Before They Knew Better rounds off the year chatting to The Vaccines’ Justin Young

It’s been a stellar few months of Before They Knew Better - the podcast that digs into all the wins, woes, and wtfs of your fave musicians’ early years via the mediums of a photo, song, and object from their youth. We’ve heard from Bastille’s Dan Smith about his Scream 3 obsession; we’ve learned that Sigrid once gave her cat a wedding; we’ve discovered that Remi Wolf had a prior career in Olympic skiing; and much more!

Today though, we’re ending 2023 on a high with an episode featuring Justin Young, The Vaccines’ personable frontman and a certified indie icon. Chatting to our co-hosts Lisa Wright and Giles Bidder, Justin talks us through his formative - but maybe rather unexpected - stint playing hardcore punk, as well as his passions for skateboarding and animal rights.

“It was my mum’s 50th birthday”, he says, speaking about the photo he submitted for the podcast. “That’s my brother on drums and me on bass, and out of shot is my dad on guitar. We played a song that we wrote my mum for her birthday. But I think I’m wearing a ‘McMurder’ t-shirt - I was vegan from 13 to 18 and was very into that kind of stuff, probably through punk and hardcore. So I’m playing bass on quite a saccharine love song that my dad’s written for my mum, wearing a McMurder t-shirt.”

You can tune into the full episode now on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, or wherever you get your podcasts, as well as catching up on the series so far. It’ll make for the perfect Christmas hols listening, so remember to like and subscribe to hear more from Before They Knew Better in the new year!