If everyone had their head screwed on as tightly as Yungblud, perhaps the world wouldn’t seem so dismal.
Since the release of his debut album, ‘21st Century Liability’, last year, Yungblud, or Dominic Harrison as he’s known to his mother, has supplied such unique colour and socio-political truths through his eclectic brand of potent punk rock, that to try and unpack it all in a matter of minutes wouldn’t do this young man justice.
“It’s all good man, I’ll chat about anything, absolutely anything,” he says in his thick North England accent.
That’s what you should love about Yungblud. A brutal honesty in his music is a given, but scrolling through his social media you’ll find he’s got a no-holds persona in not just what he says but in his discussion with others. “That’s the whole thing about me, man, I will always give it to you straight up,” Yungblud says.
“All my life, man, a lot of people have put me down for it, for having energy, for being opinionated, a lot of people have tried to suppress that. But through my music, through art... if it doesn’t sound wanky, I found a place where I could share what I thought.”
A return to Australia in February, his second visit in as many years since he began this crazy journey, Yungblud is adamant the message he shares through his music is a global commonality. “That’s the thing I figured out,” he says, “it’s so less [sic] territorial because of the world we’re living in because of social media.”
Music was, initially for Yungblud, the avenue to share with the world what he thought about it, and as his fan base grew it became, he says, less about him and more about the collective.
Yungblud says he’s only 50 per cent of the Yungblud world; the other half is the community that’s been brought together in mutual disdain, revolt, anarchy, and freedom. “It’s crazy,” he wonders aloud.
And yes, it is crazy that Yungblud, who at only 20, could put many older musicians (and humans in general) to shame with his frank and honest observations. “I think my music and writing represents my generation right now.
“I dunno man, right now I’m just writing for my generation,” he muses, “because we are a f...ing intelligent generation. We have access to so much information.
“Put it this way, we ain’t just bratty kids rebelling against the system for the sake of it, that’s such a naïve way of looking at us – do y’know what I mean? We genuinely see a future we wanna be a part of and the world we wanna move towards. We have a confidence about it.
“We know where we wanna live and how we stand on things. That’s it. But that world is spun out by a generation who don’t necessarily understand us or aren’t quite ready for that place yet.”
Much like his music, a brash blend of punk, rock and R&B, Yungblud doesn’t pigeonhole his world views into left, right and centre. He’s doing the sensible thing and looking at everything as a whole.
“That’s it, you just look at everything and give everything a fair chance for discussion. My favourite thing is conversation; that’s why I write music anyway, that’s why I write controversial sh.t because I want people to talk about it.
“People touch on things, sugar-coat sh.t, tread on eggshells. But I’m not doing that because that’s not what young people are thinking.
“I meet them. I stay behind after shows and I meet the people – at the end of the day I know what they’re thinking because we talk to each other. If I don’t touch base with my fans, then I’m f...ed. I need them as much as they need me.”
Yungblud Australia Tour 2019
Fri 8 Feb - Croxton Bandroom (Melbourne - u18 matinee show)* added 17 Jan, 2019Fri 8 Feb - Croxton Bandroom (Melbourne)
Sun 10 Feb - The Triffid (Brisbane) - sold out
Wed 13 Feb - The Gov (Adelaide) - sold out
Thu 14 Feb - The Factory Theatre (Sydney) - sold out
Sun 17 Feb - Amplifier Capitol (Perth)
