motel void

MOTEL VOID: You’re from San Francisco, CA. How would you describe the current music scene there? Do you feel that you’re part of it?

BUDDY JUNIOR: the music scene in SF is popping off right now. it feels very alive at the moment to me. there’s a new sick band i hear of every week and they’re all sicker than the last. and the members of those bands all have one or two other bands equally as sick. we’ve lost some key venues during the pandemic years but in that time some new ones have popped up and new promoters have really stepped up, made new spots, made old spots cool again, etc. we have many cool labels based in the city (i run one of them haha), each with their own flavors and aesthetic preferences. that’s not even accounting for the many bands and labels and bookers right across bay in Oakland, our punks are on fire right now, our ravers are fire right now, the jangle heads are on fire right now, our rock scene is fire right now, and i love it, god i love it so much. it wasn’t this way a few years back, but lately it feels like we all got each other’s back. i have nothing but love and adoration for the many facets of the music scene out here and i love being a small part of it.

MOTEL VOID: Could you recommend your favorite local artists and venues?

BUDDY JUNIOR: too many to name in a way but i’m currently very hyped on the following artists: figure eight, tricky fm, wife, sucker, cheree, ex heir, aluminum, cage world, idhaz, love spiral, demora, dusty slims, softie, welcome strawberry, april magazine, try the pie, blue zero, nothing natural, lurks, xui, kathryn mohr, try the pie, armin, princess 520, what’s important, parallel, 11111angels, pocket full of crumbs, new not shameful, green cat, talk show, and of course jock, and christina’s trip.
my favorite venues in SF are the Knockout, Edinburgh Castle, Kilowatt, Thrillhouse, Adobe Books.

MOTEL VOID: Your biggest music influences right now?

BUDDY JUNIOR: i love Full Body 2, Computerwife, Sword ii, tagabow, unwound, mbv, drop nineteens, pot valiant, the cure, swirlies, title fight, alex g, lil peep, Ecco2k, dean blunt, bar italia, 125 rue montmartre, deftones, failure, kekht arakh, held, mox, mo dotti,

MOTEL VOID: Could you tell us more about the recording and writing process of your new ‘RUST // SIN’ release? Will it be a part of your new album?

BUDDY JUNIOR: these songs are the first singles off of a forthcoming LP also called Rust. it’s 15 songs including 4 bonus tracks. i started recording this record right after the last record, PORTAL, came out which was right around the start of the pandemic. these two songs were the first ones i recorded, which could be noted in some way by Harvey’s feature on SIN and backing vocals on RUST. we had a difficult but ultimately amicable falling out and split shortly after recording SIN. maybe that fracture can be felt in that songs’ disjointed verses and vocal chops throughout the song. we had initially recorded about ten different vocal ideas for the song for different verses/choruses. i was experimenting a lot with the order of each vocal block we had recorded but i kept feeling that it was falling a bit flat. the verses today are a sort of Frankenstein version of the initial ten we had recorded, and the vocal chops reflect that too. there’s a vocal loop that closes the song and leads into the outro—retrospectively, i can hear myself holding on to this beautiful collaboration i had had with this other person, unwilling to let it go (just yet).
Rust was a song i wrote after almost poking my eye out with a rusty metal rod.

MOTEL VOID: Your plans for the rest of the year?

BUDDY JUNIOR: haha it’s already novemeber which mean it’s already next year to me.
naw naw we have another pair of singles coming out and are playing this banger of a show later this month. we have a nor cal tour planned for early next year and the record drops in Feb.