“If a song don’t come out in an hour, then it don’t wanna be in the world.” It was with this motto that Yungblud (Dominic Richard Harrison) rocketed to the top of the UK album charts. His singles Low Life, Parents, and The Funeral are still ubiquitous, blasting on every device imaginable. Not to mention TikTok, where the man in pink socks appears in recommendations daily, garnering tens of millions of views, and leaving grandmothers from Milwaukee to Xiamen and Uryupinsk no chance of remaining blissfully ignorant of modern punk rock. World tours, massive stadiums, and fame akin to the buzz surrounding Ozzy Osbourne and Iron Maiden—all at the age of twenty-seven! His albums are infused with the spirit of One Direction, Arctic Monkeys, and The Cure, while his music videos show strong influences of Marilyn Manson and a keenness on David Bowie’s vibrant, contrasting looks.
How the Artist Turned His Neuroses into a Tremendous Success
Photo by el0verj on Last.fm
Dominic’s story is very Hollywood. His father owned a guitar shop in the small town of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, in the north of England, so the boy was close to music from an early age. Watching customers wearing colourful hair and tight pants, young Dominic decided to follow the path of loud, protesting self-expression. One day he persuaded his father to give him a guitar and began learning to play. It seemed like the perfect rock-star origin story, but it wasn’t meant to be. Solfeggio won out, and the protest didn’t quite materialise. He had nothing to rebel against; his parents supported all his aspirations.
The biggest obstacle for Dominic was ADHD, which made self-learning difficult. His grandfather, who then played the bass guitar in the British band T.Rex, stepped in to save the day. When Dominic turned 12, his grandfather turned to him with all his dedication and taught him to play drums, bass, and guitar. Dominic gained his first modest fame on Disney Channel’s popular music show The Lodge. This led to new connections and funds for his first single, King Charles.
“Be yourself or die trying”
Photo by Nate Sagrada on Unsplash
There’s nothing more important for Yungblud than self-expression, and he seeks it not only for himself. His songs encourage people to think for themselves and not let others decide how they should live or dress, or what they should believe in. Despite his rebellious spirit, Dominic is quite the patriot. He deeply loves England and often highlights this in his work. His music video for Strawberry Lipstick is a prime example, with Yungblud wearing a Union Jack dress and holding an English bulldog on a leash.
Interestingly, Yungblud’s stage look is not much different from his everyday wardrobe. A pair of pink socks, rhinestone adorned shorts, and the obligatory hairstyle resembling a paint-smeared toilet brush—this is Dominic Harrison’s usual style. This persona immediately caught the attention of non-binary individuals, who tried to make Dominic a spokesperson for the LGBTQ+ community. However, instead of relying on an existing community ready to embrace him, Yungblud created his own, called it YungbludArmy, and dedicated it to combating mental health issues.
“I wish there wasn’t a stage, I wish there was no barrier.”
Photo by el0verj on Last.fm
Yungblud is a huge fan of his fans and people in general. He prefers real-life interactions over hiding behind a camera lens. Spending half a day playing tag with kids? Excellent! Going a pub crawl around London with people he barely knows? Fantastic! Joining a knitting club and turning it into a dance party? Brilliant!
Dominic knows how to have fun, but unlike some public figures, he doesn’t do it for the hype. The reason behind Yungblud’s endless parties is rather sad, rooted in his intense dependence on social interaction. When there’s no one around, Dominic is consumed by a deep, terrifying sense of loneliness. Capital FM journalists captured one such moment when they locked poor Yungblud in an empty room with a mirror and made him ask himself questions.
That time, and in many other interviews, Dominic Harrison admits to constantly battling anxiety and self-doubt, finding temporary relief only in the presence of others. Dominic needs his fans even more than they need him. The whole idea of YungbludArmy is to find ways to fight the inner demons that Yungblud himself has to fight daily and that he doesn’t always win against. “Yungblud existed even before I started making music,” Dominic explains. “It was a superhero character, a costume I put on to make me feel stronger. The point is not the hair, the dress, or the tattoos—I just look like this because I want to look like this. If you wanna look like whatever, that’s the point of Yungblud! To be yourself because nothing is cooler than that.”
Oh, and as for the pink socks—it’s not just a stage look. Dominic has worn mismatched socks all his life because he could never find the right pair in the chaos of his wardrobe. Eventually, he gave up and bought two hundred pairs of pink socks from a small London shop he was passing by. He’s been wearing them ever since.
