by Tyler Boudreaux
Photography by Danielle DeGrasse | Fashion by Andrew Mukamal
shirts PRADA. t-shirt vintage. shorts ALEXANDER WANG. jewelry (throughout) talent’s own.
YUNGBLUD is on a crusade to cut the bullshit, free the minds of the youth, and in the bigger picture of things…free the world. It may seem like a lofty challenge for a young bloke from a Northern England town called Doncaster, however, YUNGBLUD’s proud to be a soldier of the new disruption.
“All my music is about freedom to speak, freedom to think,” said YUNGBLUD, born Dominic Harrison. “I don’t want to tell people what to think because who the fuck am I to do that? I want to encourage people to say what they think because that’s how you are truly free.”
shirt VON DUTCH. t-shirt vintage.
His songs speak real truths wrapped in catchy pop-punk melodies. His use of power chords display a sense of urgency, and his witty lyrics serve as a call to action to pay attention to what’s happening and wake the fuck up.
In “Tin Pan Boy,” YUNGBLUD gives the finger to property developers and “Mr. Inheritors” alike. In “King Charles,” he points his finger at the greed that infiltrates the economy, while the funky breakdown catches you in a rhythm. And in “I Love You, Will You Marry Me,” his most popular track, he laments, “ain’t it a shame we gotta pay for reality?”
YUNGBLUD’s been writing music since he was a tween in Doncaster, playing shows in local workingman’s pubs with his mates. Although he grew up feeling misunderstood by the people of the proper industrial town, his parents always gave him the freedom to express himself whether it was painting his nails black, dyeing his hair, or being in a rock band.
“I was always a simmering pot,” he says, recalling his childhood in Doncaster. “School people just thought I was a naughty little prick. And mums did not like me hanging out with their kids, like ‘stay away from him he’s gonna amount to nothing.’”
shirt VON DUTCH. t-shirt and sunglasses vintage. shorts ALEXANDER WANG.
When he moved to London at 16 to follow his dreams of becoming a rockstar, he saw the real world for what it was.
“Brexit happened. It was my first time in my life where I could be like, ‘I’m gonna make a difference to my future, and I’m gonna say what I think, what I think I should be, what I think my future should look like.’ The pan lid just flew off, and I was like, ‘I’m sick of writing about fucking nothing.’”
His track “Polygraph Eyes” is his boldest attempt yet at sharing his message with the world, by shedding a light on the prevalence of sexual assault in bar culture. He treats the song with care from the male perspective, speaking directly to his male counterparts in the chorus to “Leave it alone mate/ She doesn’t want to go home with you.”
Although he drew inspiration from a close friend’s experience, what really drove him to pen the ballad was how, “it’s a much more normal thing than it’s been perceived to be. It was important to me to create thought about that because the only way that it gets stamped out is if we do think about it and if we do talk about it.”
The universal themes found in YUNGBLUD’s music stay true to the punk tradition of calling out hypocrisy in politics and culture to hold the government and its people accountable.
“Everyone always goes ‘don’t write about politics,’ ‘shit man that’s a bit risky isn’t it?’ and I just thought, ‘I can’t believe politics can’t be more relevant, and no one’s talking about it in music right now.’”
You can hear a range of influences in his politically charged sound, like the lyrical flow of Eminem and fellow Brits Arctic Monkeys, the attitude of the Clash and the Sex Pistols, and the anger of hip hop artists like N.W.A. and Public Enemy. He also cites Marilyn Manson and Lady Gaga as huge impacts on his expression, for being unapologetically and fundamentally true to themselves no matter what.
In addition to music, YUNGBLUD also finds his freedom in fashion. When referencing his style, he shares the history of the Northern England soul movement post-WWII, where young men, roused by the influx of American R&B, started wearing high-waisted cropped trousers and showing their ankles in high socks. YUNGBLUD adds his own flare to this ska-influenced style with his signature pink socks worn with every outfit (he owns about 28 pairs). With the help of NY fashion stylist Andrew Mukamal, YUNGBLUD is bringing a new wave of Rude Boy fashion to the forefront of music.
His debut album lands this summer, and so far he’s teased us with Unplugged versions of his top hits and canny music videos that portray his calling as an artist of free thought.
“If you’re not pushing boundaries, if you’re not doing things that haven’t been done before, if you’re not shocking people, you’re not an artist, you’re a singer. And I don’t want to be a fucking singer. D’you know what I mean?”
