Longtime readers of So Young will recall that somewhere between the full length interviews inside the print magazine you’d find a section called ‘Who Are You?’. Between 2017 and 2019 this feature introduced the likes of Fontaines D.C., Squid, Dry Cleaning and plenty more. Quite often for their first ever print feature. Earlier this year we decided to bring it back. Print readers, you’ll know this already.
Who Are You? introduces you to the brand new bands/artists who we feel should be on your radar, the ones currently playing tiny rooms but not for long. London-via-Hampshire trio have shared a couple of singles and have been gracing the capital’s small venues regularly over the last 12 months. You may have caught them at our show with Man/Woman/Chainsaw at The Elephants Head recently. With ‘Sardines’ and ‘I Love You, Kenneth Copeland’ on regular rotation, we thought it a good time to ask Uncle Junior the basics.
Introducing Uncle Junior…
Hello, could you tell us who you are, where you’re from and the music you make?
Uncle Junior! We come from a small town in Hampshire but we have come to London to chase fame. We make noise rock, essentially. But we often don’t think of what we make as one particular thing.
What have you been up to lately?
Desperately trying to sell out. The last three months have been spent trying to break into the mainstream, shining our shoes and wearing our best smiles. It can be difficult with three RAT pedals between two guitars, not everyone wants to hear all that.
What brought you together?
We seemed to be the only three people in our little town that liked Nirvana or The Clash or anything like that. We began rehearsing at school in the music department much to the dismay of our fellow students. Being in a noise rock band isn’t very cool in year 8. We just kept at it. When we couldn’t practice in lockdown we would just skate together and talk about being in a band. We could say “Oh we never thought we’d make it this far!” but it kind of feels inevitable, given it was all any of us cared about for so many years.
Could you tell us the story of a notable song?
Our song ‘I Love You, Kenneth Copeland’ is a gushy, graphic love song dedicated to the controversial American televangelist Kenneth Copeland. I wrote it after coming across Copeland’s infamous attack-interview, delivered by Inside Edition’s Lisa Guerrero, on Youtube. The interview sparked an odd fascination within me. The man truly has no redeeming qualities. Even his faith is delivered with a sliminess that reminds me of a politician attempting to outsmart a schoolchild. I escaped my fascination through writing the song, which I am positive he would abhor.
Something you love?
Star Wars, The Clash, Hardcore Punk, The Big Lebowski, Instagram Reels, Alex Turner, the Portuguese cafe at the end of my road, The George Tavern, American Drill, British Grime, Fcukers, Hash.
Something you hate?
Trump, and everything that comes under that. And the way people are dealing with the world falling apart. It stresses me out. And Rugby. And Isaac hates gluten, poor lad.
Who Are You? in print inside Issue Fifty-Six of So Young
Most welcome comparison?
I like when people say we are like the Jam, because we don’t sound anything like them, really. It must just be the three piece thing and they look cool as fuck so it’s okay.
Most unwelcome comparison?
No comment on unwelcome comparisons, we are incredibly gracious people.
Stage or Studio?
1000% Stage. The studio was fun and exciting and made us feel like real musicians but the stage feels like the only place we can get across exactly what we are about. One spends a lot of time in the studio on Instagram or staring at the wall. There’s no time for that on stage, it’s much more invigorating. It does hurt my body though, I usually just want to lie down afterwards.
What can we expect in the next year?
Bigger and better things! More! More! More! We have an EP that we are sort of sitting on until we get bored of sitting on it. And we have more songs after that to record. And after that more songs to write. And before all of that we should probably play some shows.
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