“Only looking for a little bit of patience.” Been there? We have. And so has Demi Yo’ko.

Do you consider yourself to be alternative?

I mean, I make alternative music but I consider myself to be the person I wake up as everyday. Putting a title on it like that seems kind of silly. I feel like we should just be who we are and let it speak for itself!

What can you tell us about fEELIN’ aNxioUs?

I made the song about two months ago, I was making the instrumental and the words just came out as some sort of journal entry. I freestyle practically the whole thing and thought it was a really good song so I teased it on Tiktok and got a pretty good response so decided to drop it with a helpful push from my roommate bestie, B4DFRI3ND. The video features one of the dogs from my world, Hell’s Pocket. As more songs release you’ll meet and find more dogs and their role in this world.

Has it been difficult to work as an alternative Black model? What has been you’re favorite shoot/brand to work with if you’re able to say?

I mean as a model, you’re meant to be a blank canvas and I’m not really that. So just that alone has made it difficult but in the end, people who get your look, get your look. My favorite shoots have all been the ones I’ve done for myself as I’m so particular and few have checked every box.

Who inspires you musically and style-wise?

These sort of go hand in hand for me as I will take a style of something and try to make the music sound like how something looks. My big inspirations are New York Dolls, Nine Inch Nails, The Stone Roses, Bad Brains, Iggy Pop & the Stooges, Prince, Michael Jackson, MBV, Slowdive, the list goes on.

What plans do you have in the future for your modeling and music?

I’m releasing an album and a film titled “A Devil’s Paradise” next year. Every single is a segment of the film and when it releases, you’ll be able to watch the film the in the order it was meant to be watched. The next segment “Psychedelic Lipstick” drops in February.

 What advice would you give younger Alt POC?

My advice would be to be the version of yourself that you need. Whether you’re younger or older, be that for yourself. Of course it’s easy to get caught up in your “idols” and “heroes” but they will always let you down at some point because they aren’t uniquely catered to who you are.

One of Alt Darling’s main missions is to provide representation to Black and other POC alts. Would you say you had that growing up? How do you navigate the world as an alternative Black personal? 

Growing up definitely not. That is actually why I express myself the way I do. I feel that it’s my job to be the version of myself that my younger self needed. I navigate through the world just expressing myself to the max because just my existence is a protest in of itself so why not do it at the highest level?