The Vaccines 'Justin Young' On Avoiding Beef With Liam Gallagher

Taken from an interview with Justin Young by New York Magazine, read the full interview here.

Can you understand why the press goes after these things? Like, were you a fan of the old Blur vs. Oasis beef?

I loved it. I kind of found the personalities just as interesting as the music. Well, the people I latched onto when I was a really young kid, Elvis or Kurt Cobain or even Liam Gallagher, they’re big characters, aren’t they? And along with enjoying the music, you enjoy them.

So do you ever feel a responsibility to be a bigger character yourself?

No, no. Once or twice, perhaps, I’ve been criticized for not being that big character. But I’m not. That’s really it. It’s sort of weird, really. It’s part of it: It’s performance, and it’s theater, and that’s why pop music is great. I’m always seduced by it. But at the same time, while we are a pop band, I find it hard to fake. Honesty through creativity and performance is a really important thing to me. I'm not gonna say stuff just to get a reaction.

Speaking of Liam Gallagher — he called you guys “boring,” and you eventually responded by saying “Words are his weapon, not mine. I think I've made a better record than he has [with Beady Eye].” That seemed smart, to avoid taking an overt dig.

I mean, it was a dig. I was trying to bury it, but I should have known that that would have been a pull quote. And then everyone used it. I’m not really interested in getting involved. I do think we made a better record than Beady Eye. But he’s a better rock star.