"I’m not trying to piss anyone off, I just want to build a community"
The past year has given Dom a better understanding of what Yungblud is.
"Initially I was doing it for me, but the more I've met people, the more I've discovered it's us. Yungblud isn't me. 50% of Yungblud is them. Yungblud isn't Dominic Harrison from Doncaster, Yungblud is a community where people can feel safe and be themselves. I want Yungblud to represent freedom and to represent unity and to represent safety and solidarity and forward thinking and intelligence. Not intelligence of me, but intelligence of my generation."
"Obviously things are a lot busier now," he continues. "I've seen a lot of the world, and I think I've become a lot more emotional. I've had to very quickly learn how to deal with the ups and downs that come with this. I've always suffered from anxiety and mental health problems, I sing about it a lot in my music, but I never thought it could get this intense.
"It's the juxtaposition of emotions: on stage, I have the best fans in the world. I love them all so fucking much, and so dearly that I feel completely safe, I feel completely happy and excited and exhilarated. But then I wake up the next morning, and I feel horrendous. There's a knot in my stomach, and I don't understand why. It's weird; it's almost like my head can't figure out which way to land. But it's good. It's all positive because I write about it. It fuels my writing. I've got so much to say; I just haven't had enough time to say it yet."
That urgency is why, less than a year after the release of his debut, Yungblud is already deep into the next chapter.
"I just want to give my fans more music. That first record, I don't even see it as my debut album; it was more of a mixtape. ‘Alright, I'm Yungblud, nice to meet ya!'
"But this next album, I put a lot of thought into it, and I poured my fucking heart out. The new music is more emotional and it's is based on the people I've met. That first album was angry. I was young, and I was fucking angry as fuck, but this new album isn't about anger. It's about reflection and spreading love and positivity.
"Everything is inspired by real stories. Everything's inspired by what I know. It's always got to come from a real place."
Every song Yungblud creates is asked two simple questions: ‘Is it real?' and ‘Could anybody else sing it?' If it comes from a real place and nobody else could sing it, then it's ready to go.
"I think that's why, even though everything is a mix of genres, my songs are distinctly Yungblud. My fans know that it's going to be a curveball every time but its always still so me."
Take ‘Parents': Yungblud had his first proper taste of crossover with ‘Eleven Minutes', and then followed it up with his most outrageous song yet.
"I wanted to write a song that's about protecting your individuality. It's not me saying to young people ‘fuck your parents'. I'm not that ignorant. It's saying if people don't allow you to be who you truly are, then fuck 'em. It's a tribute to, if you want to wear a dress as a boy, if you want to shave your head as a girl, if you want to do anything you want, you can.
"The song is about people who are going to influence you and tell you what to do, but they may not always be right. The only person that knows what's best for you is you. That's what that song is about, but I wanted to make the lyrics as outrageous as possible because I want people to say, 'Fuck, he said what?'
"My favourite line in the song is: 'My daddy put a gun to my head, said if you kiss a boy I'm going to shoot you dead, so I tied him up with Gaffer tape, locked him in a shed and then went out to the garden and fucked my best friend'. It's outrageous, but it's liberal.
