Robyn Benge & Craig (Junk Jaw) on Pure Local Extra

It has been 2 years since the last catch up, in that time a lot has happened. Firstly, Craig has joined a band of 3 since last time. The band is called Junk Jaw, the origin of the name coming from the phrase “Junk draw” but they were drunk when talking about it and it came out as Junk Jaw instead! 

Junk Jaw’s first gig was only around 5 months ago but they’ve already been booked for multiple festivals and are writing lots of music. They’re currently going out as a tribute for 2000s music, but that’s bound to change in the coming months.

Recently, Robyn has been writing a lot with not much recording. She added that she read somewhere that you know something’s ready when you can’t take anything else away from it and she’ll release stuff when she knows it’s perfect.

One of the first songs we listened to on the show was ‘Barefoot’ by Robyn. As explained by Robyn, one of the main themes of the song is people thinking being a musician is just about partying and fun. When in reality there is a lot of hard work, trials and tribulations that go into it. 

To find out where some of their musical interests have come from, Kym asked Robyn and Craig what kind of music they listened to when they were younger. Robyn answered with “a weird mix” and 70s and 60s music. Craig was the complete opposite with heavy metal.

Next: instruments. As is the case for many, Robyn learned to play guitar during lockdown, seeing as there was the time to sit with no distractions. She explained that she has always loved singing and performing arts, learning an instrument was inevitable. She also plays ukulele and is learning to play bass. On the other hand, Craig has been playing music for over 25 years!

As per the norm for our local shows: kazoos! Robyn still has her kazoo from the last time she was on the show and it even makes appearances at gigs! All four of us in the studio came together to play a hit song from 1998 all on kazoo.

You can listen to the full show here