A little chat with… june jones

How did you become a musician? I’m a hyperactive adult who was once a hyperactive child. I began learning drums in high school, then a couple of years later I started guitar so I could play music without annoying my parents. I only really started writing and singing songs at the end of high school. What kind of music were you obsessed with as a kid?

I think my first-ever CD was the “Doctor Jones” single by Aqua, shortly followed by Let Go by Avril Lavigne, which was probably one of the most formative albums I listened to as a kid. My first concert was 50 Cent (I went with my girlfriend and her mum in year 6). Do you have a pre-performance ritual? Not really, I just puff out my cheeks, pinch them with my thumb and index finger, and splutter/hum for a few minutes. How do you calm your mind? I'm pretty into taking baths when it’s cold. There’s a whole song on my new album that’s about taking a bath, sort of. I also like petting cats, playing piano and going for a walk while listening to an audiobook. Who inspires you? Science-fiction writers. I love Ursula K. Le Guin, Octavia Butler, and I read an incredible book last year called An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon. I’m inspired by anyone working to make a better world, fighting for their community, and in solidarity with others. What do you listen to when you need a cathartic cry? Funnily enough, I don’t really listen to music to cry these days. The last thing I remember crying to was an Angela Davis lecture about prison abolition. I started crying when she was acknowledging the work trans and gender-nonconforming people had done. What would you do if you won the lottery?

Buy a house, then write an op-ed for a newspaper about how to afford a house by the time you’re 30. Everyone would hate me, and rightly so.