This program me contains very strong language from the start
This isn't bad. Now you're talking. Pretty swanky, innit?
This doesn't look like your case.
Why would you have a little...?
Is that a man bag?
Yeah. For real?
Yeah, for real.
I guess that is what... Try it on.
Go on. It's pretty sick.
What's that for?
That's a fucking hairbrush.
Don't do me dirty like that. Pull it out.
Pull the whole thing out, you rascal.
It's a...
So, yeah, this is my closet. Can I put one on? Yeah.
Do you want to try my jacket? Are you sure?
We won't take long, because we've got to get downstairs.
They're waiting for us. Do you want to do the interview in that?
I mean, I wouldn't mind, but... It's pretty cool, actually.
Oh, wow.
My arms are maybe longer than yours? Yeah. Is that possible? Probably.
I guess I'm a little taller. It's pretty fucking cool, that.
So, this is pretty mental. It's pretty heavy.
Oh, I love that.
But I'm too old to get away with this. Oh, it's quite...
It's quite a tight one, that.
No, no, look, I dojoe Wicks.
I know you do!
I've seen your Instagram. Have you?
Something's gone wrong.
Do you know what I mean? Yeah.
Full on! Oldblud.
Oldblud!
That's pretty hard, man.
It's this way, isn't it?
I've almost fallen down this staircase, like, six times.
Alcohol has that effect on people.
At a hotel in Paris,
I was with Dom Harrison,
the rock star better known as Yungblud.
Oh, wow. This is cool, isn't it?
Right, isn't it? Wow.
This is the business. Look at this room.
What?! Look at this wallpaper.
25 years old, Dom has built a fan base
of almost religious intensity for his emotionally-charged music,
and he'd agreed to let me follow him.
Look at this nice, fancy chair.
Nice. How's it going?
Good, man. How are you? Yeah, good. Paris.
Nice to see you. I was very excited for this.
Do you know what I mean? Were you?
Everything's up for discussion.
That's what I'm saying. Nothing's off the table.
That's what I'm like.
I first met Yungblud in Los Angeles,
where he was nearing the end of a tour of North America.
He'd done more than 30 shows in 50 days
and he'd invited me along for his last two nights.
Here he is. Am I allowed in? Yeah, of course.
Can I come in? Oh, hello! Hello! Hi! How are you?
I don't want to interrupt. You just do what you're doing. I don't want to slow things down.
Hello. I'm just painting my nails. How are you doing? How's it going?
Nice to meet you. Cuddles. I don't want to get your jump messy.
I don't mind. Ready for a rock show? Yeah, I am.
You've been on tour since January 8th, is that right?
Dude, I left my mum and...
I literally went home for New Year, back to Donny and, like,
left my mum and clad on the 4th ofjanuary
and literally, just, like, been going for it.
Oh, man, my cluck's up!
What the fuck?
Brother, I've missed my...
I haven't had my duck since Ally Pally.
That looks fucking mental.
Amazing. I know.
What's the idea behind the duck?
To be honest, I just...
I literally just said, I was like,
"What if we had a red rubber duck with spikes and a thing,"
and everyone was just like, "Why?"
I was like, "Exactly." It's a punk duck.
It's a fucking punk duck.
My favourite part of the show is, like...
...standing here beforehand and then it dropping
and I get to see the crowd for the first time.
The biggest misconception about me is people - about Yungblud -
is people think that it's about me.
It's not about me, it's about the connection.
Ancl that's why I can't wait for you to see it tonight
because that's like...
It's like this wire that connects to everyone.
So if the Wire's not like, bahhh, I come on stage, I'm like,
"Fuck!" and I get really angry.
Because I'm like, want to, like, I'm addicted to that kick,
you know what I mean?
Why don't you stand where the Kabuki's going to drop?
That was... Yo, Scott, we got my microphone?
Because I'll stand out here like this... Tonight...
...and I'll be like... ..for one night only...
Legs out like this.
Arms behind your back.
Hold the microphone.
Ready? Lowering Kabuki in three, two, one.
POP-
And then everyone's there'.!
THEY SCREAM AND LAUGH
Ancl that's what happens, everyone's just like, ahh!
Oh, wow. Ancl everyone on the front row's like, "Oh, my God!"
It's sick.
# I can't think, I can't lie
# I feel anxious all the time... #
Yungblud arrived on the pop scene four years ago,
combining catchy riffs with lyrics that deal with themes
of overcoming personal trauma.
At his shows, he encouraged fans to come out on stage
about their sexuality and gender.
Kenya! This is Kenya!
CHEERING
Using social media,
he built a following in the millions,
the so-called Black Hearts Club,
talking openly about his own mental health struggles.
I found the most beautiful community of people
who love me every single clay and I love them back.
But he also has his share of critics who question his authenticity.
For both him and his fans,
the live shows are an opportunity to connect with an outsider family.
What would you say his message is?
Like, for instance, like, Polygraph Eyes,
for me, as a survivor of sexual assault,
that it really does get to you and your soul a lot.
We drove here from Salt Lake City, Utah, yesterday.
That's a long way. Yes. Yeah, it's about ten hours.
We got here last night.
Because you're here for the gig, is this especially for that
or what do you wear in the normal way of things?
I mean, this is fairly close to what I wear regularly.
And, you know, Salt Lake City, Utah
is kind of a conservative city, right?
Yes, yeah.
It's basically Mormon. You know, are you IDS?
Are you Mormon yourselves?
Yeah, both of us are, actually. Yeah.
We're certainly pushing boundaries, you know.
I've been here since, like, the ass crack of dawn, so...
I snuck out of rehab to, like, be here.
Seriously? Yeah.
What kind of rehab?
Like, drug substance.
Yeah. Can you say what it was?
What the substance was that you had an issue with?
I was using heroin and fentanyl.
Really? Yeah.
He's brought a community of people together to just feel
like it's a safe place and like it's a place where you belong.
Like, every time you come here,
people are so welcoming and accepting,
and that's not, like, a thing you really find in fanbases.
# Sing
# Ya, ya, ya, ya, Ya, Ya, ya, ya
# Ya, ya, ya. # You've got to keep your voice.
What happens if you wouldn't do that?
# Ya... # I'd just sound shit for the first couple of songs.
You know what I mean? just a little bit. Not too much.
You've got to have a...
# A, E, I, O, U... #
Love you, baby. Oh, hi, baby. I love you.
I'll see you afterwards. Have a great show.
Babe, I love you. Love you.
Kill it. Bye, baby. Love you. Bye.
She's so hot.
So hot.
Like, oh, my God.
#|,O,U
# Ya, ya
I Ya, Ya, Ya, ya, ya, ya, ya
Joe Strummer outfit.
# Ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, Ya, Ya, Ya
# I fought the law, the law won
TONE HIGHER: # I fought the law, the law won
--- 455'
That's too high for me now. You know what I mean?
Do you do any falsetto? Not really.
HIGH-PITCHED I Why not?
HIGH-PITCHED: Why not? I'm an alto in a boys' choir.
HIGH-PITCHED: # I fought the law, the law won... #
Fucking hard. You heard it here first.
Right, do you want to come see us get really pissed and act up?
Right, then, fuckers.
It's rock o'clock, motherfucker!
CHEERING
CROW CHANTS YUNGBLUD
With showtime moments away
and the Shrine Expo Hall filled to bursting,
I was about to get my first taste of live Yungblud.
SCREAMING
ROCK MUSIC PLAYS
Are you all ready to fucking jump?
CROWD SCREAMS
I said, are you all ready to fucking jump?
Jump, jump, jump!
# Ana-ana-anarchist, I'm an anarchist
# Ana-ana-anarchist, not like the other kids
# Ana-ana-anarchist... #
Yungblud's live shows are famous for their energy.
# I'm an anarchist. #
CHEERING In this family,
you can be whatever the fuck you want to be without judgment.
But what was striking is how the music came mixed
with a mission to heal.
You can look like whatever the fuck you want to look like.
You can love whoever the fuck you want to love.
Ancl you can identify in any fucking way you want to identify.
So, Los Angeles, I'll ask you again.
Are you feeling the fucking love?
CHEERING
Sing this with me.
# ls there any life on Mars? ls there any life on Mars?
# ls there any life on Mars? Yeah, yeah
# ls there any life on Mars? ls there any life on Mars? #
Back in Paris,
I was curious to know about Dom's role
as a Gen 7. rock phenomenon.
So, let's talk about where you are,
because I'm aware of Yungblud
as someone that many people have an idea
of who they think you are. Yeah.
Like younger fans or younger people who you're on the radar of,
but then there's also many older people who won't know who you are.
Yeah. And I have trouble figuring out exactly how successful
you are in some ways... Yeah. ..because you've got passionate,
passionate fans and solid sales,
but not spectacular kind of, your singles...
You told me this, you've never had a top 40 hit.
Never. On your own. Never.
How would you describe where you're at in your career?
I would just... I think right now I'm at a crossroads.
You could either be massive or you could kind of plateau.
I think that's what people look at me as.
But the fan base is growing
and what I've been told is we're going to hit arenas anyway.
Have you got arenas booked for the next tour in the UK? I do, I do.
Which is mad. Yeah. You know what I mean?
Ever since I was young, I wanted to play stadiums.
That was the goal. It was almost like I don't care
how many records I sell, I just want live music
and kind of walking out to big crowds
is what I've always dreamed of, you know what I mean?
I never wanted... I never cared about, like, discs or anything.
I was like, it was always about, like, Wembley.
That was always the dream.
As long as I can play every night
and as long as the venues keep getting bigger, that's my drive.
Did you see that Jagger gave you a shout-out?
Pretty mental, that, innit?
He said something like, "Yungblud. I like what Yungblud's doing.
"He's bringing energy to rock." Or something like that. Pretty...
Do you know him? I don't know him.
I mean, I know him from pretending to be him in a mirror.
I think I know him, but probably not.
You know, I think that was a...
I wonder how you crossed his radar. I wonder, too.
I think it was definitely a clay where I was like, what?!
Are you aware of being a divisive figure?
Yeah.
I mean, I was surprised when I looked at the internet.
You've obviously got absolutely diehard fans, the Black Hearts Club,
who would do anything for you and believe utterly in you
and see you as an almost sort of,
I don't want to say... Well, religious.
Almost with a kind of like that degree of fervour, right? Crazy.
And then there's people who just think
you're absolute rubbish. Yeah, yeah.
This is what was so rough about...
...the past year.
You kind of cross a threshold
where it's not just this cult thing that nobody knows about
and then everybody can have their opinion about who you are.
People have talked about my upbringing online.
People think my accent's fake.
They've said that, "Oh, he pretends to be sort of working class,
"northern, and actually he's middle class,
"went to private school." Yeah.
Because you went to a stage school and were in a Disney show.
Never hidden that.
Literally the first lyric I put out was,
"I'll admit I've never been broke, but I have been broken." Right.
They can be like, "Oh, he's putting on his accent,"
but I'm from the North, I'm from Doncaster.
You know what I mean? Like, you should hear my mum speak,
you should hear my clad speak, we speak like this.
I never said I didn't go to private school.
I never professed to be a working class hero.
What I talked about since the beginning of my career
was I felt misjudged
and it was never about me being like,
"I came from this and you can get here."
I never said that. I never professed that.
"Yungblud queerbaits." "Yungblud pretends to be gay."
It's like, how dare you question my sexuality?
Like... That's an odd phrase, queerbait. Yeah.
What does that mean? It means to...
...to pretend to be queer.
To use it as a fashion statement or a marketing statement.
But it's very easy to say, because people don't know my life.
People don't know the partners I've had.
Do you call yourself pansexual, as I've read?
I think so, yeah.
That's what I would identify as.
It's not about the gender.
It's not about... It's not about anything.
It's about the person.
Some people had an issue with that.
That's like, "Oh, he goes out with a woman, he's a man.
"He's just trying to make himself sound more interesting."
YUNGBLUD SIGHS You know what I mean?
But it's just like, how dare you?
I wouldn't judge you like that.
If you say this is what you are, that's what you are,
do you know what I'm saying?
It's like, it's just, for me...
...that's what I am.
When I came down to London,
I experimented with every kind of thing.
Objects?
Yeah. That's pretty normal.
Do you still find yourself attracted to men from time to time?
As I say, attracted, yeah.
I'm attracted to people, you know what I'm saying?
But I think would I...
You said Shawn Mendes.
Yeah, gorgeous-looking guy. A right stunner.
Harry Styles, gorgeous. Hm.
Beautiful, do you know what I mean?
Again, I'd kiss him. Don't know if he'd kiss me.
But I think the beautiful thing about sexuality
and sexual expression is it can change.
It can, yeah. You know what I'm saying?
Ancl I think we should be liberal and open to things changing
and not judge people.
If someone was this one minute
and they want to be that the next minute,
that's their life and that's beautiful.
Yeah. You know?
But I write these songs and I say these messages
because I want teachers, I want doctors,
I want youth leaders,
no matter who they are in a position of authority
to respect other people's expression
and respect their pronouns and respect their sexuality
and respect their race.
That's what I want to...
I want obviously to incite chaos and liberation in young people,
but I also want to be like, "All right, teacher.
"That shit can really fuck someone up,
"so pay attention to it."
Ancl I am going to talk about sexuality, gender, race,
sexual abuse, mental abuse, trauma,
because that's what I want to bring to a mainstream audience
and these are the questions and the conversations I want to have.
In Phoenix, the night after his Los Angeles show,
it was the very last date of the Yungblud North American tour.
Is this the new one?
# What is your name?
# Where are you from?
# Why are you running? Why'd you stop?
# Big English eyes
# You're telling lies
# Show me your teeth, I'll know you're not
# Are you happy?
# Are you sad?
# Are you hurting like I am?
# If you're hurting, you can... #
So is that new? Yeah.
When did you write that?
It's been going around my head for a couple months,
but I've been fixing...
I got the... Twiddling with it, fiddling with it.
I got most of it today, lyrically.
That's nice.
Is this the stuff your fans gave you today? Yeah.
Can we have a quick look at it? Course you can.
I always have it brought into my dressing room
so no-one leaves it or forgets it. Is it?
A nice picture.
So sick, with my logos.
Another one. Yeah.
What will you do with all of it, though?
You have to chuck it, don't you?
No, I actually don't.
I keep it and, basically, like, send it to my mum.
She loves it.
I read it and then put it in boxes.
I want to look at it when I'm old.
You know what I mean?
"Hi, Dom.
"Your music helps me heal from traumas from years ago.
"When I was 12, my house burned down
"two days before Christmas."
Gosh, there's a lot of trauma out there. This is a long one.
I always said if, like, if you feel like you've got
nowhere to go...
...come here.
It must be tough, though, because, look,
you can't give everyone everything that they need, right?
I mean, even to read all of the messages would be a lot.
I read as much as I can.
Yeah. I really do.
It fuels me.
You know what I mean?
Like, say, like, I've had a shit clay
or the record didn't do as well as I wanted to or blah, blah, blah,
it kind of makes it...
That's what it's about.
Sometimes, like, I feel like if you were to read my Instagram DMs,
it can get quite dark, you know what I mean?
But I don't know, I just take it on, because...
I didn't expect to be here, but I am,
and I'm grateful for it and I love them.
I love how they make each other feel and I love how they make me feel.
People believe in you.
But it is... In the end, you can only do so much.
Completely and it does get exhausting, but it's like...
You can be a role model or you can be an entertainer
and you can be someone they look up to,
but you can't be a kind of physical presence in their lives
on a daily basis. No.
They have to find their own solutions.
I think that's what the music says, though, a lot.
It's like, go out and be yourself.
It's within you.
Dom! What?
Whoo! Last show, baby.
Oh, my God. It's the last show. Shit.
I need to, like... Three minutes.
Three minutes? Three minutes.
I haven't even warmed my voice up.
SCREAMING
Welcome back.
Have you missed me?
Cos I've certainly missed you.
ROCK MUSIC PLAYS
I'll tell you what, I am feeling the fucking love.
Because I'm with my fucking family, baby!
CHEERING
Now, I've found a friend in the meet and greet.
Where are you?
There you are.
One of the regular features of Dom's show
involves him inviting a member of the audience up on stage...
Now, what's your name?
Cheyenne. You have something to say, don't you?
...where, with his support, they make a public declaration
about something deeply personal.
I just want to say that I like girls.
CHEERING
Do you want to know why I can stand on this fucking stage
in this fucking skirt no matter what
my mum, my clad, the internet, and my friends say?
Do you want to know why I can do that?
Because of each and every one of you.
Ancl I fucking love you.
I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.
You, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you,
YOU, YOU, you, you...
The emotion of the crowd resembled a revivalist meeting,
an audience joined together looking for release.
Phoenix!
# To figure it all out on your own
# Watch me take a good thing and fuck it all up in one night... #
Presiding over everything,
creating and feeding on the energy, was Dom.
# Alone at midnight
# Inside my mind, tryna get things right
# So you don't wake in the morning. #
CHEERING
Oh, I'll just... Yes.
How's that look? All right?
Are you all right talking about mental health stuff?
Yeah, I always think it's, like, kind of what I'm here for.
I think it's what makes Yungblud Yungblud.
What, showing your wounds? Absolutely.
I think being vulnerable, you know.
Do you have a mental health diagnosis?
I mean, I had ADHD. I got diagnosed with that when I was a kid, but...
ADHD stands for...
Attention Deficit... Attention Deficit...
...Hyperactivity Disorder. ..Hyperactivity Disorder, yeah.
Yeah. How did they realise that you might have something?
It just, like... It's just like you kind of do a test about, like...
But were you acting up? ..concentration...
Were you struggling at school or at home, or...?
No, it was more concentration span
and I was just boop, boop, b00p,b00p,b00p,
like, everywhere and mood swings, etc.
Ancl it's kind of my biggest happiness
and my biggest curse.
The ADHD? Cos I ain't slept in ten years.
Right, it's a source of enormous...
Yeah, it's a source of energy... ..energy and creativity.
Ancl that's the thing. I think, like, yeah,
it's how I create so much and how I can kind of like...
I've had probably about three hours' sleep in two clays
and I've clone two shows, this interview
and 45 bits of press and loved every minute of it.
What's the status of your mental health at the moment?
I'm kind of in a period of, like, redemption,
but it's interesting when we're backstage at the show
and people are like, and my friends there are like,
"Do you really want to go and meet him afterwards?
"Do you really want to go and do that?"
Ancl I'm like, "Yeah, I do," because my fan base is the cure
to the pain I feel daily, you know what I mean?
Still feel daily. Really?
Yeah, absolutely. Of course it is, completely.
But did you really mean that?
No, I do. Really? Absolutely really mean it.
I only say that because being around you,
you're so up, you're so positive. No, I understand that.
That's why people don't believe me. I get it.
It's like, yeah, man, I'm up and I'm energetic and I'm buzzing,
but what I sing about is...
...pain and...
"struggles,
but I sing about it through a...
...from a place of wit and from a place of confidence
and a place of happiness,
because there's two sides of my personality... Right.
...that have merged together to help.
I think that's why I do it so much,
because I felt lonely and I spent a lot of time
on my own in my own head, so I cherish it,
I cherish every single person that I come across,
because I'm like,
"How lucky am I to go all over the world and meet someone in Paris,
"meet someone in Phoenix, meet someone in Lisbon?"
Some people would view that as a grind, though, wouldn't they?
There's many musicians who come off the road because they're like,
"I just can't handle being around people all the time."
I love it. I think when I'm on my own,
that's when I get freaked out.
Really? When I'm on tour and when I'm with my family,
I'm better than ever.
Do you mean your family family or your fan base? My fan base.
I call them my family, because I see them every night.
It's literally that thing about what is Yungblud?
When you come into the room...
...everything's all right.
For them, for me, that's what it represents.
Should we talk about, like, you've mentioned a few times...
...about your upbringing and, you know... Can do if you want.
...the home that you grew up in?
If you want, yeah.
And I've read you describe it as abusive...
Yeah. ..which is obviously a very heavy term.
It was crazy.
It was like...
I grew up in a family business where it was so turbulent.
It was up and down all the time.
I grew up in that shop and I... A guitar...?
It was a musical instrument shop? A music shop.
It was a music shop.
But I think the pressures of that came home
and that had a big effect on...
...me and my sisters.
My parents have this weird, beautifully dark relationship
where I don't think I've ever seen two people love
each other as much as they have,
but I don't think I've seen anybody hurt each other as much.
But what was happening?
It was physically and mentally and emotionally abusive.
I've always wanted to build a world where I could exist to escape
what was going on around me.
I think this is us.
This one, right? This one. Killer.
You don't mind travelling backwards or anything?
This is luxury, isn't it?
I know, killer. This isn't bad. YUNGBLUD SIGHS
We were on our way to Dom's hometown of Doncaster.
He'd grown up the eldest of three children.
His mum and dad ran a family-owned guitar shop
with a rock star clientele.
I'll play you this.
This is a song called Miss Those Days.
My dad's mates in the shop filmed this video for us.
You look so young. So young.
Sort of 14, 15.
# Night after night goes by... #
Before the make-up and black nail polish,
there was stage school and an acting role as a moody teen
in a kid's TV show.
You're leaving?
Maybe I just lost the motivation to hang around.
And early performances under the name Harrison.
# We were messing around... #
I do, I love it, man.
As if Louis Theroux's in Donny!
I'm so excited right now.
We're in Donny!
Mind the gap.
Welcome to Donny.
Well, it's, like, so much nicer than it used to be here.
So, there used to be a car park.
This was? Yeah.
You're Yungblud, aren't you? I am.
How are you? Oh, my God. Nice to meet you. Are you well?
Yeah, I'm fine. Are you having a nice clay?
How are you? Cool, I like your shoes.
They're sick. Thanks.
How's it going? Oh, my God.
Are you well? Do you want a cuddle? Yes, please.
All right. Thank you.
Shall we take a picture? Yeah.
Rockin'. Have a nice clay. You too.
Hello, mate. How are you? Not too bad.
Good, man. How's it going?
How'd you do it? How'd you get famous?
How did I get famous? Yeah.
I just put songs on t'internet and tried my best.
I don't know.
I'd love to do it, but...
Oh, do you sing? Yeah.
I've put it all over Facebook. I've got loads of videos.
Do you? Love it, man.
Yeah, nice one. Good luck with your career.
See you later, guys.
Do you know what? I used to play here for gigs.
This is a venue called The Leopard.
Everyone, like, if you...
Everyone's who's ever played, like... PHONE PINGS
Oh, my mum.
"Call and get milk, please, darts."
Mate, sir, can we...?
Sir, can we stop here?
Fucking hell. "Mum, I'm with Louis Theroux."
"I don't give a fuck. Get some milk."
Sorted.
Here, we're here.
I'll get my bag-
And the milk. Can't forget the bloody milk.
With everything Dom had told me about his family,
I was curious to meet them for their perspective on his stardom
and his life growing up.
Mum! Hi!
Hi. What's up?
All right? Hi, darling. THEY KISS
This is Louis.
Hi. Hi, nice to meet you. Louis. You must be Samantha.
Or Sam. Or Sam? Yeah.
Samantha's my telling off name.
I hope you're not going to be using it. I wouldn't.
It'll be Sam. We got you some milk.
Louis. Nice to meet you. Hello. All right? How's it going?
You must be just in. I am.
Vibes. Wow, this is so lovely.
Shall I embarrass you and say are you all fans of Dom's music?
I mean, do you have a favourite?
How do you describe your relationship with...?
She hated it at first, didn't you?
I like his more melodic stuff.
I mean, in my opinion,
as I say to everybody, because I've invited friends,
I said, "You might not like his music, but the show's fantastic."
You've been to his gigs. Amazing.
It is amazing. It's mad.
Dom, I mean, this is critical mum,
but he'll say, "Oh, Mum, what was that performance like?"
I'm like, "Can you just stand still and sing a song?"
You know, like, I love, I love your energy.
I appreciate that everybody loves your energy and I buy
into it and everything.
But you've got such a great voice.
Just stand still and sing a song.
OK. Interesting feedback.
I think, I think I'll get, I think I'll get the mums,
do you know what I mean, if I do that.
I don't know if I'm, I don't if I'm ready for it yet, maybe.
Maybe you're not.
I just think that for young people like myself,
it's very meaningful, like, it helps people.
I can see why he does it
because, like, sometimes I listen to it when I feel a bit down
and it just helps me.
Wow. That's nice to hear.
Yeah. Yeah.
How old are you, Izzie.
15? Right. Yeah.
Oh, my God. What the hell?
Oh, yeah. I've got you an album here.
I like seeing physical photos. It's all on screens now.
Or is that you? Outside of church, yeah.
Look at you actually doing it like a Yungblud face. Yeah.
That's so cute. Is that you? ls that me? Yeah, of course it is.
Oh, my God. That's so crazy. Proper chubby.
He could sing every nursery rhyme, but just, you had to hold his hand
because he kept falling over cos he was so fat,
he couldn't walk for ages.
Oh, look at that.
Oh. Smiler.
You know, I've been with Dom a few days.
We've talked about everything.
And one of the things that came up, it's a bit delicate, but was aspects
of his upbringing where the family wasn't always totally harmonious.
Can I put it that way?
No. Um, whether it was conflict or whatever it was that you went
through was what would you say?
It was just turbulent, wasn't it?
It was never easy.
We did shout at each other, you know, excessively, really.
Ancl you had anger issues. Yeah, I had anger issues.
And I'm still going for therapy every week
because I've got anger issues.
The last few years have been a lot calmer, but obviously I needed
therapy to control my anger bursts.
And that's, that's what I did, really, you know?
When we first met, we were 16.
You fancy the pants of each other, you don't necessarily
respect each other.
Ancl I think our neutral... I'm not trying to justify it,
...but our neutral position is probably one of disrespect
and youth and passion
and we need to shout loudest and we need to get our own way.
We went to counselling for quite a few years and I think we learned
to respect each other.
Because that was a term that Dom used was abusive
and the household or that the relationship was abusive.
That's obviously a big word.
Is it, is it a shock to hear the term abusive?
I don't think, you know... I'd say your behaviour.
...my behaviour wasn't, as I said, it wasn't, in my opinion, one sided.
It was smashing things up and physical behaviour,
do you know what I mean,
and shouting and screaming and,
yeah, I mean, all of it, you know?
You all right, Dom? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Sorry, it fucking freaks me out.
I don't, you know what I mean, it's rough, you know what I'm saying?
Sorry.
I just think we haven't resolved a lot of stuff together yet.
Sam and just in, was it, were you conscious of the extent
to which the children were being exposed...?
Not at the time?
When I started reading interviews about how the relationship
between his clad and I impacted on him,
I took it and I felt quite guilty.
One thing I've noticed is that you've been very, you know,
you express a lot of it in your music,
this experience of going through what you went through.
I think, I think, I think that was just I just needed to put
that shit somewhere, you know?
I mean, that was, like, literally it.
I've not been here.
Do you know what I mean?
Ancl that's why I feel rough sometimes about putting
it in my songs because I never got to fucking talk about it.
That's why when that kind of thing gets brought up,
I'm like, I can write about it.
I can sing about it because I have to.
It's fucking mental.
Do you know what I mean?
It's all mental.
...you know what I'm saying, cos, like, I love my family.
I do.
We know you do. I know. But it's like I've not been here.
Shit, you know what I mean?
I think our family is very close to say what we've been through, really.
A little later, we repaired to the pub for a drink.
Speaking to Dom's family, I felt I'd had a glimpse of a household full
of love, one that had come through its share of angst,
but also its share of healing...
...and how much all of this had fuel led Dom's music.
MUSIC PLAYS
CROWD SCREAMS
Back in Phoenix, Dom came off stage after the last show of his tour.
That's America clone,
until we play next time in the big boy rooms. They were feeling it.
Yo, man, it's all a fucking abundance of love.
Yeah. It's fucking rock and roll, but it's love.
That's it. Like, I'm not a fucking punk.
I'm a hippie. Fucking love.
You're a showman.
# Day-oh
# Dey-eh-eh-oh
# Da-ra-di-ra-di-ro. #
Right then, everybody.
When the agent said, "Let's do 15", we said "Nay, we will do 36",
and we visited every kid, in every town and made them feel
like they can be who they are.
I fucking adore you all.
Thank you so much.
Ancl next time we play, it's fucking arenas, baby.
CHEERING
Cheers. Cheers, you fuckers. CORK POPS
CHEERING
A little later,
Dom went out to meet fans who'd remained behind to see him.
Oh, fucking, I'm proud of you. Well, as I say, like, be yourself.
Always be yourself. Never fucking let anyone tell you that you should be anything otherwise, OK.
Adore you, be safe. Goodnight, thank you.
Never be ashamed.
Dress the way... You look fucking amazing.
Never be ashamed.
Well, fucking, like, I'm so, that makes me so happy.
You're fucking cool as fuck.
I adore you.
FANS CHATTER INDISTINCTLY
In my time with him, I'd come to see how Dom's perception
of his own struggles were key to his connection with fans
and I'd been struck by the intensity of the emotions.
But I was also aware of hazards in the relationship.
Are you aware of what you think it is that you are really good at?
No.
What do you think it is?
What you've got is an ability to connect with people.
And I read a quote of yours in a different interview where you said,
"I'm more of a preacher than I am a musician".
And the concerts, to me, felt almost like people were coming to get
healed and to believe utterly in what you had, in your sincerity,
in your emotion.
And in a sense, whether that's real or not on your part is slightly
beside the point, because the people were feeling it 100%.
Fully. I think, I think it's so simple
when I actually kind of scale it back
and all this complicated blur and madness around it is literally
the idea that, like, you look at someone and they look at you back
and you truly kind of
empathise with him and the idea that we are going through
the same thing. Hmm.
Ancl I think, like, I am out here and I am hurting and I am lonely
and I'm terrified.
Ancl I am...
...wanting something more, and that other person feels that way, too.
And I feel like I've seen that and been part of it a little bit,
like I feel mainly what I experienced
when I was with you was your ability to make people feel
like they were being loved and supported...
...by someone.
But the people who love you and your music,
many of them have trauma in their background.
And that's like a powder keg, isn't it?
And it's something that in talking about it, you know, you can open
something up and then have a great night.
And then they're dealing with the consequences
after you've gone on to the next town to do your next show, right.
And I don't want to make too much of it, like, I like you, Dom,
and I like what you're doing,
and at the same time, I do see risks. Is that making any sense?
I think, I think I understand you, but also...
...| kind of disagree, too, because I think
what it's truly about...
...is this is a community that...
...every clay, I'm like a broken record.
I say, "Share this trauma with this community
"and it will ease the burden".
Ancl from my experience, that's what happens.
Ancl I'm out here every single night, every single clay
meeting these people.
It's about people and them fucking screaming out.
Ancl everyone else is taking the burden.
Ancl I always say, "If you've ever felt this way,
"or you are carrying this,
"leave it in the room tonight and meet someone",
because that's the difference.
It's not like, they're not there to be, like,
"Hey, man, I can't wait till he plays the banger".
It's to meet people. It's to go, "You're like me. I feel like shit.
"It's 2am and my clad is smashing up the kitchen again.
"My dad's misgendered me again."
It finds a sense of family and a sense of belonging.
And, yes, it's a business. Yes, it's a thing.
Like, I'm not saying it's not,
like, I love it if, when we, when we go number one.
I think that's amazing. Every clay I go,
"Look how big we're getting". Like a big cuddle.
Like it's going to be all right, man.
You know what I mean? That's, like, genuinely what it became.
How are you doing?
I think we covered a lot of bases.
I appreciate you telling my story.
Yeah. Because a lot of people don't like me
cos they don't understand me, I think.
I appreciate you giving me an opportunity to maybe change
some people's minds. Definitely.
I think people don't see how real it is.
Yeah, that's, that's, that's the thing, I think.
I think that is the biggest, the biggest thing.
Oh, thanks. A nice embrace. Yeah.
You all right, Dom?
I'm all right, man, are you?
What's going on?
I don't know. I'm quite drunk, I'm having a shower after a show.
I mean, I have got a pretty big penis. I mean, I'd get it out,
but, you know what I mean, I don't want to make you uncomfortable.
I'm just completely comfortable.
I'm not looking down.
The thing about it is that
you wanted an uncensored, untapped interview of Yungblud.
Well, this is Yungblud. HE LAUGHS