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Tour Bus Playlist: Junior pick their favourite tunes
The Welsh rock trio kick off their UK tour in early August.
Welsh rock trio Junior are preparing to tour the UK, kicking off their live dates in Cardiff on 2 August 2019, and including shows at London’s Club 229 and Manchester’s Star & Garter. The shows celebrate their forthcoming debut full-length album, Beautiful Life, the release of which coincides with the first date of the tour.
Comprising WWE wrestler Mark Andrews on vocals and bass, Si Martin (owner of mental health non-profit Heads Above The Waves) on drums and Matt Attard on vocals and guitars, the trio have been releasing music since their This Town Sucked Anyways debut back in 2013.
Newest single Don’t Know What I’d Do is an anthemic slice of melodic rock, a step away from their more pop-punk infused sound of 2015’s Juniorland. Driven by a 7-sting guitar, an instrument normally associated with heavier sounds, the track mirrors the important message of Si Martin’s Heads Above The Waves; one of emotive expression and freedom.
“Sometimes it’s hard to articulate how you feel about the people you love, especially with the toxic expectation put on men to suppress their feelings, so you do what you can to describe it,” Matt Attard says of the track.
Highlighting a maturity set to drive Beautiful Life, Junior now look towards their UK run and the songs that will be soundtracking their adventure come August.
Jon Pardi – Dirt On My Boots
Si: Mark and I flippin’ LOVE late night country, and Matt flippin’ HATES late night country. But we seem to spend a lot of time on the road in the small hours of the morning and pounding coffees to keep us awake. But as soon as this song comes on, it gets us more hyped up than any double espresso. (Apart from Matt who hates it.)
Linkin Park – Forgotten
Mark: I feel like Hybrid Theory gets played in its entirety multiple times every tour, and the lyrics “bottom to top, I stop” have become somewhat of an inside joke between everyone in the band. Absolute banger of a song aswell.
Mick Gordon – Rip & Tear
Matt: When we’re all feeling a bit tired on a long drive, I like to put this on for the ultimate attack on the senses. I like to pair this with playing Doom on my Nintendo Switch in the car (not while driving, obviously).
Ghost – Square Hammer
Si: Matt has this habit of picking a riff and singing it like it’s a theme song of some sitcom that we’re in. There was one tour in particular when Square Hammer was that riff – he’d sing it over and over again when something funny happened or something went wrong (so basically every day on tour with Junior).
Body Count – Talk Sh*t Get Shot
Mark: Always a pleasant way to boost morale when it’s a tired morning on tour, we’ll throw up some gang signs and pretend we’re cool for a few minutes with this one. Sometimes Matt gets carried away and busts out his glock which lowers the tone a bit.
Lamb Of God – Set To Fail
Matt: We try to keep the songs quite high energy on the road, and Sacrament is my go-to metal album for it. Every track on the record is great, but this one really stands out as a favourite.
FEVER 333 – Made An America
Si: On the last few tours I’ve actually tried to get myself to a gym and do something cuz tour is generally just loads of sitting down. So I’ve tried to bring a skipping rope and get somewhere to get a bit of a pump on (though I can never keep up with Mark..) and this song (well, the whole record) has helped me get on it!
Coast To Coast – Post Graduation
Mark: An absolute banger from the good lads from Brum. It’s also our TM’s alarm tone so we hear it every morning.
Queen – Don’t Stop Me Now
Matt: Queen are one of my favourite bands and listening to them in the car influenced the song writing on our new record quite a bit. Plus, we’re building up to the day where we can get away with wearing sparkly leotards on stage (maybe sooner than you think…)
Bon Iver – Holocene
Si: I’m not really a big party animal so I don’t tend to go out drinking, but every time we get to a city I’ll scope out speciality coffee spots. I like to just sit and sip on a nice coffee and listen to some chill music, to help give me a bit of calm in what can be a very weird atmosphere to be in.
Catch Junior tour across the UK on the following dates:
2 August 2019 – Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
4 August 2019 – Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham
5 August 2019 – Hug & Pint, Glasgow
6 August 2019 – Star & Garter, Manchester
7 August 2019 – Club 229, London
8 August 2019 – Frog and Fiddle, Cheltenham
9 August 2019 – Record Junkee, Sheffield
Tickets for select Junior dates are available now through Ticketmaster.co.uk.
