Daily Wildcat: How did you guys meet?
PSYCHO FLOWER MC: GR1M3Y-T walked into my apartment with Titanic Sinclair one late night in Los Angeles. I knew Titanic at the time but didn’t know GR1M3Y-T. I was in my pajamas painting and watching X-Files and was like, “Who the hell is this guy?” But moments later we were all laughing and they both convinced me to go to karaoke. GR1M3Y-T sang “This Charming Man” by the Smiths. I sang “Don’t Speak” by No Doubt. Then, maybe four months later, GR1M3Y-T introduced me to G3N3R8TR on a bullet train to Osaka where G3N3R8TR gave me my namesake PSYCHO FLOWER MC. The rest is history.
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DW: What influenced you to pursue music?
PFMC: Music is a special medium of art and expression since it exists in space and time. Pursuing music allows you to consider spaces where people exist, and it allows you to create experiences for people in those spaces. Knowing this has influenced us to use music as a tool to bring communities together and make moments of time almost stand still. Also, music is the modern myth. Music is contemporary magical storytelling. We are quite inspired by this notion, and it has influenced us to create different narratives, assume different roles and make predictions of the future while simultaneously harkening back to our own histories through music.
DW: How did you come up with the name Xia Xia Technique?
PFMC: We love names that people can’t pronounce. But more importantly, GR1M3Y-T and G3NR8R were in China and they asked some random person what we should call our project. Someone said Xia was a cool word because it means noble swordsman. “Technique” was pulled from an Alejandro Jodorowsky story “La Incal” — there’s a rag tag group of rat people from the future called “Techno Technique.” Our style of music is not strictly based in techno so we dropped “techno” and added Xia twice in its place to represent both GR1M3Y-T and G3NR8R and the “Technique” to represent me. So, roughly it translates to “the technique of the noble swordsmen” … which sounds pretty epic if you ask me.
DW: What has been your favorite memory since forming X.X.T?
PFMC: X.X.T is always finding hidden gems in the Los Angeles area and tapping into the communities that breathe life and historical relevance into them. Our favorite memory to date was recently collaborating with the historical Bob Baker Marionette Theater in Los Angeles to create our music video, “ABRACADABRA” and our world premiere variety show with them. The night was truly magical with a variety show of artists, like David Dastmalchain, Shannon Woodward, David Kwong and Jarina De Marco, paired with the premiere of our music video. You should check out the music video — it’s magic.
DW: What was it like covering an Eminem song?
PFMC: I started listening to Marshall Mathers when I was 9 years old. My dad had the Slim Shady LP that I stole from him and listened to on repeat with my Walkman. It just felt appropriate to give a nod back to one of my influences, and it was cathartic. The song [“Superman”] makes me feel powerful to assume male and female gender roles at once and sort of breaks hip-hop’s hyper masculine castes. It also lets me put humor to my failed abusive relationships with others and myself.
DW: What was the inspiration behind the music video for “Illuminaughty”?
PFMC:You ever been in a cult?
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DW: What has been your favorite performance?
PFMC: This is PSYCHO FLOWER MC from the year 2020 currently speaking, I’ve come from the future to tell you that X.X.T’s favorite performance to date was at the DUSK Music Festival 2018 in Tucson, Arizona.
DW: What are your plans for the future?
PFMC: World domination.
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