Kieran Webber
Director and Founder of CLUNK Magazine, CLUNK Events, and other CLUNK affiliate businesses. You’ll probably find me tucked away somewhere sending emails, listening to music, and creating content.
London’s Just Kids chat to us about their new single ‘Second Hand Smoke’, how they met, and much more
The London based indie-pop duo Just Kids have come out hot on the heels of their 2023 debut EP with their latest single ‘Second Hand Smoke’, an infectious, alt-indie number. Throughout the track you are treated to brooding vocals that lead the charge backed by emotive, relatable, and heartfelt songwriting.
It’s hard not to be enamoured by their sound as it washes over you, bringing a nostalgic, yet wonderfully fresh sound to your ears. They’re an exciting band and they’re just getting started, we predict big things for Just Kids.
We had to know more about this daresome duo consisting of Rachel Still (She/her) and Maxie Cheer (they/he), we caught up with them to chat all things music, British summer time, and much more.
Kieran: Thanks for chatting with us today! How are you doing?
Rachel: I’m well thank you! I’ve been walking around all morning listening to Blink-182 in the sunshine and drinking iced coffee, so to me that means it’s officially summer.
Kieran: How’s your summer going so far? Any highlights?
Rachel: We’ve been having a good time so far for sure. Putting our new single out in May was really fun, I loved making the visuals for that. We’re also both playing live for our friend charlieeeee at the moment, so touring the UK with your best mates in a van and getting to play music every night was really special. I met Dave Grohl the other day too and haven’t fully processed that.
Kieran: How did you meet and at what point did you decide to form a band?
Rachel: This is a funny story and one I’d kind of forgotten, but lots of people have asked recently and it’s reminded me how wild it is. We met in our late teens when a guitarist I was working with put a hand drawn advert up in an alleyway in Soho. I was banging on about us getting a drummer and we were just starting out so I was way overconfident in our abilities. I think he was winding me up when he wrote “Looking for a drummer to take over the world” with a little arrow pointing down to a stick person playing drums. Someone who knew Maxie was drunk on a night out and saw the ad. They also thought it was funny to wind him up about his ambitions, so took a very blurry picture and tagged him on Facebook at 3am. Luckily my email was just in view and Maxie got in touch. We’ve been best friends and in bands together ever since.
Kieran: Did you have any people or artists influence you directly?
Rachel: So many, too many to count in all honesty. We’re both obsessed with music and are always changing what we’re listening to and sharing it with each other. At the moment I’m into TTSSFU, Cherry Glazerr, IAN SWEET, boyish, St. Vincent and of course Chappell Roan. But also going back and diving into grunge a lot. Lots of Fugazi, QOTSA and NIN. If we had to both answer one artist though who has defined out friendship and how we go about our work together, I can say without even asking Maxie, Bruce Springsteen. That and the creativity of our friends around us right now who are just smashing it. Our community is everything to us.
Kieran: So, you recently dropped your latest single ‘Second Hand Smoke’, can you please talk us through this release and what it means to you?
Rachel: This song came out of a turbulent time for me, I was feeling really low but now it’s thankfully transformed into something positive. The seed was planted when I was on holiday in Paris with Maxie and another friend, Heloise, who actually photographed the single artwork. I was pushing back against so much in my life and feeling like I wasn’t reaching my full potential. Spending a few days following them both around, sat in cafes whilst everyone around us smoked, the song title came into my head and waited there until I was ready to fully write it. Their both such enthusiastic, ‘jump and the net will appear’ friends to me. Some people in your life just have that special ability to lead you to where you should be and see your true potential, even when you can’t do that yourself.
Listen to ‘Second Hand Smoke’ here:
Kieran: How do you go about writing and recording your music?
Rachel: We have a pretty funny process that I think we are only now learning to trust and lean into, it’s quite back to front. Essentially I write and record a song, with anything from a rough idea of parts to literally everything in it, before showing it to Maxie. He drums a demo part over the pile of stuff I hand him, and then we go back in and start to pull everything into focus. I produce and mix our music, with a lot of input first from Maxie and then others around us when the time comes to share something more finished. It’s messy but it’s really fun.
Kieran: Do you have any artists you’d love to collab with?
Rachel: So many! I shamelessly dream of playing on stage with bands I’ve grown up loving like Foo Fighters or Green Day. As for collaborating on a release though I’d say my top choices at the moment would be boyish, Mitski, Kaeto or Blondshell, just for the songs they’re putting out and how much their recent releases have shaped me as a writer and producer.
Kieran: What’s something that is overrated about being a musician and one thing that us underrated?
Rachel: Overrated is looking at and listening to yourself 24/7 in prep for a release. Not always fun. Underrated is the people you get to meet and work with, the community of everyone around the music who end up just becoming your friends. Being able to work alongside those friendships is the thing I am most grateful for. Their creativity continually excites me and literally gets me out of bed in the morning. I forget that we’re even working when I’m with them.
Kieran: Lastly, what else can we expect from you in 2024?
Rachel: We’ve got a lot of things to share and we’re super excited to share them. First up though, we’re playing Rough Trade East 26th June and can’t wait for that one. Then something new towards the end of July too.
Discover more from Clunk Magazine
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
You must be logged in to post a comment.