Mini-Interview with Juck Juck Grunzie

Every now and then I come to realize that I have barely even mentioned bands that I thought I would’ve blogged plenty about for years. Juck Juck Grunzie is one such band. Great band, great people, great music. Definitely something to write about. Thanks to Mark Russell Juck Juck Grunzie got a post on IROK more than 7 years ago, but that’s about it.

Nevertheless it’s a band I’m excited for. And I was even more excited when I learned that Juck Juck Grunzie would be coming to Europe this summer–playing Glastonbury as well as smaller gigs in cities just a short flight away from Stockholm. In the end I unfortunately couldn’t travel to see them myself, but bassist Boong was kind enough to answer a few post-tour questions.

 
juckjuckgrunzie-berlin

 
What were the most memorable experiences you gathered during your European tour this summer?

Boong: After playing at Glastonbury and in London, we headed to Berlin for a few gigs. Our first show in Berlin was at Kantine am Berghain. When the show finished, we were so hungry and tired. We bought kebabs and beers and got a taxi back to our guesthouse. But when we got there, our key wouldn’t work. We stood outside for about an hour at dawn waiting to get in. But eventually someone came and opened the door for us and we got to sleep!

Our second show in Berlin was at a really great venue called West Germany. I loved that place. But it was so hot inside. And because of the noise, they had to lock all the doors while we played! It’s a real DIY venue in a part of Berlin that has a lot of history in the punk and rock scenes there. Because we were under the gun to finish early, we played pretty fast and loud. The pressure and the heat gave us a special energy and we could really feel it translate with the crowd too. The vibe in that place on that night was just special. It’s the kind of show you always hope for, but you can’t always plan for it. Sometimes it just all comes together like magic or something. It was an awesome night.

 
Which other bands that you met or saw during the tour made the biggest impression on you?

Boong: Goat was one of the bands that I was really looking forward to seeing at Glastonbury. They were so psychedelic and great! Funkadelic and Sly and the Family Stone were awesome, too! I was surprised by the diversity of their audience. And both of those bands had a great groove.

 
What did you miss the most about Korea while being on tour?

Boong: I missed spicy Korean food like gochujang, kimchi, and ramen. We got some instant Korean food from a friend and that really cheered us up.

 
Where would you like to go on tour next time?

Boong: We want to release some new music next spring and then hope to tour more and play festivals in China and Canada.

 


I was hoping for more Europe, but perhaps I shouldn’t be too greedy and try to catch them in Korea next time I go there instead–oddly, just as I haven’t written at all as much about Juck Juck Grunzie as I had thought, I also haven’t seen them live a single time during all these years. Rumor has it they’re very very awesome live, too.

Here’s a stylish live video from a few years ago showing Juck Juck Grunzie performing the awesome “Meth-Odd” as well as first full-length album title track “Psycho”:

 
And here’s “Kuruucrew” which might just be my personal favorite track off Psycho:

 
For much, much more on Juck Juck Grunzie, check out a few or all of these pre-tour interviews:

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