Tojo Yamamoto infuses their raw, chaotic punk with the energy of classic pro wrestling. From rowdy storytelling to experimental gear, they craft an unfiltered, unapologetic sound that thrives on spontaneity and attitude.
1.Tojo Yamamoto draws a lot of inspiration from classic pro wrestling. What is it about that world that resonates with you, and how do you channel it into your music?
Storytelling, showmanship, violence and the psychology of good vs. evil, those were the things we were drawn to as impressionable boys and not much has changed as grown men, it seems. Classic wrestling, especially wrestling that originated in the Memphis territory drew a lot from “carnie” entertainment and we try to bring that same sort of attitude to our song writing; loud, boisterous, distorted…unpolished, unpretentious and a bit unhinged lyrically and sonically. Wrestling has its own language, its own rhythm, we exploit that in this band.
2 Larry and Elwood, you reconnected after decades and decided to “punk rock together before you die.” What was it like rekindling that creative spark, and how quickly did the band come together?
What was it like, well, it’s been kinda amazing to find a level of creativity as a band that keeps us all inspired, all four of us, really. We like each other, we like our band, we like our songs, we like the time we spend together. We’ve been lucky and we acknowledge that to each other. We didn’t know what would come of “trying” to become a band, we had no expectations beyond efforting to take some ideas that Elwood had crafted on his guitar and turn them into songs. Creative energy is a strange thing, the more you put into creating with people you connect with, the more energy you have for it. So yeah, we’re gonna continue to punk rock some more before we die.
3. Your sound is raw, distorted, and unapologetically noisy. Can you walk us through your gear choices—especially the use of department store guitars and modified microphones?
Without burying the conversation into nerdy, gear talk too much, guitars all have unique qualities, good and bad “cheap” guitars from the 60s and 70s were basically trying to either replicate the sounds of more expensive instruments or look cool enough to overcome their less than stellar craftsmanship. They have qualities that fit our sound. Low output pickups that can be used to drive fuzz pedals and tube amps, lots of different tunings, lots of quirky noises and sounds. Loud, noisy, unconventional. Two-string bass, ukulele bass, microphonic pickups on a bass used as a drum mic… Same with vocal microphones, or other input devices, battered, broken, telephones, megaphones, CB radio mics, pedals made for guitars, used on vocals, if we like the vibe, we’ll try it. Again, it’s about experimenting as a band to find what works for a particular song, and we aren’t necessarily satisfied on the first take, we try a lot of different approaches. We try and get things stabilized so we can repeat the effect and make it part of the delivery of the song whether in the studio or live.
4. The track “Loser Leave Town” uses wrestling themes to comment on online fame. How do you blend the absurdity of wrestling with real-world storytelling?
Wrestling is the “concept” we use to bounce ideas around but lyrically the songs are stories within that concept. A classic ploy in wrestling when it was territorial was, for instance, a popular wrestler was maybe being offered a decent amount of money to come to another area for a “run” of matches. But he wanted to keep his spot with the promotion he was currently working for, but he needed a break to go make this cash for a few weeks. So the promoter would work a feud that ultimately would lead to a stipulation match. A "Loser Leave Town" match, if you lose, you are gone… so the wrestler could leave for a small amount of time, make some money and come back and continue his beef, eventually. But the best part about it really is the alliteration of the type of match, the marketing pitch, "Loser Leave Town," it’s poetic by itself, and from that, lyrics begin to form and the mental exercise of how to use that phrase or idea in real world storytelling. It landed as a cautionary tale about OnlyFans entertainers, the clients and the potential emotional pitfalls. But, not judgy, to each their own, it’s all fiction about friction, right?
5. Your lyrics are described as “vague, sometimes violent, braggadocious,
and inane.” How do you approach songwriting—do you start with a concept, a
riff, or just let chaos take over?
Elwood is great at demo-ing these guitar parts that ultimately come to me and
the rest of the guys as fantastic musical blueprints to build from. He will
title an idea with a wrestling term. I decided very early to use his loose
title as a writing prompt, probably a dumb idea but I have stayed true to it. I
usually take that title in different directions, I stay away from the literal
wresting part of it and find my own way into a story that might have more
context to our daily struggle. Internet culture, online reviews, the egos and
ids of fictitious characters. You do not have to be a wrestling fan or even
care about any of that to find your way through the ideas of the songs. The
wrestling is just another instrument in our punk rock orchestra.
6. Lexington has a deep punk history, and all of you have been part of it in
different ways. How has the Kentucky underground scene shaped Tojo Yamamoto’s
music?
Lexington is interesting, in the early days of punk, much more active and successful than Louisville as a scene with bands like Vale of Tears, Active Ingredients, Ministry of Truth playing shows with Dead Kennedys, Husker Du, Necros and so many others while touring and bringing shows to town. But along the way Louisville, Kentucky became more nationally recognized with Squirrel Bait, Malignant Growth and Slint connecting with more Midwestern sensibilities and Lexington seemed more “Southern” for lack of a better descriptor. In 2025, this band actually prides itself on its southern slant on noisy punk. There are phrases in our songs lyrically and sonically that are absolutely regionally specific. It’s cool that we’ve been compared to more metropolitan luminaries like Pussy Galore and COWS but we have the bonifides to prove our swagger, we aren’t faking that part of our persona as a band. Not that those bands were, I love both bands, but we won’t ever be mistaken for NYC scum rock or Midwestern noise rock.
7. You’ve all played in different projects over the years. Was there ever a moment where you thought, “We should’ve been in a band together sooner”?
That’s a crazy insightful question. Both Elwood and I share this sentiment with each other all the time. Short answer is “yes, we’ve thought that.” Deeper answer, I truly wish we had been creating together longer but also, it’s so great to be doing it now and to have the energy and enthusiasm that we have. We feel 17 when we are together playing these songs. Youth is wasted on the young, as they say, we appreciate what we all bring out in each other. That’s special.
8. Tojo Yamamoto’s live shows are rumored to include wrestling theatrics. Can fans expect a full-on wrestling-inspired stage experience, or is it more about the attitude?
Eventually, the live show will be more multimedia; wrestling as art film but right now, you get all the samples in the songs and all the potential danger and energy of a night of blood-soaked grappling. Again, we are summoning the ancient Gods of traveling county fairs, National Guard Armory wrestling and no wavey punk rock. So, expect, the unexpected.
9. Your cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes” is an interesting choice. What drew you to that song, and how did you put your own spin on it?
It’s a fantastic song, truly a classic but it’s meaning was sort of bastardized during the pandemic by pharma companies, department stores and law enforcement by the chorus just being played ad nauseum to praise all the people who had to show up for work or had to put their families at risk to continue to feed the beast of capitalism. A worthy tribute--but miles away from Bowie’s original krautrock tale of doomed lovers. So, we wanted to recapture that spirit if possible. It’s more of a downer ballad, and the guitar is everything, and I think Elwood nailed that and Billi, Elwood’s daughter on background vocals really elevates it beyond the typical guttural nonsense I am spewing.
10. With the new EP “Turning Face!” out just now, how does it compare to your debut? What can listeners expect from this new batch of songs?
We took the proverbial next step as a band, more time together, more able to react creatively to building these songs. The songs are what we want them to be, maybe more so than the first batch of songs as we were just trying to become a band while also trying to write and record songs. So “Turning Face!” is us as a band, concepts more matured, ideas better crafted. And Jason Groves, who engineered both records, has a real bead on what we are trying to do and that is so important to how we sound on vinyl, and with the new record, he really delivered the goods on mixes and mastering. We are proud of this bunch of songs. There’s so provocative themes, some ragers and the usual fuzz drenched wall of danceable punk rock.
11. Finally, what’s next for Tojo Yamamoto? Any upcoming shows, collaborations, or outrageous ideas in the works?
A small handful of shows in the area, we are already working on new material,
which is stunning to me but that’s just the energy of us together wanting to
get ideas down while they are fresh. We are working on videos for “Turning
Face!” and we are also doing remixes of all the tracks on the record, extended
remixes, reimaginings, some guest remixers as well as versions by individuals
within the band. We also will continue our 7” cover series as the year
progresses, we already have a couple lined up that will be surprises.
𝔗𝔬𝔧𝔬 𝔜𝔞𝔪𝔞𝔪𝔬𝔱𝔬 (@tojo.yamamoto) • Instagram photos and videos
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