Get To Know Get To Know… Porij

Hello and welcome to DIY’s introducing feature, Get To Know… getting you a little bit closer to the buzziest new acts that have been catching our eye as of late, and working out what makes them tick.

Recently we’ve met Glasgow newbies VLURE, Ireland songwriter Smoothboi Ezra, LA-based brother-sister duo Between Friends, pop newbie Wallice, and now we’re introducing you to Manchester’s Porij!

Following the release of last year’s ‘Breakfast’ mixtape, the group returned with plucky and poignant new alt-pop single ‘Nobody Scared’ last month. Speaking about the track, vocalist Eggy explains, “I wrote the lyrics for ‘Nobody Scared’ after watching a documentary on Netflix about the Yorkshire Ripper. It focused on the Reclaim the Night marches and it made me remember the feeling of fear when I used to walk home alone at night. The song is about recognising those feelings but addressing the fact that women and girls shouldn’t have to live their lives afraid. The line ‘nobody scared’ is meant to be empowering and embody the Reclaim the Night Movement. It’s crazy that people force the narrative that women aren’t being careful when in reality they shouldn’t be in danger just because of their gender and no matter how many precautions they take it doesn’t seem to matter. Gender-based violence affects women from all countries, backgrounds and social statuses. The fact that 97% of women say they had been sexually harassed is astounding but sadly not a surprising statistic to those who have been through it.

“We originally wrote this song back in December and it felt like an important topic then but it feels even more important now. When I was watching the documentary, the original Reclaim the Night march first happened in 1977 but the fact that we’re still having to protest over the same issues of femicide is shocking, especially as the advice is still the same. We shouldn’t have to take preventative measures in order to be safe, why is no-one tackling the issue instead of blaming the victims? Women shouldn’t have to stay out of public spaces after dark and have a curfew inflicted upon them. Hopefully this song can help empower the women that deserve so much more.”

With more music on the horizon, we sent the quartet - completed by Tommy, James and Tom - over some qs to get to know them a lil’ better.