Justin Young, frontman of rising London stars The Vaccines, has laughed off suggestions his move from solo folk singer to rock frontman was a calculated change of direction.
In a previous incarnation, Young was known as songwriter Jay Jay Pistolet, with connections to the likes of Mumford & Sons and Laura Marling. Now, in an interview with BBC Newsbeat, Young explained his move into a group dynamic was simply due to him hitting ‘a brick wall’ creatively.
“It certainly wasn’t calculated,” he said. “I really hit a brick wall with it creatively. It just became secondary in my life and it wasn’t consuming me as it once had. And then if I’m being completely honest, professionally I’d seen my friends pass me and I guess I became quite disillusioned. I just wanted a fresh start, really, a clean slate.”
Later, Young also told fans what to expect from The Vaccines’ forthcoming debut album, describing their music as ‘pop with depth’. “I think it takes balls to make simple music,” he explained. “I think it’s harder to write a really simple, familiar pop song than it is to create some three-dimensional symphony. I don’t like pop without any depth or integrity.
Hopefully people will see that there’s slightly more to a Vaccines lyric than a Fratellis lyric or something like that. I’d like to think there’s slightly more depth to us than that.”
The Vaccines will release ‘What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?‘ on March 21st.