"Blues and rock has always resonated with me in the most natural way. It’s almost a meditation. I can unhinge my thoughts and just be present in the moment and easily fall into the zone of pure expression."

Yogi Lonich: Om Music Om, Rock n' Roll

As former Buckcherry, The Wallflowers and Fuel member, California born and raised artist, Yogi, has a curriculum vitae which reads like an encyclopedia of musical legends. He has shared the stage and/or recorded with an impressive list of artists including: Chris Cornell, Melissa Etheridge, Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), Alanis Morissette, Shakira, Nikka Costa, Anastacia, Bonnie Raitt, Booker T Jones, Meredith Brooks, and many others. He was also honored to play with Jimi Hendrix’s own Mitch Mitchell and Billy Cox at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame opening of the Jimi Hendrix exhibit. He’s toured in support of rock icons The Rolling Stones, Robert Plant, Aerosmith, AC/DC, KISS, Lenny Kravitz, Linkin Park and Korn. This list highlights just a few of the many collaborations Yogi’s been a part of during his impressive career, which just keeps getting stronger. 

(Photo: Yogi Lonich)

Yogi has put his undoubted and versatile talent to good use and has produced three solo albums and a psychedelic rock band project called Run Through The Desert. His solo debut, entitled “Metta”, won him the Los Angeles Music Award’s “Best Independent Pop Artist”. His newest album entitled “Rebirth” was released in 2020 to critical acclaim. Yogi recently won a Status Award in the category of Best Pop Rock and Urban for electric and acoustic guitar. Yogi does not only share his music with us, by writing and producing his own work, but he shares a pathos, a new future and a vision of sincerity for modern rock that belies any doubt of his genius.

Interview by Michael Limnios

How has the Blues and Rock Counterculture influenced your views of the world and the journeys you’ve taken?

Blues and rock has always resonated with me in the most natural way. It’s almost a meditation. I can unhinge my thoughts and just be present in the moment and easily fall into the zone of pure expression. I have been inspired by players like B.B. King, Jimmy Page, Angus Young, Robben Ford, and Jimmy Hendrix since high school. These influences have led me to a place where I’m most happy and authentic when I’m sharing music with friends in a social environment.

How do you describe your sound, music philosophy and songbook? Where does your creative drive come from?

My interests/sounds are so diverse that It has been a handicap in developing a signature sound. Sometimes, I want to play a nylon string classical guitar with finely filed nails, other times I want to hear a loud tube amp overdriven with a Les Paul, Maybe I’ll be in the mood for clean ambient analog delay tones. My albums are all different too. When I play trio shows, I tend to lean towards blues, R&B, rock and jazz styles. I love improvising and interacting with musicians who really listen and have advanced ensemble skills. I love covering songs by Taj Mahal, Jimi Hendrix, Donny Hathaway, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Otis Redding, Al Green, Stevie Wonder among other soulful artists. Regarding music philosophy, I play music because it’s my passion. Whether it’s guitar, drums, bass, singing or songwriting, I’m drawn to it every day. My creative drive comes from listening to inspiring performances and recordings. I also get a lot out of writing morning pages. It’s an amazing tool for eliminating writer’s block. I’m talking about lyric writing now. The practice is to free write till I complete 3 full pages of whatever comes to mind. There is not to be any thinking, just constant pen to paper movement. It releases extraneous thoughts, fears and stimulates a free flow of ideas during the rest of my day. I learned about this technique which is covered in a great book called “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. As far as life philosophy goes, Vipassana meditation has been a part of my life for a couple decades.

"Music and spirituality are intertwined in the way that the musician is in the now and oblivious to past or future. It’s a meditation. When I’m playing drums, I’m about as clear as can be. My thoughts are minimal if non-existent." (Yogi Lonich on stage, Thrill Blues Festival 2023, Croatia / Photo by Roko Pavlinušić

Which meetings have been the most important experiences for you? What was the best advice anyone ever gave you?

I had an opportunity to chat with writer/actor Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) at an after show party and he share an aphorism with me. “A rising tide lifts all boats”. The context of this for creatives is as follows. He was telling me when his career was getting started, he was presented with the script for the film Little Miss Sunshine. It’s a film that won praise and accolades in the industry. It wasn’t a great paying role and was a low budget production, but he loved the script! The lesson here is to attach yourself to higher standards of quality rather than going for the big pay day. Do the work that your attracted to regardless of the financial reward. Bryan’s advice stuck with me and continues to help shape my career decisions. On separate occasion in 1998, I was playing with Meredith Brooks and we were invited to be the support act for the Rolling Stones’ Bridges of Babylon South American tour. During that tour I became friendly with Mick Jagger and ended up partying in his hotel room suite with a couple of friends. It was unforgettable!

Are there any memories from gigs, jams, open acts and studio sessions which you’d like to share with us?

My favorite artist that I worked with is the legendary Chris Cornell. He had a punk rock streak that sometimes came out on stage. I have a 50-foot coiled guitar cable that I enjoyed twisting around Chris' legs just to screw with him, So one time, I had my eyes closed during one of my guitar solos, and I suddenly could no longer hear myself. I checked my battery back and in-ear monitors, which were fine, but glancing down, I did find that my guitar cable was dangling from my guitar. Chris has taken his microphone stand and sliced clean through the cable with the heavy round base of the stand. It was hilarious. It was his way of getting back at me for my antics. We were like brothers on stage. Always fun, but still maintaining a high quality of music.

"Music is something I have to do and don’t do solely for money. I urge people who are considering embarking on a musical life to do it for no other reason but because they love it. If there is monetary, fame or any other goal attached to it, then they will likely fall to disappointment." (Yogi Lonich with the late great Chris Cornell on stage / Photo by Sean Smith)

What do you miss most nowadays from the music of the past? What are your hopes and fears for the future of?

For starters, I’m inspired by today’s players and new music. I’m not one of those older musicians who’s is going to downplay today’s music and artists. There are so many incredibly talented musicians out there! If I did have to come up with a comparison, it would be in the production of music. Most pop music today is click tracked, auto tuned and digitally manipulated to the point of perfection. I do miss the rawness of Jimmy Page making “mistakes” on beautifully produced analog tape recordings. It’s expensive for today’s artists to afford studios that can accommodate a full live band recording. Most records are being made with no budget, so tracking one instrument at a time in a home studio environment has unfortunately become the norm. Lastly, with the advent of A.I. technology, moving forward from 2023, we will never know for sure what music, lyrics, or production is completely written solely by a human being. That’s not to say that pleasant music can’t be written by artificial intelligence.  I’ve read lyrics generated by A.I. that are better than lyrics I’ve written! There will always be brilliant and mediocre artists. It’s all a matter of personal taste.

What's the balance in music between technique skills and soul/emotion? What are the lines that connect: Music & Spirituality?

This is a deep question. Although I’m a college educated musician, I don’t subscribe to the necessity of technical skill to make beautiful music. I would like to get back to my heroes of Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix. They were innovators, great songwriters, and masters of their craft. Take B.B. King, he made a career on that one stinging note that pulled the heart strings of millions. If an artist is writing progressive, technical music, then of course skill is required to execute it. Music and spirituality are intertwined in the way that the musician is in the now and oblivious to past or future. It’s a meditation. When I’m playing drums, I’m about as clear as can be. My thoughts are minimal if non-existent. When I play guitar, I’m in danger of hitting a wrong note, chord, being out of tune, breaking a string etc. For me there’s a lot less thinking going on when I’m playing drums. Drums are still difficult because the rhythm needs to be solid. I’m mostly practicing on my own in my studio, so I don’t have the pressure of playing perfectly. For me, I’m more spiritually connected when playing drums as opposed to when playing harmonic instruments.

"Music is something I have to do and don’t do solely for money. I urge people who are considering embarking on a musical life to do it for no other reason but because they love it. If there is monetary, fame or any other goal attached to it, then they will likely fall to disappointment." (Yogi Lonich with Robben Ford, Thrill Blues Festival 2023, Trilj Croatia / Photo by Roko Pavlinušić)

What is the impact of music on the socio-cultural implications? How do you want the music to affect people?

Everyone has their own unique relationship with music. I get joy and satisfaction when I receive a message from someone who says my music helped them get thru a difficult time. It’s nice to hear about someone fondly remembering a concert they attended 20 years ago. Of course, I would like to have a positive effect on people, and for the most part that is what I’m projecting. Sometimes I get moved deeply by music. It could happen while sitting with a friend in an intimate one on one performance or during a concert with 20,000 people in attendance. Music is powerful and I’m grateful to have its gift to share and experience.

What are some of the most important lessons you have learned from your experience in the music paths?

Music is something I have to do and don’t do solely for money. I urge people who are considering embarking on a musical life to do it for no other reason but because they love it. If there is monetary, fame or any other goal attached to it, then they will likely fall to disappointment. As far as practical advice goes, learn your instrument to the best of your ability, show up at jam sessions to showcase your talent (and kill!), be professional, show up on time with great sounding gear the works, look the part, and most importantly, have a good vibe with the people you want to work with. It all comes down to vibe at the end of the day. I’ve done a dozen of cattle call auditions and for one, I got hired because of my astrological sign. Conversely, I wasn’t hired because I didn’t have tattoos. Almost everyone that’s invited to the audition is a great musician. It’s only the finer details of cool boots, common interests, energy, and vibe that determine who gets hired.

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(Yogi Lonich, Thrill Blues Festival 2023, Trilj Croatia / Photo by Nera Šimić)