INTERVIEW: Trunky Juno

Image by Will Creswick

A lot has changed since I last spoke to Trunky Juno in the summer of 2021, so with a new single and tour dates on the horizon it seemed the perfect time for a catch up.

“That was around the time of Better Better – my last release with Young Poet Records,” he says, “so I was feeling pretty optimistic. I started work on my next single, we’ve been playing a lot of gigs, and I feel like somewhere along the way I became a wise old sage.”

Feeling older seems to be a current running theme. New single Death Metal Music laments kids playing said music “so fucking loud” as Trunky asks “don’t you all got homes to go to?“, which he says was partly inspired by nights out but also life in general.

“But rather than coming from a negative place it’s heavy with nostalgia,” he explains. “When I was 18, I used to think it’d be cool to sing in a band someday, and I didn’t finally do it until I was 24. I hid behind the drums and missed out on my teenage dirtbag moment, and here we are.”

I hid behind the drums and missed out on my teenage dirtbag moment, and here we are

Due to numerous influences and an already vast back catalogue, it’s difficult to know how to describe Trunky’s music to potential new fans. On the latest EP, he switches seamlessly from the raucous, up-tempo riot of Boys Like Me to the mellower, wonky synth-pop of Everything You Say and Do.

On first listen, this and Tidal Wave of Milk seems similarly upbeat yet, as with several Trunky songs, there seems to be a touch of melancholy underneath.

“Very true. I’m really interested in those in-between emotions, different blends, and that feeling you get at the end of a great movie as the credits roll and you don’t quite know how you feel, but everything is different now.”

But if forced to choose the song which best sums up his sound, he picks Serial Killer Vibes. “And not just because I’m a serial killer (insert studio audience laugh here) – I also just think it’s got all the best bits of what Trunky is in a fun little song.”

Next on the agenda is a short tour comprising of London, Durham, Newcastle and Sunderland, where all but the Durham show will feature a full band.

“It’s going to be pedal to the metal rock and roll baby. We’ve bought some boxes and cables that let us turn two guitars into four, no more laptops. And I’ll be releasing two EPs – Death Metal Music followed by EP 4, which will either be loved by many, or loved by just me and Alex Mcarthur. Either is fine by us, but I do really hope people like it. I’m still very much trying to find my audience, but I guess it’s a learning curve. I came into this with zero connections, zero fans, and I wasn’t really a singer. So I was always going to mess up a few things along the way.”

Trunky Juno releases Death Metal Music on Friday 3rd March, Catch his solo show at The Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham on Thursday 2nd March and full-band shows at Bobiks, Newcastle on Friday 3rd March and Independent, Sunderland on Saturday 18th March.