14 December 2020
Newsdesk
Yungblud joined the final episode of the Sky Arts Late filmed at the iconic Sadler’s Wells theatre in London exploring the theme of hope - reflection, response, solutions - as we take stock of 2020 and look to 2021.
On the first lockdown:
‘We were about to go on the biggest tour we’d ever been on. We were about to do arenas. Everyone was like “This is your year, this!”’
‘I literally remember the day lockdown happened. I was in LA. Typical me, I was on the phone to my manager and was like “Right, I want to do a livestream gig!”’
On deciding to post a livestream of his new album online…
‘I’ve never felt more connected to my fan base than right now. I legitimately haven’t. I put that [acoustic virtual performance] on the internet, what went, because of them [my fans] from a gig in my bedroom with two cameras and an acoustic guitar…72 hours later I were on a TV studio with nine dudes with hazmat suits on, two celebrity guests, doing a punk rock Jimmy Fallon! It was sick, and it gave me this kind of adrenaline to be like “just because we can’t touch each other right now doesn’t mean we can’t feel each other”’
Clip available here: https://youtu.be/or79tdt61x8
On the Black Lives Matter movement:
‘I was in LA when that happened, and I was out there in the protests and I saw the malicious nature of old ideologies first-hand. At one point we were in the middle of the street and they were firing rubber bullets at a black homeless man because he was a black homeless man, when there were white, fifteen-year-old males holding up a sign being a lot more aggressive.’
Clip available here: https://youtu.be/Cue10ryKCq4
On change, art and understanding each other:
‘I think music [and art] can be made for a motive or for an agenda or it can be made for a reason, and it’s on every single one of us in this circle and every single person at home to talk about that reason, so we don’t step backwards’
Sky Arts Late will air Tuesday 15th December at 9pm on Sky Arts, Freeview Channel 11. Catch up on previous episodes on NOW TV / Sky On Demand
