Trunky Juno is following up his performance for BBC Radio 1’s virtual Big Weekend with the release of his debut EP, ‘Too Many Teeth’. Packed with his trademark lo-fi, fuzz-pop gems full of fun and silliness, it’s a great introduction to an act we’ll be seeing a lot more of over the coming months – social distancing allowing. Give it a listen below, and find out more about it from the man himself.
Patrick Swayze
This was one of those songs, where I had one line and one little piece of melody that seemed to linger in the back of my mind for a while. Usually, I’ll forget about it, start writing another song, and then remember about this little fragment from a while ago that fits perfectly into place. It’s essentially a big dreamy ballad, full of distorted lo-fi textures with a real romantic charm about it.
I don’t know why, but I feel like it’s a really vital part of writing a Trunky song to have a lot of nouns in the lyrics, and unusual metaphors. I think this comes from all the time I’ve spent listening to bands like Pavement, and The Flaming Lips.
So Cool
‘So Cool’ was written really quickly. Looking back, it feels like all the parts we’re basically in place after a couple of hours. It’s a really nostalgic and silly track, while also being a little bit of an ironic tongue-in-cheek take on pop music.
It’s got a strong Wayne’s World vibe to it, which the guitar solo during the bridge really doubles down on, sadly it’s a few years too late for a Tony Hawks Pro Skater soundtrack though.
Personally, I love hearing a pop lyric that’s really silly but works really well. There’s a Brandon Flowers track I think of all the time in which he rhymes “1, 2, 3, 4, 5” with “oh me oh my” and I laugh every time I hear it.
It’s A Trip
This one probably has the best chorus I’ve written, and also happens to be the track which names the EP deep within that chorus.
Usually, when I talk about The Flaming Lips, I’m leaning more towards early tracks like ‘She Don’t Use Jelly’, but this track definitely takes inspiration from the production on ‘At War With The Mystics’. There are definitely more crazy and out there sounds in this track than any of the others on the EP. Of course, much of the credit for this goes to David Alexander (aka Summer Heart) who co-produced the EP. The entire thing was originally going to be much more ‘Bedroom Indie’, until David came along and helped to sprinkle some pop magic in there.
I’m Just As Scared As You Are
This track was the first Trunky song I wrote at the very beginning. It’s where I’d finally figured out just how I wanted all this to sound, and what direction I was going in. It really became a bit of a blueprint for me at first, and it lit the path to the songs that followed.
I remember having a lot of different versions of this track. All of the sections have been in all sorts of places at different points in time, and it also had sections that don’t exist now. But this is the definitive version, and it stands as a good example that some tracks take a few hours, and some take a little longer.
I remember being really happy with the guitar sounds in this track, and the bass guitar lines are particularly nifty. I spent a lot of time on this one getting sounds on the way in, especially the home-recorded drum kit done with one mic.
