Ready to dive into the raw rebellion? Then welcome to YŪNGOLD, the Hereford quartet in their hometown to talk chaotic beginnings, the beauty of imperfection, and why their music sounds like a “fucked-up mix desk” on purpose…
Words by Felix Bartlett | June 23, 2025
The world feels like it’s spinning faster than ever, climate disasters, AI overlords, and social media meltdowns dominate the headlines. In the midst of the noise, YŪNGOLD is carving out a space where raw, unfiltered energy thrives. Their debut EP, Force of Habit, is a middle finger to perfection, a celebration of the messy, human side of creativity. Formed in Hereford, this four-piece band has quickly become a beacon of gritty, unpolished rock, blending chaos and brotherhood into a sound that’s as unpredictable as it is electrifying.
The spark for YŪNGOLD ignited when longtime friends Frank and Oscar began jamming together. “Me and Oscar, we go way back,” Frank explains. “We’ve been really, really close friends for like a long time, since we were about kind of like 15. And we’ve always been making music together and just pissing around.” Their early sessions leaned toward jazz and neo-soul, heavily influenced by acts like Snarky Puppy. But everything changed when they decided to experiment with heavier sounds. “We just kind of one day decided what if instead of that, we just brought out like a Fuzz Factory pedal and just crammed it into a Mustang and just thrashed on it for a bit and see what happened,” Frank recalls. This raw experimentation birthed early demos, including what would become ‘Completely Numb’ on their EP.
What began as a casual bedroom project took on new life when Joe and Ash joined the fold. “We all attended a jam night at the Jam Factory’s local music venue to us,” Ash remembers. “Joe and I jumped on to have a session with Frank and Oscar. It was actually the first jam night that I’d ever been to.” The chemistry was immediate and undeniable. As Joe puts it, “I feel like Joe and I are very much on the same wavelength when it comes to the rhythm. It’s one of those bass/drum bromance things.” This natural connection led to their first proper rehearsal, which Ash describes as revelatory: “I came away from that practice room session thinking, oh holy shit, like that could be a real thing. That could be amazing because the creativity was firing between all of us in that practice room.”
The recording process for Force of Habit was anything but conventional. The band was determined to capture their live energy rather than create a polished studio product. “We really wanted to record it as much as we could, just exactly as it is heard,” Frank emphasises. “We really want it to be that you know what you hear on that EP, what you hear in that record is, by and large, what you get live.” This philosophy led to some creative tension in the studio. “When we got our first mixers back, they came back and it was really clean,” the band recalls. “It was like, yeah, like, you know, it was a really healthy signal. And we were all kind of like, no, it needs to sound bad. It needs to sound like someone, like just fucked up with the mixed desk.”
This commitment to raw authenticity extends to their songwriting process, which is remarkably organic. Many of their songs emerge from spontaneous jams. “Sound of the Earth was… we were just warming up and laid down a beat,” Joe explains. “Then Oscar came up with this incredible riff to go over the top of it, and it was just playing out of the blue.” Frank adds: “A lot of that earlier stuff was just from a jam perspective, just like in the room, reactive and just coming up with something that goes really hard.” The band maintains an open approach to song development, with tracks constantly evolving. “We are aware that none of our songs might ever be done,” Frank notes. “There are some songs that we write, we perform loads of times, and then we decide actually that needs to be something else.”
Live shows are where YŪNGOLD truly comes alive. “One of the most wonderful things to me in this band is realising that the true joy of live music, the true joy of performance, is in absolutely fucking something up,” Frank says with a laugh. “And it just being so entertaining and so joyous in that moment.” This embrace of imperfection creates a unique connection with audiences. “People always come away from our shows and they always say, it was such a tight band and we are,” Frank continues. “But it’s that feeling of those imperfections, those moments where things do go a bit weird, where I leave a pedal on for a second too long and I’m like, well, what’s that sound like?”
The band’s tight-knit dynamic is palpable both on and off stage. “One of the great reviews we had recently summed it up really well,” Frank shares. “They said ‘airtight brotherhood’ was the one that stood out for me. When I saw that in the review, I was like, yeah, that’s exactly how it is.” This chemistry allows them to take risks and experiment freely. “We’ve had instances when we do like to sometimes just hold songs out for gigs and just throw them in at the deep end and see if they swim,” Joe says. “And they always swim. But it’s just a matter of like, was that a clean breaststroke or was that a flappy doggy paddle?”
Looking ahead, YŪNGOLD shows no signs of slowing down. “We’ve got an absolute ton of songs in the backlog,” Frank reveals. “We’re going to go in for some more recording in the next couple of months, just bash out another bunch of songs. We really just want to keep the ball rolling as much as possible.” Their ambitions extend beyond the studio, with dreams of playing major festivals. “For me, it would be Reading & Leeds,” Ash says. “We’ve got a song that we perform almost every gig, which has a massive crowd participation chorus, and I can really picture a crowd at Reading & Leeds thing in that back at us.” That sentence gives me goosebumps on my arm.”
What makes YŪNGOLD special is their refusal to be boxed in by expectations or conventions. “We’re always kind of aware and conscious of not settling,” Frank explains. Their music thrives in the space between precision and chaos, between planning and spontaneity. As Joe puts it: “We’ll keep doing quality gigs and things that we really like, believe in and want to do. And you know if it wraps up, it wraps up. But there’s not like oh we’re going to aim for this and then see what happens after that. It’s kind of as long as it feels good, we’ll still keep going.”
In a world obsessed with polish and perfection, YŪNGOLD stands as a testament to the power of raw creativity and genuine connection. From their humble beginnings in a Hereford jam session to their growing reputation as one of the most exciting new rock acts, they’ve stayed true to their vision. As Frank succinctly puts it: “We just want to expand our empire.” And with their combination of talent, chemistry, and uncompromising attitude, that empire seems destined to grow.
Force of Habit is available now to stream and is a loud, messy, and utterly captivating declaration of intent from a band that’s only just getting started.
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