Blud, sweat and tears: Yungblud goes all in

“I started Yungblud when I was 18. Of course, I never expected it to get this big,” grins Dominic Harrison backstage at his very own festival, Bludfest. “We started this thing because me and my mates were pissed off and we’ve just run with it.”

Debut album ‘21st Century Liability’ was released in 2018 and saw Yungblud ranting and raging at the world over a furious mix of pop-punk, ska and indie-rock. 2020’s ‘Weird!’ was even more eclectic but ended up topping the UK album chart, while crossover collabs with Machine Gun Kelly (‘I Think I’m Okay) and Halsey (‘11 Minutes’) properly thrust Dom into the spotlight. He found the attention uncomfortable as questions about his sexuality and how authentic the whole thing was followed from all sides. “People just didn’t get me. I was constantly getting asked things I hadn’t even asked myself. It made me get insecure, and I started questioning who I was,” he admits.

The original plan was to follow ‘Weird!’ up with an album of tracks inspired by the classic rock bands he’d grown up on, but the label wanted more gobby, brash punk-pop anthems. “It was a hard time for me. I felt so tired. I was drinking a lot. I had a very weird relationship with food. I didn’t feel like I was in control, and I didn’t want to be either.” It’s why he brought in “too many opinions” on what he should do next. The end result was 2022’s self-titled album, which, according to Dom, saw him going against his own instincts. “Who is Yungblud? I don’t know, you fucking tell me,” he told us at the time.

“There are five songs on that album that I really love, but it wasn’t a fully fleshed out idea,” he explains today, describing the record as an accidental art project. “It felt real as fuck to me at the time, but in hindsight, I can see that I was desperately trying to be what people wanted. I ended up becoming a caricature.” The day the album dropped, he realised he’d repeated himself. “I don’t regret it,” he adds. “I needed that kick in the ass to get here.”

Normally, those life lessons come after a flop, but ‘Yungblud’ was another commercial hit. As well as topping the UK album charts once more, the record saw Dom head out on an ambitious arena tour that included a stop at the iconic Wembley Arena. It was proof that people were fine with more of the same from Yungblud, but new album ‘Idols’ sees Dom dramatically changing things up. “I had to do something different, or I would have just stopped,” he admits. “I can’t do the thing where you pretend to be something you’re not. I’m not built like that. I’m not a liar.”

“It’s taken a lot of work, but I’ve just got to a point where I truly know who I am” 

Trading in gobby songs of rebellion for sleek, stadium-sized anthems that nod to Oasis, David Bowie and Queen, ‘Idols’ does away with the expectations of others. “All that really matters is unfiltered emotion, because that’s what makes people fall in love with music,” he says, namechecking The Verve’s ‘Urban Hymns’, ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’ by Pink Floyd and The Beach Boys’ ‘Pet Sounds’. ‘Idols’ is exactly the type of album you’d expect from someone who practically grew up in their family’s guitar shop. “It’s taken a lot of work, but I’ve just got to a point where I truly know who I am.” 

‘Idols’ is a double album – the first part launched in June, with the second half either coming at the end of 2025 or the start of 2026, depending on when Yungblud’s new EP with “one of the greatest rock bands of all time” is launched. The collab “fell out of the sky” and is all recorded and ready to go. There’s also talk of Dom entering the studio with some more of his heroes before the UK leg of the ‘Idols’ world tour, “because why the fuck not?”

Hanging out with idols like Ozzy Osbourne and Mick Jagger has affirmed that “hate is inevitable,” Dom explains. It can make some artists bitter, but for Yungblud, it’s used as fuel to “fight for what you believe in”.

“I’m sick of adhering to industry rules and listening to music that just feels vapid”

“My fan base is always hungry for more music,” he continues. “They want an emotional journey. They want a world to believe in.” It’s why ‘Idols’ is a double album. “It feels like music is about dopamine at the moment, but I wanted to create something that had depth. Fuck a 15-second TikTok hook; here’s a nine-minute song,” he grins, having launched this new era with the epic ‘Hello Heaven, Hello’ which clocks in just shy of ten minutes. 

“I’m sick of adhering to industry rules and listening to music that just feels vapid. I’m going to do what I want. Anytime I try and prove myself to somebody else, I compromise. Anytime I compromise the fans, who are the people who are most important to me, don’t fuck with it. You can get so bogged down in appeasing the one person in the crowd who thinks you’re a twat, that you forget about the 35,000 people out there who know every word.”

Written over a protracted four-year period, ‘Idols’ was less about chasing a vision and more about letting the music go where it felt most vibrant. “The most beautiful tool we had was hindsight,” says Dom. If, after a few weeks, a song felt boring or predictable, it didn’t make the cut. “It was a real passion project,” he explains, comparing it to Bowie’s Hunky Dory. “Is it the most instant album I’ve ever done? No. But I think it will be one that will mean the most to my community in the years to come.”

“It’s about taking that pedestal away from your heroes and saying, ‘My turn now’”

‘Idols’, as the name suggests, is all about idol worship. “I wanted to explore why we put people on pedestals and give them credit for our life, or tear them down and take our bullshit out on them,” says Dom, who grew up looking at photos of Freddie Mercury and David Bowie on his bedroom wall. “I realised everything I got from admiring them came from within me,” he adds, very aware that he is that picture on the wall for a new generation. “It’s an album of self-reclamation. It’s about taking that pedestal away from your heroes and saying, ‘My turn now’.”

Yungblud has been deliberately vague about the specific inspiration behind each track, wanting each song to have “a million meanings to a million different people”. However, “revealing” new documentary-slash-live-album ‘Are You Ready, Boy?’ sees famed director Paul Dugdale (‘An Evening With Dua Lipa’, ‘One Direction: Where We Are’) follow him at Berlin’s iconic Hansa Studios as he performs ‘Idols’ for the very first time and gets raw about the biggest change in his life. “I hope it gives people a better idea of just what went into this record,” he says.

The release ends with the piano-driven pomp of ‘Supermoon’ with the lyric “Don’t be sad” closing out a record that started with a reintroduction. “It’s a reminder that I have got everything I ever wanted, so stop thinking about bullshit that doesn’t matter,” says Dom. That happy ending doesn’t continue on the second half of the double album though. “Part one is learning to fly again; part two is the plummet back down to earth. There’s a lot about heartbreak, death, talk about who I want in my life and about being present in the moment. Honestly, making this album has been a mad ride,” he grins. It’s one you can hear across the entire record.

“I’ve written about things like gun violence and trans rights on my other records, but ‘Idols’ was about shutting my eyes and thinking about mortality, change, love and hate. It was me asking, ‘Why?’” explains Dom. Before the album was released, people were questioning the lack of politics in this new era, but during his Bludfest set, Dom paused the show to share an advert for War Child and encouraged the 35,000 people watching to donate. “The world at the minute is in fucking turmoil,” he explained onstage. “Children are dying in Gaza, the Ukraine and Sudan. We have to talk to the fucking old men who are holding the world back with their greed. We have to speak up, and we have to protect the future.”

“People want to see someone walk into the fire and either succeed or be slaughtered”

“My statement is life,” he says today. “I don’t want to shout aimlessly into a void. I want to do things that will actually make a difference. Everyone is so busy condemning each other, no one’s looking for a solution. The big question should always be, ‘How do we solve this?’ How do we make something positive happen?”

The line-up also featured a who’s-who of future stars: Luvcat, Nieve Ella, Rachel Chinouriri, Nxdia, Master Peace, Cliffords, Peach PRC. “They all get people going,” Dom explains. “It feels like the time is right for that new energy. The world is hungry for it.”

“I don’t want to say I’m leading the next generation because I’d sound like a cunt, but we’re definitely making some noise,” he adds, refusing to take all the credit. “I feel a responsibility to lead because what other artist could put on their own festival and it work? That’s only possible because I have a community that loves the culture, and not just me.”

“Festivals in the UK right now feel really sterile,” he says. “They should be taking more risks because that’s when you get something truly great.” From Queen at Live Aid to Bring Me The Horizon at Download, “people want to see someone walk into the fire and either succeed or be slaughtered. It’s the same reason people watched gladiator fights thousands of years ago.”

“Live music creates a space for compassion, unity and humanity”

A few weeks after Bludfest, Yungblud headlined Belgium’s Rock Werchter festival alongside Linkin Park, Green Day and Olivia Rodrigo after both Kings Of Leon and Sam Fender had to pull out due to illness. “I walked onstage and said, ‘I know I’m not what you paid for, but for the next two hours, you motherfuckers are mine’. The whole crowd went mental,” he grins the morning after. “I think it went down so well because I’ve not spent the past 30 years headlining festivals. We’re fresh blood; we’re not going through the motions.”

“Personally, I know I’m so lucky to be up on stages like that, but as an artist, I feel like I belong there. You still play every show like it’s your last because it’s such a privilege – the second you forget that, you’re fucked.” But is that all talk until he gets the call to headline Download or Reading & Leeds? “If it comes, it comes. If it doesn’t, I’m still going to do Bludfest and make that just as big.”

The plan right now is to take Bludfest abroad next year (Paris, Prague, Germany and Australia are all on the shortlist) and have a year off from the UK, partly due to an “unfathomable set of gigs” that are also currently in the planning stages. He’s got until August to make any final decisions, though. The festival is also designed to be as affordable as possible. Tickets for the 2025 event were £50, which covers all the artists’ fees, while the infrastructure and venue hire are covered by merch and food sales. The first two editions of Bludfest have cost Dom money, but that should hopefully change next year. 

“Live music is so important because it creates a space for compassion, unity and humanity. That’s what the world needs right now,” he says. “There’s something beautiful about the fact that every one of us has been moved by some cunt singing into a microphone. With Yungblud, I want to create a movement that’s going to make the world a better place because I’m sick of old ideologies burning the world down.”

[OZZY COLLAB]

“I really love music and I’m here for the right reasons”

Between ‘Idols’ and his belting cover of Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘Changes’ at the Black Sabbath celebration gig Back To The Beginning in July, social media has been full of begrudging respect or surprise praise for Yungblud. “People are starting to realise that I really love music and I’m here for the right reasons. It’s finally clicking for a lot of non-believers,” Dom admits. But that was never the plan.

“What’s beautiful about this community is that it’s so big and strong, everything feels limitless. Today is the perfect example,” Dom continues, backstage at Milton Keynes Bowl. “We’ve got here by refusing to limit our imagination. Now, we don’t have to tip our hat to anyone; we can just do everything ourselves.” It’s given Dom the freedom to “make whatever I believe in”. Whether that’s music, clothes, Bludfest, the ‘Are You Ready, Boy?’ movie or whatever comes next, “I just want to make stuff that’s cool,” says Dom. “It’s all just become very simple – all that matters is me and them. If other people don’t like it, who cares?” There’s no stopping him now. ■ 

Taken from the August 2025 issue of Dork. Yungblud’s album ‘Idols’ is out now. ‘YUNGBLUD. ARE YOU READY, BOY?’ is out 20th and 24th August: tickets are on sale at Yungblud.film, where you can also find full screening details.