UPTOWN BOYBAND, made up of Justin Trash, Joe Rascal, and Roc Lee, are Toronto’s best kept secret. The trio, who got together over a bottle of soju in Toronto’s downtown, have been slowly and consistently building momentum throughout all of 2020. To round out the year, UBB is deciding to share with their fans a collection titled “CLUB UBB” – their debut project and a sample of what is to come.
The mixtape, appropriately titled “CLUB UBB” is a reference for the energy that the band knows their fans are missing. Hits like “READ MY MIND”, “CHUMCHURUM”, and “BOYS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN”, that would have rung off in a live setting, have been carefully repackaged to play like a UBB set would.
“There definitely is a strategy”, said Justin Trash in relation to rollout strategy. “We always start with a pop song, just like the way we do in our shows. In our shows, we’ll play the likes of “Roller Girl”, “Read My Mind” – and then as people are like ‘is this going to be the whole show?!’, we start turning it up.”
The “CLUB UBB” record has two distinct sounds, sometimes blurring them together. UBB is confident in their versatility and are comfortable in their ability to create records that are on different ends of a thematic spectrum. With this record, they represent the “Heartthrob” as well as the “Heartbreak”.
“‘Heartbreak’ is more like the trap side – the grunge and the heavy hype stuff”, says Joe Rascal, the “Loverboy” of the group. “The ‘Heartthrob’ is more the like, ease in vibe, pop – the name in itself, right? Strategically, we’ve been coming out like that. We like to get you warm in the water and then y’know, unleash yourself.”
Then Roc Lee jumped in, “We try to make our music very versatile and I feel like the artist that we are heavily inspired by are very versatile as well. I want people to have an expectation of like… no expectation – if that makes any sense.”
The only thing you can expect from UPTOWN BOYBAND is great music, and even better energy.
Stream “CLUB UBB” now and be sure to check out their accompanying music videos! For more insight on the men behind “CLUB UBB”, and a peak into their lives as young Korean-Canadian creatives, be sure to checkout Issue 02 of our magazine which will be available soon!