Future Jr.
In only three years, Brisbane, Australia’s Future Jr. has seen more streaming success than your average artist. The singer/songwriter has grown up in a creative family, with both of his parents being fellow musicians. This upbringing was the catalyst of his Spotify debut; 2017’s “Suburbia Blue” was the song that put the artist on the map. Since then, he has produced a number of well-crafted indie pop hits, most notably “Half Past You” with akokay. The song has garnered over 7.3 million Spotify plays as of Sept., 2020, contributing to his current following of over 33 thousand monthly listeners. Future Jr. keeps his style fresh, continuing to evolve in an ever-changing music industry. We recently talked to the artist about his musical upbringing, plans for the future, and more!
How did you start making music?
I grew up in a pretty creative household. My mum played guitar, and my dad played piano. I remember growing up with a real appreciation for music, and the power behind it. I only started writing songs properly a few years ago though. It started out as a new year's resolution activity to tick off a bucket list and turned into something I absolutely loved.
Where is your go-to location when it’s time to write?
Great question! It depends. Ultimately, I just love getting out of my "ordinary" environment. So whether that's writing with some friends in their apartment in the city, or renting a log cabin out in the woods for a couple weeks. I don't really have a go to, I just love to keep it fresh.
It’s collab time: Who are you choosing to write a song with?
Anyone? I'm choosing a top three because it's too hard to choose - Bon Iver. Phoenix. Lorde
What was it like having so much success with “Half Past You”? Did you expect this amount of positive feedback?
“Half Past You” was such a fun experience and honestly I think that's a lot of the reason for the success. Working with Alex (Ayokay) was so fun from start to finish. He's such a legend with the most incredible attitude and encouraging demeanour. I didn't have any particular expectations for it, but I'm glad that people resonate with it.
Where do you draw inspiration from when making music?
I think like most artists, just whatever is going on around me. I usually write a lot based on my real life situations. As cliche as it is, music is really amazing therapy. Lately I've been getting really inspired by old 90s rom-coms.
Tell us about your experiences in the music industry as an up-and-comer.
It's super early days for me, but it's definitely been a ride! I've been suuuper lucky with some really cool opportunities that most artists don't get this early in their careers. The first song I ever released, “Tell Me That I'm Wrong” seemed to connect with a lot of people in a really serious way. I uploaded it to Spotify myself and within 24 hours I was somehow getting emails from publishers and managers which led to me heading over to LA for a four week writing trip with some super crazy songwriters. Out of that came my first EP, another few writing trips, and basically an album worth of songs. From then, I've just kind of been riding the wave and putting one step in front of the other. It definitely hasn't all been peachy, and most of the time I have no idea what I'm doing haha. All in all though, I'm so grateful for how everything has gone up to this point. To be able to make music and live the life I do, is something that blows my mind on a daily basis.
Any future projects for fans to get excited about?
I just dropped an EP in July and have got another EP coming out in October as well. I can't say too much more at the moment, except there's definitely a lot more new music to come.
