find to be absolutely groundbreaking in terms of what people are able to do with simple in-home studios. The advancements of this kind of technology have really just blown my mind going from the days of just self-recording in Audacity and GarageBand and putting everything together piece of by piece. But usually, a song starts as me on either the piano or acoustic guitar and some lyrics and vocals. Or either Emily or Maddie will have an idea that they want to work on, and they'll present what they have, and we will put 8 to 10 hours that night working on a song, it usually ends up drastically different than when we started and sometimes, we'll have multiple versions of one song. I'm lucky that I've found people who have the same work schedule that I do, the kind of people that we don't really want to stop until we're happy with the project, even if it means staying up all night to do it. We treat it like a full time job. We take weekends off. When we're not recording, I'm working on mastering. It was a much more hit and miss process trying to refine these songs in the style that I was used to, using Audacity and GarageBand--which was great starting out, but though I still use Audacity frequently I had to switch to ProTools, which was a, at least for me, very difficult program to figure out. However, once I did it was a complete game changing experience. I think that to anyone who wants to be an independent musician today learning to use a DAW program is essential to getting the professional kind of results that people would want. I mean, you could get by with just a guitar and a great voice, and a lot of talented people do--but it never hurts to learn more about your options for recording content. On a good week, we often make about three songs. Which is a lot, and we have a huge discard pile. But, due to anxiety we don't tour. I've tried one live performance and ended up having to leave due to severe and crippling anxiety...so we're able to produce more because we don't tour, we post to YouTube instead. So at my current level of working with Protools I can master as many songs as we make in a week. So, on average three. It's a lot of work, but it's very rewarding. It gives us a lot of options when it comes to choosing what we want to release on albums.

Vlada Klets

10/29/2025 03:28:28 pm

It’s such an honor to be part of this journey. Reading this interview and seeing how everything came together is truly inspiring. I’m proud to collaborate with such talented and kind people. Thank you, Kristopher, for your trust and beautiful words - it means a lot!

With best wishes,
Vlada Klets

Kristopher Yoshihara

10/29/2025 04:28:02 pm

Thank you for following along. I feel like I've been rambling quite a bit so I'm happy you've found the history of the band inspiring. We are happy to have you with us and are always grateful for what you do and the talent you bring to the table. Thank you!

Mark

10/29/2025 06:43:47 pm

Thank you for popping in, Vlada. I enjoyed your dance.

Mark

10/29/2025 06:51:43 pm

I have found that when an app is made to be "user-friendly" it is usually lacking in-depth features. The aspects that allow fine tuning and wide, creative control. The good stuff has a steep learning curve. Is difficult to use at first. When the app is mastered, the controls permit excellent results. The final product speaks for itself.

New questions.

What is the daily workflow like in a week of production?

You have mentioned several pieces of software already. Is there any software you haven't mentioned?

Kristopher Yoshihara

10/29/2025 08:51:47 pm

A standard day in the recording phase often starts on discord, I've taken some time off and timed it during the interview and a wisdom tooth extraction. So, on a usual day we meet first on Discord, usually around 9-10pm at night where we discuss projects and talk about ideas. It's usually just Myself, Maddie, and Emily. We usually then map out the song, which generally consists of let's start with Maddie's violin, and then move into me playing electric guitar and then Emily comes in with her bass after so many seconds. Or sometimes we will already have a general overall idea, and pieces will be added in later. With a DAW program certain elements of a performance can be isolated, changed, have certain effects added to it, or even just be removed completely. It's an interesting experience to make sure you're not adding too much to the production where it sounds too busy or not adding enough and things sounding sparse. But once we have a song idea mapped out, we often will perform it throughout the night nearly thirty times, there will be multiple takes, mistakes, a lot of moments of laughing at some of the notes that we often think we can hit, but...really can't. But that's really the entire fun part of the night, and we'll be just making music and next thing you know it, the sun is up, and we push it on for a little longer...sometimes longer than we should, then we call it a day. That's generally when I sleep. We all work at night because there's a more creative mood when the world is quieter. Less chance of someone's phone going off mid recording, just three people in their makeshift studios playing music all night. When Kumo works on a project he usually asks for what we have and works with it from there--adding different effects and making minor or even major edits. In a way, he often acts as an editor to the music. His skills with mastering something far outweigh mine just by virtue of talent and amount of time he's been using these programs. I would say the unfortunate thing is that he really doesn't get to participate in the fun part of the music creation process. Anyway, that is a standard night.

Regarding any other programs I use, I have an Akai Midi controller--which acts as a way to create music, especially drums, though I also have an electric drum set, though as I said before drumming is not my strongest talent. I'm most proficient in guitar and ukulele, with some years of practice with the mandolin and piano as well. With a Midi controller, I can use that directly with my Digital Audio Workstation to create a drumline, electric piano sounds. We use a different method for capturing traditional piano, or a number of effects. Just looking over some of the programs that I've used with my Akai, I have MPC Beats, Hype, Electric, and Essential Keyboards. I also have a rig of different effects pedals to get some of the unique or interesting guitar and ukulele sounds, but that's something that most musicians would be familiar with. Actually, I'm pretty sure that most musicians are familiar with every single plug in for Audacity or piece of software we use to help refine and master our music. As I said before, the technology always just impresses me with what's capable of being done. Especially when you're not all in the same room.

Mark

10/30/2025 10:52:23 am

Thank you for sharing that process. Many in our audience know aboput those things. I am the exception. I asppreciate learning something new.

I am not a musician but I did play the stereo a lot growing up. Music changes constantly and so have the methods of delivery. Probably half of our audience doesn't know what a stereo is because it's old tech. It's my way of leveraging humor to say that I don't play any musical instruments. I am rhythm impaired and a little tone-deaf.

New questions.

When you are writing a song, what comes first, melody or lyrics?

Where do you find your inspiration for your songs?

Kristopher Yoshihara

10/30/2025 04:07:41 pm

That's a fun joke; I really enjoy it!

When it comes to creating music, lyrics have always come first. Usually as I'm writing them a melody forms in my head and it heavily influences what I'm writing. It's just generally just a process of getting what's in my head into music form that's a fun part of the process, because the end result changes so dramatically over the course of rewrites, or different takes with the melody or aspects of the performance. I'd say it starts to become something like clay, where you have these words and a general idea of a song, and we slowly shape it into something that fits both what we intended the lyrics to be and how the song changes with that intent that we put into it. It's my favorite part of the process because it's almost a constantly changing experience. It's been very rare that we start out with an idea of lyrics and song, and they end up perfectly aligned. I do have one such case which I'll post in because it does revolve heavily around influence.

From the very beginning, influence with the band has always been about lyrical honesty. We take a lot of inspiration from our struggles in life, such as depression or anxiety or just things that we've been through. We level this out so it's not so melancholy all the time by celebrating through music the wins that we have in life...the good days, things that go right. We don't try and glorify anything and we're not looking for pity or trying to wallow in it. We address these issues because they mean a lot to us and few bands want to openly sing about mental health. I think that's why people listen to us, they find something relatable. I know that a lot of our subject matter can often overwhelm someone, but for others they find the idea that they're not alone in going through their struggles to be comforting.
I'll end it with probably the most personal song for both Madeline and myself. As I mentioned before, I lost my father almost exactly eight years ago, and Madeline had a very similar experience. I know you and I talked privately about family, but for Madeline and me, our path of choosing music was not supported. It was more looked down upon because it wasn't a "real" job.

So this song, is very important to both of us, and really captures what inspires us to write the songs that we do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jEp_Ci-Xdc

Mark

10/30/2025 04:31:01 pm

I am glad you enjoyed my little jest.

The lyrics coming first makes a great deal of sense to me. I imagine that there is a mood or concept that needs expanding and that is the source of the lyrics. Finding a line of melody might be birthed from the same mood or concept to start with. Just like a first draft of a book, if you can't get it out of your head it will never be shared with other people.

Balance is important. I like to read lots of different books, some serious and some funny. Dependfing on my mood, I might choose a light-hearted science fiction or a serious thriller.

I will listen to the song later. I have to corral a granddaughter soon.

New questions.

You have a lot of subscribers on your YouTube and ads play. Do you have subscribers that pay or is any income based entirely on ads?

Who does the cover art and animation for your songs?

Kristopher Yoshihara

10/30/2025 05:41:15 pm

Thank you, I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

Yes, we have a surprising number of Subscribers, close to forty thousand, well, slowly growing towards that and but just shy of that milestone. Any money we make is strictly from YouTube ads, even though the numbers do seem high, what is probably surprising to a lot of people who do not work in the music industry, is that we actually see very little money. One of our more recent videos hit 45,000 views, but since we are a music channel and not a traditional YouTube channel, that amounts to around 8-12 dollars. Luckily, we aren't in this for the money. I fund a lot of things through my past work, and I'm happy to do so because it brings me a lot of joy. We do this because it's more important to us for our music to be heard, and videos are a great way to reach people around the world. So, while I still consider it a great success and if we ever hit like half a million views on a video one day, we'd be able to be in their monetized program, which would be a great thing, but it's something we hope for, but we don't really count on it. If it happens someday, that's wonderful. If it never happens, we're still grateful to everyone who decides to give our music a listen, or happy that someone takes time out of their day to enjoy one of our videos. If they connect with it, then we've achieved what we set out to do.

When it comes to cover art, that is something that I do. It carries over from me going to school multiple times and taking a lot of art classes and graphic design classes. It's an interesting way to get to showcase my art and an extension of what I used to do for my novels. When it comes to the animations, that's all handled by Emily's girlfriend Samantha Miller. I did sketches or representations of myself, Emily, and Madeline. Asking them how they'd like to be represented in animation form and working from there. Little has changed over the year and a half, and I feel that adds to the recognizability of the characters and what instruments they play. Without the pressure of having to make videos. I originally scripted out a story to tell over the course of the videos, but a lot like my first novel, it spans way too many songs and to those that have watched it all it's a bit confusing, a lot to deal with a time travelling Madeline Willbell who is also bakeneko, a person who can transform into a cat and possesses catlike visual aesthetics, completely her choice, and it's made for a lot of interesting designs. Emily was a lot less picky and was just interested in her favorite flower, red roses, to be central to her design, that and her signature shiny pink bass guitar, which I've seen in real life and it's unique and cool. Kumo, had an equally off the rails idea like Maddie, where he just said I want to be the giant red bear that appeared in one of your first videos, the We Are All Losers Song. Anyway, these drawings I do are handed over to Samantha and she uses various programs to animate them and turn them into fully realized videos. She's always done an amazing job, I wasn't full aware, but it became more of a recent concern that some of it is done in AI. A lot of people, myself at times, have a fear of AI. So that's why I was happy to have Vlada join, because I never want people to think that our music is AI. I know that idea is pretty far off, I don't know much about how well AI can do music, but I imagine it's years away from doing the type of music we create. At least that's my hope. I don't know if AI will ever be able to pull out the emotional rawness that a musician can produce, but I'm sure that in 5 years or less I'll be proven wrong. I find that both terrifying and slightly fascinating in some way.

Mark

10/31/2025 03:41:11 pm

That is a beautiful song! I love the mellow and wistful mood it creates. Well done!

Expecting to make a comfortable living is an unrealistic expectation that many musicians and authors have. Many authors and probably musicians get discouraged when their art doesn't cause money to fly into their bank account. Some stop creating because of anger or bitterness. The music or the book may well be phenomenal but the market is flooded and many are chasing fame and fortune. Very few find either.

You creating the album covers with a consistent style helps to solidify the brand for your fans. Keep that up.

AI is a serious issue for everyone. It is really good at predicting what the best or most common choice would be for the next word in a sentence. It doesn't create something original in the minds of many including mine. Some people create interesting pictures or video clips using AI but they look too perfect, they have a slightly inhuman feel. That is the entrance to the uncanny valley.

The backlash has begun. Some authors are declaring their books to be free of AI involvement. Amazon requires authors to disclose when they have used AI to produce their book. Earlier this year, Amazon limited authors to three book uploads a day. I wonder if those authors are meeting the AI disclosure for their books. I haven't been able to find any novels written by AI.

New questions.

What overall theme do you want convey with your music?

What direction do you see the band taking the music in the future?

Kristopher Yoshihara

10/31/2025 04:08:45 pm

Thank you for the kind words about the song, I really do appreciate it.

Luckily, when I was writing and doing audio books, AI wasn't in use at all...I can't image having to compete with AI written novels as well. When I stopped and switched my focus to music, I was already surprised at the volume of books were being released daily. I think I was just lucky to write my novels when I did, I don't think they would have brought me the success that the have if they were written in current times...or it would just be a lot harder, but I've always loved writing so I think I would have still written all my books in the current environment that people are working in.

My overall theme for the band I think can be boiled down to a simple message, or a line form one of our songs--No one is truly alone. No matter how isolated we feel. Our central themes often deal with depression, anxiety, not feeling good enough, and circles around to loneliness, alienation from modern life, and the quiet struggle to reconnect, with oneself, others, and nature. It's in these themes that we hope to connect with others with that idea that, no matter what you're going through, you're not the only one. From feedback I've received from fans, they find it therapeutic in a way. Which I understand. When I'm feeling down, nothing makes me feel better than a sad song. One of my main go to songs when I'm feeling depressed is Runaway Train by Soul Asylum or Give Up by Low Roar. There's a strange kind of comfort in knowing that your experiences, both good and bad, are universal...they are shared feelings and that solidifies the idea that no one goes through these bad times alone, even if we feel disconnected, isolated, or like the only person going through difficult times--we like to think a lot of the music we is a gentle reminder that yeah, things aren't always great, but there's still hope, and there's still tomorrow, unless 3I Atlas is not a comet but instead an alien spaceship that will destroy Earth.

With regards to where I see the band going in the future, barring the aforementioned fate of the planet, I would just like to see us evolve and continue to create the kind of music that we all enjoy hearing, and creating. My hope is that, like one of my favorite musicians, Bon Iver, we surprise people with the subtle, or at times not so subtle changes that we make, while still feeling like we're staying true to the core elements that make us who we are. We love to experiment with sound and different genres, and just like my writing I was never a fan of sticking to a single one...so, our plan is to continue to try new things and see if we enjoy it. We just love what we're doing, and I think that changing things up really makes it all the more rewarding as an experience, so we'll just continue to do that.

Mark

10/31/2025 05:02:12 pm

The alienation nearly everyone feels and the challenges of connecting with other people are a struggle point for everyone. I don't think very many are exempt from those difficulties. Anyone trying to live life will need to work through those issues or others that are similar.

People are searching for an anchor, a safe place to start from and live life while staying connected to the anchor. You and your band have created a personal haven that allows the band to make music and people are attracted to it, they love the music and the honesty. People want authentic connection, the band has found that and shares it freely. That connection is fragile and that is part of its honesty.

Last question.

You have over 39,000 followers on YouTube and 146 videos posted as of this promotion. A great community has built around your music. What are your hopes for that community?

Kristopher Yoshihara

10/31/2025 05:24:06 pm

First, let me thank you for allowing me to have a space to where I feel comfortable discussing a lot of questions that I've been wanting to address over the years, and the privilege of getting to share some stories about the band and how we all came together. I've had opportunities to in the past, and I've just never felt completely comfortable, due to anxiety issues, so I greatly appreciate that I was able to return to a place that I felt comfortable and was able to just express myself in my own timeframe. It has been a great experience, and it does mean a great deal to me.

I am honestly, humbled that so many people have been drawn to my music, and that new people continue to join in on the community. The best parts of my experience are getting emails from people thanking me, thanking the band for the music that we make. And it always hits me really hard because if our music helps just one person, then we've done what we set out to do. The most important email I got it was someone telling me that our music helped them from wanting to give up on life. The music was important to them because it gave them hope. I'll never forget that kind of interaction and it's what drives me to continue. My only real hope for the community is that it continues to grow, not for the reasons of success but as a lifeline to anyone who needs it. I know a lot of people are going through difficult things and though I'm not trying to speak poorly regarding the current state of popular music, but a lot of what people can easily find does not really address anything beyond surface level emotions...and seems to just rely on catchy repeated hooks and fluffy lyrics about things that can be fun, but seldom venture into the realm of attempting to create a true emotional connection. I hope that our music stands and that people can find that honesty that we always strive for. I think I said it before, but we don't chase trends or popularity, we're here for the human connection and shared experiences.

Thank you again for your time and this opportunity. Let's keep in touch.

Mark

10/31/2025 06:30:07 pm

I admire the community that you and your band have created. It obviously meets a real need in people’s lives. This promotion has been unlike any other I have ever done and I am very happy that I could facilitate this opportunity for you and your band.
Until next time, keep making music.

Mark

11/1/2025 09:42:52 am

We ended this promotion early because Matthew was experiencing severe medical issues. If you believe in prayer, join me in praying for healing for him.

Matthew Fish and Kristopher Yoshihara, author and musician

Leave a Reply.

Who am I?

Archives

Categories