To Grow and to be Vulnerable with jnr.

Photograph by Zoe Dubuc

Most of you are probably still dealing with the post-1975 depression like myself, but Ash McGregor from Triple J has fixed us up with her suggestions to listen to jnr. “I am an independent artist, doing everything from writing, production, and mixing to the promo as well, so being landed on Triple J and getting such a massive plug from Ash” was quite the honour for jnr. Despite receiving loads of love and recognition from releases as a small artist, jnr. adds that getting a plug from Triple J “helps quite a lot”.

Music has been a big part of jnr.’s life, especially since 2020 when he departed from playing in bands and began his solo project that we know as jnr. Being an artist doing everything on his terms comes with its challenges as jnr. has to “hold (himself) accountable for everything” for the career to be taken “as far as it can go”. With this, jnr. feels a lot of pressure to keep up the momentum between releases. Especially, when observing the responses to other artist’s work within the same ‘scene’. Whilst in a positive space where the artists bring one another up - jnr. tends to get caught up in looking at numbers achieved by fellow artists, however jnr. prioritises his time on bringing other artists within his community up.

Photograph by Zoe Dubuc

Only having released his first single last year, jnr. reflects how his goal as a musician is to “let the jnr. sound find” him and to “make music regardless of what’s happening” at the time for jnr. It is evident throughout all of his tracks that jnr. is open to experimenting with different genres and the idea of knowing “that other people can’t tell him what he can and can’t do” is quite exciting for the artist. From pop, punk, ambient, trap, ballads, and house beats, jnr. has it all in his songs, tailoring for everyone’s tastes.

Only just 5 months into the year, the musician has already released two singles. ‘I Didn’t Know Myself Before I Met You’ was a rather spontaneous piece. Based on a demo from the archives, jnr. recalls looking for something to release by February. Originally the demo “wasn't in a space that felt very authentic to (him), but when (he) was looking for songs to release to keep up that momentum, 'I Didn't Know Myself' had such good bones as a fully formed song” that jnr. knew he could make it suit his vision more. The artist picked up the demo and re-wrote, mixed, mastered, and produced the song within two days just to ensure there was momentum with his discography. However, it has resulted in being one of the most well-received releases so far. jnr. was quite surprised by it being a quick song, recalling the time he missed the first Triple J play as he was on a plane overseas.

Photograph by Zoe Dubuc

Onto his latest single - ’Cruel’ was an older song written at the end of 2021 amid a relationship that had “reached its end”. Avoiding the inevitable, jnr. struggled to find the confidence to speak up about how he felt, leading to the relationship lasting a lot longer than it should have. The song was left in 2021 with only just a verse and a chorus, however, collaborator JËVA had come in to finish the song with jnr. jnr. shared some info about a few of his releases and a sneaky upcoming single. Beginning with ‘I Didn’t Know Myself Before I Met You’

If you like keeping up with the latest in music, then you probably already know what I’m about to share but Jnr just released ‘U Stay On My Mind”!! jnr. opened up to me and mentioned how the tune was his favourite song ever written. The lyrics explore the concept of prolonging the party and the use of certain substances, describing it as a “toxic relationship to be in even though everyone knows its not good for you.” Co-writer/best friend Nico helped jnr. out with writing this song in 2020 but didn’t touch the draft until he started doing more live shows. Needing more music to play, the draft resurfaced, “This is the first song where I listened to it years later and thought man, this is timeless” jnr. adds.

Photograph by Zoe Dubuc

With the rapid growth, love, and great music surrounding Jnr’s journey so far, we chatted about future ideas/plans for the artist. “When I make an EP I want it to have a succinct sound” where people can listen to it from start to finish to tell a story, but also being able to pick out songs here and there to situations that suit them. “I want the entire experience to flow organically” to make it a full experience says jnr. Man, am I ready for the ride that this true talent has in-store for us listeners.