Written by: Cait Elizabeth - October 2018
Edited by: Travis Ryan

INTRODUCTIONS: 

If you like your music full of haunting mysteries and vivid setting, allow me to introduce your new favorite band: Junkrat. If you took sophisticated, trained musicians and let them go feral in a backwoods bayou, they’re what you’d get. It’s a glorious contradiction of sounds, delicate and wild all at once. Junkrat is a love story between Kenny Truhn and Suzanne Burkhardt, a result of a chance encounter in the wilderness of online dating. Suzanne is classically trained in piano and viola but hadn’t played in years. Upon rediscovering her viola a few months after they started dating, she impressed the hell out of Kenny with it. I remember seeing the transition from Kenny playing solo sets to Junkrat being formed. We were all a bit stunned in the crowd to hear Suzanne hadn’t played shows before. The two of them had such great energy together that it sounded so natural. It’s a fresh take on Americana, a celebration of nature, love and music, all covered in mud.

TOURS & SHOWS 

Junkrat has been spotted as far as the New York City boroughs and as close as your local Suffolk or Nassau county bar. Where Junkrat goes, antics will surely follow. The duo was recording a live album at The Bitter End (NYC) recently when they encountered a heckler. Suzanne went right up and put the guy in his place before rejoining Kenny and kicking ass on vocals for the next song.

Junkrat played the Sceneless Scene #42 at 89 North (Patchogue) in July, unveiling their crazy to some bewildered family members. Kenny recalled feeling like they had the whole crowd’s undivided attention and recounts it as a favorite night where friends were made and art exchanged.

If you’re lucky you’ll catch the live extended version of “Tomoka Tonight” where Suzanne takes over on viola while Kenny goes wild and gets thrown around by the crowd. Kenny reports that they get “pretty Turnt Up” and that “it really ends the set with a bang”.

Junkrat has two EPs available at Bandcamp as well as additional merchandise. Their third EP Junkrat III is expected mid-November 2018.

SUBSCRIBE & SUPPORT

FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
Bandcamp
kennytruhnmusic@gmail.com

INSPIRATION & INFLUENCES

Kenny describes Junkrat’s sound as “very raw and swampy…a lot of soul and heart”. Their noted influences include Modest Mouse, Glass Animals, Kaizers Orchestra, Violent Femmes, The Beatles, and Peter Gabriel. Their main inspiration is for music with passion, and they truly embrace uniqueness in all ways. They appreciate all music for what it can offer and it shows in Junkrat’s self-assuredness.