Page 89 - ION Indie Magazine SeptOct 2020

Music by Healthy Junkies
“Some Kind of Girl”

You pour into your blender some punk rock and some grunge, with a helping of psychedelic rock, a
pinch of New Wave, a touch of garage rock with little Goth…and you blend it together. What comes
out is the UK group Healthy Junkie. The group has five releases since they formed in 2011. Albums
include “Delirious Dreams,” “The Lost Refuge,” “Sick Note,” “Box of Chaos,” and the EP “The Absinthe
Sessions.” The group was kind enough to answer a few questions about themselves.

Tim Board: How did the band get started and who are all the members of the band?

Healthy Junkies: Nina Courson (lead vocals) and Phil Honey-Jones (guitar/vocals) met in a venue
called Punk, which was in Soho, London. That venue, along with many other great live music venues,
has now shut, swallowed up by the developers who are bit by bit stripping London of its culture. They
were both in different bands at the time. Nina’s was called Altercation and Phil’s, HiroshAmour. It took
a while for the two to write a song together, but a dear friend of Nina’s who had just undergone major
surgery was having a birthday celebration. Nina and Phil wrote the song “Glam Sister” for her as a
birthday present. Once the songwriting seal had been broken, songs flowed freely. Before long, they
had enough for an album. They were asked to play at an all-day punk festival in Brighton in October
2010. The headliners were Goldblade (featuring journalist and owner of Louder Than War Magazine,
John Robb) and Viv Albertine (from The Slits). This was a great opportunity with guaranteed payment.
So, they found themselves a drummer and bassist and headed to Brighton. Unfortunately, the gig
was so badly organized that Healthy Junkies only played 10 minutes before the festival was shut
down. Meanwhile, the promoter had run off with the money. From that moment on, the band was
ready for road! The other band members are Dave Whitmore on bass and a variety of stunning
drummers including Hugo, Tony Alda (who recorded the last 2 studio albums), and David Gaut.