Video Premiere: Josiah Flores' "Young, Dumb, & Full of Beer"

Melodic, reminiscent, and slightly melancholic, Josiah Flores's new single "Young, Dumb, & Full of Beer" recounts a story of love and cycles of self-destruction in the style of a classic 1940s drinking song. The engaging single is part of Josiah Flores' unreleased album, "Doin' Fine" and explores themes of change and transformation.  We are thrilled to be premiering the "Young, Dumb, & Full of Beer" music video along with a wonderful interview with Josiah, right here on BFF.fm!

Josiah Flores, San Francisco-based Americana singer and songwriter, recorded his sophomore album "Doin' Fine" on Otari 1/2" 8 track with label owner Alicia Vanden Heuval at Speakeasy Studios SF in the Mission District. Accompanying Josiah on "Doin' Fine" is Esther Gonzalez (dobro, lap steel), Sydney Peterson (bass), K. Dylan Edrich (Fiddle), Ainsley Wagoner (piano, keys, background vox), Jacob Aranda (pedal steel), and Marisela Guizar (drums). Stay tuned for this beautiful album, coming out on May 30th! "Young, Dumb, and Full of Beer" the music video, was filmed in the Bay Area by Taylor Giffen and Juan Urrea and stars Josiah Flores and Jiaxin Zheng.

What can you tell us about the new song and music video?

Well, it’s the first music video from the new album. My friend Taylor Giffen directed it. He’s a prolific musician, but also likes to do video stuff. And it stars Jiaxin Zheng who is friends with Ainsley Wagoner, who plays in my band. So it’s just a bunch of friends that got together to make this video. And what I can say is that there is a nice balance of humor and sadness or seriousness in the video that I wanted to convey. The song first started off as a joke. But as I was writing it, I was like, oh, this song is actually kind of sad. Like here is this person that’s kind of throwing their hands up. Like "I’m sorry, I’m messing up over and over, but sinking into my vices. I know what to do, but..." I felt like there was a little more substance there as I was fleshing it out. So with the music video, I wanted to have that seriousness. There’s a scene in the video where I’m playing in a dark room like this ominous narrator to the story, and you see me disappointing somebody. So yeah. You’ll see both light and some heavy.

Something I did for this album was rearrange a song called “Prize of Fame” that was on the previous EP. It’s faster and a little bit more like a bar song now. Looking at the original material for the record, I think the first song I wrote was “Wishing I Don’t Care”. I call it my death letter to the church. It’s at the beginning of the record and sort of about change and growing up, so you’re entering this new world. I grew up really religious in the church. I was on the worship team and all that. So it’s sort of about the bliss of having faith in something and then when you step out of that, what that change looks like and sort of the process of becoming enlightened. I’m also from San Jose, just an hour south from San Francisco. When I moved up to San Francisco, I was 19 years old and on my own, going to San Francisco State and meeting all these people that didn’t have an agenda. They just wanted to get to know me, which felt really earth rattling at the time. It kind of opened my eyes. And I think it’s just that kind of changing of the guard.

Well, I was just in South Side [San Jose] two days ago and the hills are green right now. There’s just nothing like it. There’s something in the air when you’re there. There’s like a freshness...and a bit of cow shit. But it's something so beautiful. It’s literally called the Valley of the Heart’s Delight. You can plant anything and it will grow. It’s got such a rich history of agriculture and industry. All my family members worked in the canneries and in the fields. I don’t know. I just love it. I also, at least for this record, wanted to just write what I know.

I love a tall tale, you know, like “I’m the Rambler in the Midwood” or whatever. I really appreciate that, but I wanted, especially for the song “South Side”, to take a break [from sad tales] and have a celebratory, up tempo little jam. I think it’s hard because San Jose has become a highway for millions of millionaires. It’s like all these beautiful plots of untouched land are now a Lowe’s, Costco, Blaze Pizza, you know, whatever. It’s all been reshaped. But again, there is something down there that’s spiritual, natural beauty that I don’t think can be cemented over. And you know, I come from a Mexican family that’s from border towns of Mexico and Texas. But the thing is my grandparents were born in the United States. They went from Texas, Nebraska, and Arizona to Watsonville. They established their place in Watsonville with growing, sharecropping, migrant farm working. I think that’s always been with me too. This love of the land.

So, the first album was because I used to play a bunch of house shows in Oakland, and my friend Sammy worked at a recording studio called Tiny Telephone at the time. She was an engineer and while I was playing a show, she was like "I want to record your songs". So we went and did it all in one day. I was broke and could only afford one room. I was like "Alright, we only have one take." I was also on my Bob Dylan shit at the time. Listening back now, I probably could have done a second take on a few of those, but it was a fun project. So that’s the difference between albums. This one was more piecemeal, coming out of the pandemic in 2022 and still feeling the remnants of the pandemic. People would get sick or we would do a little bit here and there.

Alicia, who runs Speakeasy Studios SF, is incredible. She mixed, recorded and produced the record. She is also the label owner and runs it out of her basement in the Mission District. But yeah, I liked that style. We didn’t have to do everything at once. Then right towards the end, I was like "we should have a fiddle on the record". So we added a fiddle. Without that, I don’t think the record would sound as complete as it does now. I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned from recording this record is that you can’t rush. Things happen for a reason. You have to be open to change and roll with it.

It was really nerve-wracking. I mean the previous album was actually on analog to tape, reel to reel at Tiny Telephone. So this is my second time recording to analog. It’s like, you have to perform now. You have to do the thing now, you know? To be honest, I hate recording. It feels like little deaths. It's like you’re killing the song. You’ve sliced it up, you’ve fileted the song, and this is how people are going to eat it. And sometimes I like to cook it differently, you know? Like I like to play for fun. But I’ve accepted it. And reel to reel is cool. You get this warmth. There is something so different about it. Like you’re on stage in a way when you’re recording to tape. I don’t know. There’s a couple songs on the record like “La Lucha”, or some of the quieter songs where you hear a little bit of hiss. That’s the tape.

Well, when I moved to San Francisco, it was 2010. During that time it was bands like Sonny in the Sunsets, Shannon and the Clams, The Osees, Ty Segal. Like all these iconic garage, jangly bands. So I was just immersed. Out of SF State came Cool Ghouls, which is an incredible band. Like all these people we met, like Tre Burt. So many kids that were hungry and there was such a good community. I know it’s funny because it was such a time and we are past that time now. And that’s okay. But the thing is, and I will die on this hill, the scene is not dead.

People are like "Oh, the scene is dead". It’s like, what scene are you talking about? I think that kind of narrative can be pretty homogenous. There has always been a huge hip hop scene in the Bay Area, a huge jazz scene. So when people are like "What’s the scene like in the Bay Area?" I’m like, which scene? What world do you want to dive into? There’s punk, there’s hardcore, there’s folk, there’s jazz, there’s hip hop. It might not all live in the same venues, but it’s always thriving. I feel really privileged to be part of the music community in the Bay Area, and specifically in San Francisco. I think especially in 2025, the musicians here are hungry, not necessarily for success, but just for art, for playing music and being a part of the culture that is integral to this place. The scene has never died. The scene is still here and the scene is thriving.

I think I’m proud of making a record, being a part of a label, and that the record feels complete. It feels like a good selection of songs and I’m proud of writing stuff that people can relate to and songs that have some meaning. I’m also proud of getting vinyl. Like a physical manifestation of my love and my heart. I just want to give it to my grandparents. The song “La Lucha” is kind of a vignette of their story as well. They’re great storytellers and they’re getting older and their stories are diminishing, so in this way they become timeless and forever. I think it’s important for me from a Chicano experience. We’ve been here for 100 years after the Revolutionary War, and historically treated like second class citizens, or having to change your name, language or anglicize yourself. So I think telling these stories is important to convey in music and hopefully some other no sabo kid can relate to it.

Yeah! I’ll add that the song “Young, Dumb, & Full of Beer” was inspired by Hank Williams drinking songs. I wanted to create that classic 1940s and 1950s bar country song. That’s why there are no drums. It’s just more simple with the fiddle and with the classic intro, but my modern take on it. It’s a bit of a joke, but a little bit of a tragedy too.

"Doin' Fine" releases on May 30th, 2025 on Speakeasy Studios SF. Stay tuned!