Diandra Interviews Yungblud: Singing Optimism To An Ignored Generation
After listening to 21st Century Liability, Yungblud’s intelligence and optimism is infectious. Interviewing him and seeing his responses, I felt hopeful because here is a talent with good intentions. His mind sparks with verses and sounds that fire with youthful frustration and brilliance. Some may say that the youth are, naturally, angsty; diminishing our thoughts for scouring hormones. Yet, Yungblud understands that the youth hold some of the freshest, kindest, and wisest ideas, in part, because we watch and listen to our parents when they say, “Be better than us.” Yungblud is doing exactly that through his music.
Diandra: You come from the North of England, which can hold more working class towns, compared to Southern England, which holds cities like London. How do you think these varying locations clash and coincide with how you have formed your societal perspectives?
Yungblud: I think, to be honest man, the North has always been a bit neglected. I think, that was a big part of Brexit; a lot of people in the North voted for Brexit because they were voting against parliament and feeling neglected. I don’t know man, I think there’s a lot of working class, but there is a lot of community and a lot of strength in the North, which is what you get out of our music. If you listen to bands like Oasis and you listen to bands like the Arctic Monkeys and a lot of my music, it’s gritty, it’s angry, but it’s got such a sense of solidarity. Undeniable solidarity that you know is coming from the North.
YUNGBLUD – Medication
Diandra: Your music has a fearlessness in getting political and moral, but it does it in a very emotional, universal way. How do you choose and transfer the social issues of today into clear, empowering messages?
Yungblud: Ultimately, I don’t wanna tell people what to think because I haven’t got all of the answers. I’m just a person talking about the stuff I’ve seen growing up all my life and talking about what I think is wrong and what I think is right. And right now, that kind of represents my generation. Right now, we are such an intelligent generation. We’re not just kids rebelling against a system for rebelling against a system’s sake. That’s a naive way of looking at us, and, if you look at us like that, then you are looking through cataracts of blind ideologies. I just think that’s not right, you know. I’m talking about these issues because I want to empower people to say what they think and it’s amazing, for me, because I learn so much from them. It’s so crazy talking to my fans at my shows like, they tell me stories about their life. It’s the first time I feel like I’ve been heard. I’ve felt like I’ve been shouting into a dark room all my life but it’s the first time in my life, I speak to my fans and I feel like I’ve been heard and they inspire me to write music and talk about issues they are going through. So, it’s exciting. I’m having the best time.
YUNGBLUD – King Charles
Diandra: Our generation is torn between optimism for the future, and feeling like they will never have a proper say in it. What gives our generation a particular urgency and strength in molding the future of this world?
Yungblud: I just think it’s the first time we’ve had access to so much information. It’s the first time that, to me, young people as a collective, we are young people on a global scale. I can get in touch with someone from Australia or Korea in ten seconds. And young people aren’t just going, “Oh you’re not from my country anymore so it doesn’t matter,” we feel like there is a responsibility for the world: for our planet. It’s not to say the other generations didn’t care, but it’s so instantaneous what the internet provides us with; the connection is amazing. Take an example: March For Our Lives – one of the biggest youth movements. A lot of people underestimate young people, but that day you saw the power of young people. People say young people won’t be able to curate a march that will unite young people and people of all ages, not just in America, but across the world because of the power of an iPhone. We are young people as a collective, you saw what we could do that day. There’s a change coming and it’s amazing.
YUNGBLUD – Psychotic Kids
Diandra: You, as an artist, have had to confront so many trying to mold you to certain images and identities. Was there a specific moment or a gradual process to your creation of Yungblud? What do you hope this “persona” represents to others?
Yungblud: That’s an amazing question. Yeah, there was. It was after Brexit. My whole life I felt like I was misunderstood because of my energy. My whole life people tried to suppress my ideas because I was always very opinionated. It’s so funny, people in power hate being confronted but they hate being confronted more if it’s from a young person, you know. And Brexit was an opportunity for me to have my say. I felt like I was gonna be heard that day. Young people came out in the masses, broke records. It’s the same with the Trump election in America. Young people fought for their future that day and it was robbed by an older generation. I felt my voice was completely taken away and what is YUNGBLUD? YUNGBLUD is an outlet for people who feel like they can’t be heard. YUNGBLUD is an outlet for people who feel like they can’t say what they think. YUNGBLUD is an outlet for people who feel like they can’t be themselves because someone else is suppressing them. Because you know what, it’s exactly the same for me.
Me: (Inspiring Response!)
Diandra: You have said you are very opinionated. How do you combat feelings of anger or depression that could spark from those trying to put hate or negativity towards your opinions/ artistry?
Yungblud: I don’t combat it, I embrace it because I am only saying what I think, so someone else has the right to say what they think. I might disagree with them but that’s the power of democracy. And to me, if you don’t have enemies then you’re not moving the needle. If you’re not moving the needle, you’re not an artist. You’re a singer. I don’t want to be a singer.
Diandra: Your album combats issues of mental health, gentrification, sexual assault, and the many cruelties that are defining humanity. What are the points of love that you feel your album expresses? Who or what in your life that has most defined love for you?
Yungblud: It’s the solidarity inside the album, for me. It’s the solidarity I feel at my shows. It’s the solidarity that I feel when the 600 kids in the room are shoutin’ my lyrics back at me. Yeah, we think it’s wrong, yeah we are pissed off, yeah we’re angry, yeah we’re hurt. But we are all of that together and we are all being hurt together. And that’s the love in this album. This album is an album of hope, it’s not an album of negativity. It’s an album of this is what I have experienced, this is what other people have experienced, and if we talk about it, we can change it.
And who have I experienced a lot of love of? I was always really supported from my parents. It’s often the other way around. My parents always gave me a lot of love. I have two younger sisters. I love those girls. And I miss them a lot on the road. And there was one girl in my life that I felt really truly loved by. But I had to end that for a little while for us to grow as adults. Who knows what the future holds man.
Diandra: Having toured around the world and having your debut officially out; how do you feel you have grown and empowered yourself through these experiences?
Yungblud: That’s been the best and craziest thing for me. To go to the cities all over the world and have hundreds of people there, relating to what I’m saying; texting me and messaging me saying that my music is providing them with answers all over the world. Places I’ve never even been yet. That’s exactly what I’m doing this for. You know, I mean, I think right now, a lot of artists can feel very entitled and put on a pedestal. But I just want to have a connection to my fans and it’s so important to me going across the world, talking to them, because as I said earlier, their opinions and what they think inspires me.
YUNGBLUD – I LOVE YOU WILL YOU MARRY ME (Official Lyric Video)
Diandra: You have said to be artist, you must represent something. Listing a few sentiments, which artist do you feel represents them?
Yungblud: Strength – David Bowie for touring while he was dying, keeping going and keeping pushing to making an album. In his final moments it was like the most proudly thing to do ever.
Fun – Mick Jagger, nobody is more fun than Jagger
Rebellion – Joe Strummer
Peace – John Lennon
Wisdom – Joni Mitchell
Rage – Rage Against The Machine isn’t it
It is official. I Love HIM! He is so young but yet so enlightened. Even more important: he wants to grow. This latter desire seems so rare in this world. Most of us are too eager to teach others rather than learn from them. Yet, I ask: What professor did not start out as a student? Thus, as Yungblud travels the world, bringing music that permits you to feel and elevates your social stresses, he is also embodying that artists do not just express life; they are avid on experiencing it! For More Information On Yungblud Click Here.
YUNGBLUD – Tin Pan Boy
