* GREETINGS ONE AND ALL! SO HOW MANY OF YOU DO WE HAVE, AND WHO DO WE HAVE IN ATTENDANCE TODAY? AND HOW ARE WE ALL?

Greetings.
It is I _ Efj. Son of Eugene Francis _ spokesperson for the juniors _
it is just me in attendance today. The others are off, scattered around different corners of the globe trying to cut down on their respective carbon footprints.
So am I, hence why I am typing this from a recycled computer _ but unfortunately my budget did not let me get outside of Cardiff
Currently the juniors is up to 7 (5 guys, 2 girls) all in peak health and optimum ratios _ but this could always grow ... for the juniors was and always will be a dynamic concept-band based around super talented musical individuals. Like a modern-age Traveling Wilburys
The juniors consists of MFjnr, APjnr, RVjnr, LRjnr, LLjnr, LFjnr
then there is me EFjnr
I am the underachiever who dreamt this up while in LA last year

* THERE’S QUITE A BUZZ DEVELOPING AROUND YOU LATELY, YOU’VE POPPED UP IN THE NME’S RADAR SECTION AND ON HUW STEPHEN’S RADIO ONE SHOW TO NAME JUST TWO. DOES KNOWING THAT YOU’RE STARTING TO GET A BIT OF MASS EXPOSURE SCARE OR EXCITE YOU?

The thing with a buzz is this .... a buzz is the noise that resonates from a wasp _ and the thing with wasp is once it has stung you _ it dies and disappears forever.
If people want to call it a buzz I just hope we can remain afloat and outsell dire straits.
Oh yes and have Pete fowler make little 'jnr inaction' figures of us.
we have all agreed we will know we have made it at that point. When you walk past forbidden planet and see you _ but in 'doll form' _ like the magic numbers have _ I like the magic numbers lots
To conclude I am both scared and excited, so I shall term that 'sexcitable' about all things on our current horizon

* SOME PRETTY HEFTY TOURING LINED UP FOR NEXT MONTH, FROM LONDON TO THE BRECON BEACONS I SEE, LOOKING FORWARD TO HITTING THE ROAD AND SPREADING THE WORD ALL OVER THE COUNTRY?

Touring is great. As a band we really perform well, visually and sonically. I have not met many people who don't get what we are doing.
In this day and age where most bands comprise of just 3-4 boys with guitars and distortion pedals who spend more money on hair products and key chains.
You have to up your game _ broaden your instruments and songwriting. And most importantly your message _ yes I think the Eugene Francis jnr message is our epicentre.
And also the fact that APjnr was once linked to Lindsey Lohan (who apparently has a thing for rudimentally perfect drummers)
Oh yes _ back to the question _ touring will be great _ especially the greenman festival and the Norwegian church. You should come out to both.

* APPARENTLY SOME OF YOU ARE FROM DIFFERENT WELSH BANDS, SO HOW DID THE SEVEN OF YOU ALL END UP TOGETHER IN THIS WELSH SUPERGROUP?

I had written an album worth of material by myself.
Then I needed to reproduce all these instruments, layers and vocals live (basically I had overcooked it _ in a good way)
I sent a link of a video for a song called 'my own pollution' to MFjnr (who is like the south Wales oracle / musical godfather)_ he liked it muchly and set about sourcing other musical individuals who could cover the respective parts.
This was only back in February 07 .... Within a month we were now a 5 piece _ had 7 songs _ a matching uniform and playing our 1st sold out gig in Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff on march 3rd.
The only thing (at that point it) was missing from both the sound and the aesthetic _ I felt _ was 2 lots of female vocals (one high _ one mid) and they arrived that night in the form of LLjnr and LFjnr who were there watching.
The other solo projects and bands that in many ways are better than the Efj project are as such
VITO (comprises MFjnr, APjnr, and RVjnr) - BROKEN LEAF (RVjnr solo) - LINDSEY LEVEN (LLjnr solo) - and LRjnr has a synth project but changes the name on a weekly basis
all of the above _ Efj instructs you to check all these out <> they will change your life

* YOU ALL HAVE THINGS GOING ON OUTSIDE OF THE JUNIORS, DO YOU ALWAYS INTEND TO WORK ON OTHER PROJECTS OR IS THE JUNIORS THE DEFINATIVE FOCUS FOR YOU ALL AS YOU LOOK TO THE FUTURE?

Well _ I will always do Eugene Francis jnr stuff til the day I die _ and I would want the other juniors to do it for as long as they 'wanted' to do it _ and never because they had too. That’s the thing with life _ you start forcing people to do stuff and these people feel oppressed - then you have world war III on the cards.
We will always work on different projects _ and respect each other for that _ and we all know that the juniors is a very special project indeed - like the goonies adventure you always dreamt would happen to you as a kid

* SO THE DEBUT DOUBLE A-SIDE SINGLE’S OUT IN JULY, HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE PUTTING SOMETHING OUT TO THE WIDE WORLD AS A COLLECTIVE EFFORT?

It feels great _ its actually out the 23rd _ and in 749 days its gonna be as collectable as Elvis Presley’s toe nails!

* WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO MAKE IT A DOUBLE A-SIDE?

Because I wanted (on the first outing) people to get a sense of the scope and depth and eclecticism of the music _
If you are sanguine enough to formulate a word to summise your art ie 'folktronica' (although I'm sure I stole that from my friend in san Francisco) you have to provide the listener evidence within your recordings.
POOR ME is very diverse _ like an electrofolk anthem <> if you can have such a thing. KITES is very instrumentally stripped, but is beautiful.
And the people I wrote this song for held me at gunpoint to include it on legions 1st release ....

* YOUR MYSPACE SAYS THAT YOU’RE CURRENTLY “RE-RECORDING” THE ALBUM – HOW WILL IT BE DIFFERENT TO WHAT YOU ALREADY HAD RECORDED?

Its pretty much done <><<>> its different in the fact that now there is a few more songs _ and more instrumentally flavorsome.
Since putting around the demos, and since the POOR ME video has been circulating there has been interest on both sides of the Atlantic. So we are deciding what to do for our best interests

* SO WHEN AND WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM A, SURE TO BE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED, DEBUT ALBUM?

I guess you will just have to wait and see _ however if you have ever listened to Bob Dylan (on a ipod generation 11) being covered by BSS whilst suspended in the tenuous atmosphere of ganymede <> then you might get close ....

* EUGENE, YOU SEEM TO PLAY A LOT OF SHOWS SOLO – WHAT DO YOU MOST ENJOY ABOUT THE, PRESUMABLY, QUITE DIFFERENT DYNAMICS OF PLAYING SOLO AND THEN WITH SIX OTHER PEOPLE?

This project started off as a solo venture _ I played solo since august last year _ was invited to play some places in America _ returned home and decided I wanted to do the supergroup thing like Sufjan Stevens or Devendra Banhart _ to especially back up the 'live' thing. But I wanted to still give that band a name.
I like it solo, but on occasions get lonely. I like it as a supergroup, but then I realise that I am the least talented musician on the stage at that time.
I am happy as long as I am playing _ when I promised people that I would play

* SO OUT OF ALL THE JUNIORS, WHO REALLY ACTS THE MOST LIKE THE JUNIOR AND MOST LIKE THE SENIOR OF THE MUSICAL FAMILY?

You know I cant answer this _ that’s like the 'von trapp family singers' admitting to the polish press who has the most grey hair and who has the least pubic hair

* AND SO, HOW DOES THE CONTINUING PLAN FOR WORLD DOMINATION UNFOLD FROM THIS POINT FORWARD? WHAT ARE THE DEFINATIVE GOALS FOR THE COMING MONTHS?

Master this record, get some new shoes, get some more Taylor guitars, get some more synths, get some more celebrity fans, hope for the best _ expect the worst, and don’t shit on anyone in the process of doing this.

Finish <>

efj x

Interview by Martin Kendrick

www.myspace.com/eugenefrancisjnrandthejuniors
www.myspace.com/eugenefrancisjnr

Read our review of the debut single 'Poor Me / Kites' here