Yungblud says “it’s only the people who didn’t reach the mountaintop” who are “gatekeeping” rock music
It’s been a big year for Yungblud. Though a hugely successful artist in his own right for years, July saw him perform Changes at Black Sabbath’s massive final show at Villa Park, attracting tens of thousands of new eyes and even earning him his first Grammy for Best Rock Performance.
He’s since cemented himself as a prominent figure in the modern-day rock scene, performing with the likes of Nuno Bettencourt and Aerosmith (in a VMAs performance which attracted considerable criticism, including from The Darkness brothers Justin and Dan Hawkins).
But Yungblud’s sudden boost in exposure has also led some to accuse him of being an “industry plant”, a claim he vehemently denies. “If I’m an industry plant, I’ve planted the f**king plant myself,” he recently said.
READ MORE: He brought the house down at Black Sabbath’s farewell gig, and once hilariously defied a no-moshing order at a Japan show. Like it or not, Yungblud is the star rock music needs
Yungblud – real name Dominic Richard Harrison – says the backlash he’s faced as an artist diving deeper into the rock world is partly a result of “gatekeeping”, and has an opinion on who’s mostly to blame for the elitism.
“When people say to fit in rock, that is the most un-rock ‘n’ roll thing ever,” he told Rolling Stone Australia & New Zealand in a recent interview [via Ultimate Guitar].
“Rock music isn’t supposed to be a gatekept boys club, and it became that. That’s why it’s been suffocated, and boring, and so adherent to the past. We have to allow young people to pioneer something, or at least try and give this thing a heartbeat.”
The artist says many who might be inspired to try and start a band or make a career in rock music are dissuaded from doing so because of the alleged gatekeeping that goes on.
“It just sucks, because you just know that a 17-year-old in a room who was loving sounding like Queen, my biggest fear is that they get deterred from pursuing a career in it by some old bit of cunt on the internet,” he continues. “And I’m here to go, if you’re young, play rock, fuck it. Don’t listen to them. There’s a new generation of ideas.”
Yungblud says it’s not rock music’s most venerated names putting walls up around the genre, though.
“When you actually meet the legends like Steven [Tyler], Ozzy [Osbourne], Billy Corgan, they fucking want it. It’s only the people who didn’t necessarily reach the mountaintop [who are] gatekeeping the genre,” he goes on. “So, if you’re young, and if you want to start a band, do it with everything you’ve got.”
Despite his critics, Yungblud has many famous voices from the legacy rock world on his side, including Ted Nugent, who recently branded him the “real McCoy”.
In other news, it was recently revealed that Yungblud only got the gig to play Changes at Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning show 48 hours before the event.
“48 hours before, he wasn’t gonna be the singer of that song,” said event director and Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello.
“Things were changing… I landed at Heathrow Airport and I got a call, like, ‘That’s not happening.’ So I’m, like, ‘Okay, let’s figure it out.’ And it turned out to be one of the highlights.”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
