Interview with Artist of the Week: Renee Yohe
Renee Yohe is an inspiration to women everywhere. Not only is she an amazing singer and songwriter, but she also has a powerful back story. Her story, the one behind To Write Love On her Arms, has been expressed through books, movies, and now her solo project BEARCAT. Check out our Renee interview below, and click here to see our full article on her.
How excited are you to go on the Never Shout Never tour? Tell us more about it:
“I was honestly a bit nervous initially considering we had three days to practice and a nearly six week tour is a pretty big crash test when it’s your first time… but honestly, it’s been incredible so far and I’m absolutely in love with the experience.. minus sleeping all cramped up in a ball in “Van Diesel” (our tour van) and enduring long hours of driving and losing my sanity between shows! haha”
Besides Kickstarter, how are you fundraising for your tour?
“Well, Kickstarter didn’t reach the goal so we lost that, but I came up with some cool ideas for merch and we do have the option for people to preorder the EP on paypal! My manager is incredible and has been so helpful with this whole process, and I’ve done some work on other things that have helped support the tour.Also, I have to pay tribute to my grandfather who recently passed away, and in his honor my parents donated a significant amount of money which allowed us to get the van we are currently using.”
Is there a particular song on your new EP that means a lot to you?
“They all mean a lot honestly, I think one of my favorites would be “I am me”. It’s a bit of a fuck you (can I say that?) but more so, it’s an affirmation to myself. It’s me freedom song, and I love the production on it…. the whole thing really makes me smile.”
If you could sum up your new EP in one word what would it be?
“Authentic”
What inspired you to form BEARCAT?
“I say it a lot, but I believe we create out of necessity, and this was the next natural step in my journey of learning to love myself and allow myself to be free as I am. I just wanted to do something for once that was just for myself.”
We’ve grown up being a huge supporters of To Write Love On Her Arms. Will you tell our readers a little bit more about it?
“It was basically just a group of friends and actually some strangers, who put there hand out when I asked for help. It wasn’t an organization or some cooooool thing to wear, it was just a short span in my life leading up to treatment, in which people who cared about me surrounded me and did there best to support my efforts to seek help, and eventually it ended up being shared and became this contagious ripple that meet and continues to meet a lot of needs from every angle of the human condition.”
You’ve told your stories through books, film and music, is there a creative outlet you like most?
“I love singing the most, it’s where I feel the most free.”
What song can you listen to over and over again and never gets old?
“I could listen to the majority of Patrick Watson’s albums on repeat and never really become tired of them, he’s so diverse and beautifully authentic.. his voice is like warm honey on my heart.”
How did your story get transformed into the film ‘Renee’?
“It was a few years in the making, several years ago it just started as kind of a joke between me and my dear friend David, just talking in my garage, wondering what kind of impact a film could have if an online story could do so much. Several months or years later me and my friend Kate King Lynch (who wrote the script) got together and hashed out this idea that was reacted to very strongly as it was not something that had ever been done before… from there it was a war and now here we have this film… pretty insane.”
In your wildest dreams did you ever think Chad Michael Murray and Kat Dennings would star in a movie about your life?
“No, certainly not. I don’t think I ever dreamed of anyone ever playing in a movie about me, or a movie, or any of these things that have happened!”
If you could share the stage with any musician ever, who would it be and why?
“That is always such a hard question… I would love to play with Patrick Watson, David Bazan, Fiona Apple, or raise up the dead and share the stage with Simon and Garfunkel or Johnny Cash… maybe the Police. I have a lot of huge influences and musicians who have greatly impacted my life. It would certainly be ridiculously fun to share the stage with someone completely the opposite of my music, a collaboration that in the past has done amazing things like Eminem and Dido… maybe my friend Travie and I? ahhaaa”
When was the last time you were starstruck?
“I don’t recall actually…. it honestly doesn’t really happen…I just see people as people.. which they are. I can be inspired at times, or encouraged or affirmed, but I don’t find myself in awe or “starstruck” by really anyone… not to say I’ve run into a bunch of “stars”…. Ryan Gosling might have the ability to do so.. his music and voice are absurdly wonderful.”