Name: Petty Youth
Formed: 2013
Hometown: Downpatrick
Genre: Garage Rock
Line-up: Alex Johnson – Lead Vocals/Drums | Eoghan Johnson – Guitar/Vocals | Adam McCarter – Guitar | Ryan McGreevy – Bass
◀ Q & A ▶
▶ Tell us about your artist/band name?
Before we decided on Petty Youth we’d spent a year jamming and throwing ideas around but we could never settle on one. We originally were trying to be a Psychedelic Rock band, so the names followed that sort of theme. It was only when we wrote ‘You Do Me No Good’ that we realised what sound we were going for. We desperately needed a name and ‘Pretty Youth’ was brought up, but thinking that sounded a bit too dodgy Alex very wisely changed it to Petty, and the rest is history!
▶ When did you start playing music and how would you describe your sound?
Eoghan and Alex are brothers and have been playing together in bands for nearly a decade, playing Metal, Classic Rock, Blues, Indie and everything in between. Our bassist Ryan joined an older project in 2011 and from the ashes of that we got Adam onto guitar and formed Petty Youth in 2013.
We would consider ourselves a Garage Rock/Punk band, but Petty Youth is a product of all our influences. There are elements of 50s/60s Rock ‘n’ Roll, 70s Glam Punk as well as influences from the Northern Irish Punk scene. We try to write raw, straight-to-the-point, catchy Rock ‘n’ Roll that people can jive and shout along to.
▶ What releases have you put out so far?
We have 6 songs we recorded DIY in our shed/studio at home on Soundcloud and Bandcamp, which are up for free download. However, we have just finished recording our new E.P ‘Keep The Faith’ at Start Together Studios which was released on June 14th.
▶ Is there a particular live show that stands out amongst all the rest?
Definitely for us I’d have to say going over to London and playing The Fighting Cocks on New Years Eve, we would have put Mötley Crüe to shame! Haha It was our first time playing London, we ended up with a great, lively crowd and met some of the nicest people you could ever meet.
▶ Can you talk about a Highlight and a low point of the journey so far?
Definitely recording this E.P was a highlight for us. We’d been talking about doing it for a year, but Uni and location got in the way so to finally be in the studio was a great boost and what we came out with was one of our proudest musical achievements.
There are always low points being an original Musician, there have been cases where we’ve played to virtually no one, not got a penny and it doesn’t seem to go anywhere. But at the end of the day, if this was all about money we’d be singing ‘Summer of 69’ in a shitty cover band weekly. You just gotta Keep The Faith! haha
▶ If you weren’t a musician(s) how would you spend your spare time?
I (Eoghan) would be living in my Ma and Da’s roof space eating out of date wotsits for the rest of my life, Alex would be up a Mountain Bear Grylls-ing it, Ryan would be a mixologist and Adam would be in a castle listening only to renaissance music.
▶ If you were to go on a world tour and you could pick any 3 acts come along, who would they be?
New York Dolls, Darkthrone and Daniel O’Donnell.
▶ What would be the 3 strangest things on your rider if you were able to make any demand?
Father Ted (Complete DVD Boxset), Brennans Bread (Crusts cut off) and a framed photo of our hero, Frank Mitchell.
▶ Is there a particular aim or goal which you hope to achieve through music?
To hopefully one day be able to make a living, or enough to sustain us anyway.
▶ Who has been your biggest inspiration as a musician?
We’re inspired by different people, there are too many good Musicians/Bands, new and old out there to narrow it down. What inspires us the most I think is the Music we dish out ourselves. There’s nothing more exciting that creating something unique.
▶ Are there any other Northern Irish musicians we should check out?
Loads! The Bonnevilles, 10 Glass, On Parole, Part Time Pilots, Thee Penny Dreadfuls, Sorrowfall, GIRL etc.
▶ What is next for you?
Get the E.P released, get gigging and get the ball rollin’.
◀ LISTEN ▶
Facebook ▶ /Petty Youth
Twitter ▶ @pettyyouth
