Yungblud has had a blockbuster year. He dropped a new EP, The Underrated Youth, as well as a live album, dropped collabs with Dan from Imagine Dragons, Marshmello, blackbear, Travis Barker and Halsey, whom he also dated briefly much to the glee of the world’s paparazzi. 

But on a more personal level, 22-year-old Dominic Harrison got to understand himself more. It’s our third interview together – our first was just a couple of months after he dropped his breakout single, I Love You, Will You Marry Me – and in the two hectic years since, his demeanour hasn’t changed at all, but he has. He still bounces off the walls, takes absolutely none of his newfound popularity for granted, and says multiple times that he “can’t believe” what his life is like now. 

With over 1.8 million Instagram followers and almost 10 million Spotify listeners, for Yungblud, finding a home with people just like him from all corners of the globe has improved his life in immeasurable ways – now he’s got a family wherever he roams who accept him as he is. He loves connecting with them. He’s not afraid to speak his mind. It’s a refreshingly positive outlook on the concept of celebrity, as more and more stars find themselves affected by the constant attention and lack of boundaries that becoming famous presents. It can be a bit much – but at least for Yungblud, it’s given him a chance to mobilise young people just like him to make the world a better place.

How do you think you’ve changed since we last spoke two years ago? Your life seems so different. 

I think the difference between now and two years ago is kind of the community that we have together. You know what I mean? It’s been so amazing to see everything happen but what's more amazing is to find everyone and to find my people and find my community because that is kind of the main thing now about Yungblud. Yungblud was about me. I mean, the initial idea of it was to just try find these people and encourage people to say what they finally felt, because I could say what I felt. It was a call out, you know, and fuck me, a lot of people were listening and it's become less and less about me and more and more about us, and it's just insane, man. I just can’t believe it.

How are you dealing with your newfound quote unquote fame and your crazy schedule?

You know what, it’s so funny. People say like your mental health or whatever declines when you get a bit of fame in inverted commas, whatever that means, you know. I got better because I feel like I'm part of something. Yungblud isn't me anymore, it's us. And how fucking amazing it feels to belong somewhere finally. To belong somewhere, where I can be who I want to be, where I can fucking speak however I want to speak, identify how I want to identify, love whoever the fuck I want to love. It's not about the music, Yungblud ain’t just about the music, man. It's about the idea. The music is just the soundtrack to the fucking idea.

You sound so happy. 

Yeah man, I’m so happy man. After so long of feeling misunderstood, I feel understood.

You’ve dropped 21st Century Liability, the YUNGBLUD EP and this year The Underrated Youth EP. It seems music has been fast flowing for you, do you feel like you’ve had more to say recently?

I'm so inspired all the time. I meet so many people, I travel the world, I hear different perspectives, globally. You know, and it gives me so much to write about because I think right now is a time and culture that is so ever-changing. We always kind of climb the mountain and get to the top of it and then roll down the hill every couple years, it happened in the ‘90s and then everything got shit, and it’s happening again. I think people are finally saying shit again with their music. The last five years to me has been vapid, bullshit, boring pop music that said nothing. And people were kind of going in circles chasing their tails because they didn't know what to do, but I think young people and culture has shifted so effervescently in the last four years, there's just so much to write about.

You’re exactly right, and all the punk legends are coming back because they have something to say. Rage Against The Machine are back!

Yeah, and My Chemical Romance! It’s the time of cultural solidarity and unity and people have got something to say again. 

Yeah, I feel like it's really coming to this crux, where everyone's like ‘shit’s gotta change right now’ and especially young people are really speaking out to make that change happen. It captures your EP title so well. 

Absolutely man, that’s it. That's what it means. It's like me, signifying and shouting that the one common denominator in all the people I've met and all the young people I've met is the intelligence and the lust for equality and unity that's embedded inside our heads. We want to be unified. We want to be united. We don't want to be divided. We care about the planet. We care about love. We care about being intelligent. It's okay to give a fuck now.

You’ve also worked TWICE with Travis Barker now, what was it like working with him? 

I got his phone number man, and I had his poster in my bedroom. I have his fucking phone number. I remember going to Download Festival with my old man and my mate Jake years ago. I was like, probably like the size of his rib cage, and now I’ve got songs with him. He’s a legend man. He nailed 11 Minutes in one take, but I asked him to play it again simply for our enjoyment.

On the note of being true to yourselves, I’ve noticed you’ve been wearing a lot more skirts, dresses and make-up on stage. When did you decide to start doing that, was it a result of coming to terms with your sexuality or something way simpler?

I mean, I always wore makeup. I always did but it was just some people didn't necessarily get or understand it. But since I found a community of people, I don't know, I felt they empowered me in a way as I empower them, and that I could kind of come into myself and wear a dress just because I feel sexy in it, for no other reason than that I just feel sexy in it and I feel sexy in fucking make-up. I think when you accept yourself, and when you're around people who lift you, you don't keep that in. You push the boundaries. And you can be simply you.

I noticed the duality of your NME cover too, you as a female pin-up and then as a guy in a suit too. 

I wanted to kind of resemble that you don't have to be masculine or feminine, you can be both because they are both sides of my personality. One minute I'll be like prancing around in a skirt, trying to recreate the Marilyn Monroe cover and then I'll be fucking walking like Liam Gallagher, 10 seconds later. You know what I mean, it's like, that's just the way I am. And I think gender is becoming as irrelevant as genres are. I mean, everything's becoming fluid and it’s fucking amazing.

So Falls Festival plus a couple of headline shows are coming up, it’ll be your first New Year’s in Australia!

Yeah man! I can’t fuckin’ wait to play that. I’m gonna be in Byron for New Year’s I think. We sold out the Forum in Melbourne! 

Huge line-up with Vampire Weekend, Disclosure, Halsey, Of Monsters And Men, Lewis Capaldi, a bunch of Aussie artists too, are you excited to see anyone in particular?

I’m excited to see Lew man, because Lew and I haven’t actually seen each other play since the fucking beginning. We’ve been on the road all the time. I’m excited to see Vampire Weekend too man, love them.

Lewis seems like a funny bastard.

He’s fucking daft but he’s such a funny fucker. He’s hilarious man. If people think it’s an act, it’s fucking not. He’s daft as fuck. 

I know you and Halsey dated for a bit too… will that be a bit weird being on the same festival you think or are you guys still good friends? 

Nah man, we’re good mates! She’ll probably come watch my set, I’ll come watch her set. It’ll be chill. 

I loved that cover of Death Cab you did for triple j Like A Version, one of my all time favourite songs so it was incredible.

Yeah, man that was a really cool moment, man. It was amazing. Yeah, that meant a lot to both of us. It was so fun, it was rock’n’roll. 

Lastly you recently released a graphic novel, The Twisted Tales Of The Ritalin Club, it reminded me a lot of The Umbrella Academy! What made you want to do a comic book? 

It was and it wasn’t. I loved comics growing up, it was DC Comics that inspired that. I thought I was so cool [reading them]. And then obviously Umbrella Academy came along so I was like, that's it. That's amazing too. And I don't know, man, I always want to write a comic and it was kind of the perfect time for it, you know?

And you’re like an anti-hero in it right?

Yeah, I’m an anti-hero. I’m a villain to the ways of society if you like. You gotta be bad to be good. There's five illustrators on it and it develops and becomes more colourful as the comic goes on. And I want it to kind of represent like, my fucking mental schizophrenia.