Start Listening To: Le Junk

Le Junk walks us through the errors and trials of making popping disco rock.

When multi-instrumentalist Le Junk made his debut with electro-pop hybrid ‘Rich Romance’ last year, we couldn’t get enough of his tongue-in-cheek lyricism and thumping bass. It’s the music to boogie and burn the house down. Quite literally. Le Junk goes against gentrification and rebels against riches getting richer at the expense of the rest. On this year’s ‘Bad Stuff’ and ‘Sticky Side’, he explores and banishes self-destructive and toxic patterns in relation to others and ourselves. As the name suggests, Le Junk serves trashy though seriously good groove. Today, he invites us to dig straight into it.

Can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?

Le Junk is a disco rock project I started just before the pandemic in London (where I’m also from). It originated from messing about with a bass and drum machine in my bedroom to now taking form as a full live band on stage.

How did it all start?

I’ve always loved tracks with big rhythm and bass sounds, so I began writing some songs with this as a starting point and building them out from there, which inspired the more bass-heavy sound I’ve ended up with.

If you were to describe your sound to someone who’d never heard you before, what would you say?

Most of the time I’d say its disco rock.

Can you tell us more about how you produce your music?

It’s all a bit trial and error. I’ve worked with a couple amazing producer friends on some of the tracks, but for the most part its just me layering different instruments with a basic little home setup. I love producing drum tracks using drum machines and real percussion, thats usually where it starts. It always ends with me tearing my hair out doing vocals.

What inspires your music?

It’s inspired by all the types of music I love.. surf, punk, grunge, pop, electronica.. The list is endless and changes all the time.

Can you tell us something interesting about yourself that doesn’t have anything to do with music?

I’m half Iranian half Finnish which I think is fairly interesting.

What advice would you give for anyone trying to achieve a similar sound to your music?

Some advice which I’m also trying to adopt is to be bold with your music.

How has London influenced your music?

I can’t really say how London directly influences the music I make.. I ingest stuff from all over the place. I do go to a lot of gigs in London so I’m probably most influenced by the energy of live shows.

If your music were a film or TV show which would it be?

Death Proof.

Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s important to you?

Funeral by Arcade Fire. I was pretty young when it came out but I remember thinking I’d never heard anything like it before. I still get that feeling listening to it now.

What do you hate right now?

Politicians.

What do you love right now?

Pickled anything.

Is there any new music from 2021 that you’re enjoying?

There’s been sooo much good music to come out this year. I’m especially loving Self Esteem, Dry Cleaning, Baba Ali, Nancy, Pa Salieu, Opus Kink, and Yard Act.

What comes next in the Le Junk story?

Now that most venues have opened their doors I’ll be playing more shows with the band and releasing more music over the coming months.

Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

Apparently musicians have shorter life spans than the general population.