Noisy New Zealanders Miss June have recently broken their way into the UK with the release of debut album ‘Bad Luck Party’, a record that’s equal parts fun and intimate, tackling personal topics via raucous, party-worthy anthems. Guitarist Jun Park introduces his band.
Hey Jun, how’s it going?
Hey, it’s going really great! We are currently in Hamburg, Germany and just played the Reeperbahn festival at Molotow!
Tell us about your band – who are you all, how did you form?
Well, the band is Annabel (guitar, vox), Chris (Bass), Tom (drums) and I (guitar). Haha the currently telling of how we formed is that we were on a fishing charter out in Fiji and we got sick of fishing, diving and scraping barnacles off the bottom of boats that we decided to create a band. So I guess we were formed from the crashing thunderous waves of rage of Poseidon and Neptune.
Have you always wanted to be a musician?
I didn’t know what I wanted to do for most of my life. I got into the guitar super late at the age of 13, and I didn’t actually fall in love with it till I was in my late 14s and even then I only loved it because I got to wag school and play music and skate or snowboard with my mates.
Have you spent much time playing in the UK before?
We played a few shows on the last tour earlier this year! We played at the Brixton Windmill, Old Blue Last, and Shepherd’s Bush for Bushstock Festival!
Is there anything you’re especially looking forward to experiencing during your upcoming tour over here?
I can’t wait for all the food that we will eat in each city/country. The food in Germany has been soo good thus far. I mean the only reason we play music is to be able to go on a food tour.
What do you do for fun?
There are too many things I like to do. On the subject of being a dork though, I am an absolute geek. I love magic, the gathering, animes, mangas, cartoons, video games and pop culture and all that related shizz. Like, as we speak, Tom is playing Runescape, and I can’t wait to finish this so I can play my Nintendo DS.
Congrats on your debut album, was it a long time in the works? What was the writing and recording process like?
Thank you very much! Yeah, it took us about three years to craft and finally finish this record. The writing and recording process was super fun. For the writing process, we wrote it over three years in all sorts of places and when it was time to record we just went into the studio and did our thing with Tom Healy, our producer and had fun with it.
What themes do you guys most enjoy writing around?
There’s no specific theme ever with Miss June. Someone will bring in an idea, and we just explore and have fun with whatever themes, motifs or ideas come from that. We don’t ever try to box our songwriting.
How have you found the reaction to the record so far?
It’s been great! It’s amazing to see people listen to the album and experience it. Like we’ve been sitting on it for so long and to finally get it out there to the world is a dope feeling. Also, it’s super interesting seeing what people’s favourite songs are from the album.
What’s next for you all, are you straight into new music or do you need a writing breather?
Well, personally post-tour I think we are going to go straight back into the writing and get onto album two! At least that’s what I hope, haha.
What new bands are you tipping for next year?
I don’t know what tipping means, but there are so many good Aussie bands that we’ve been able to hang out with. Ruby Fields, Pist Idiots, the Chats, Amyl and the Sniffers. The list goes on. So keep an ear out for those guys!
Miss June’s debut album ‘Bad Luck Party’ is out now. They tour the UK from 28th September.
