Junior High

Emerging from the San Diego region, electro pop duo Junior High took shape through producer Michael Deakers and electronic solo artist Josh Ottum, who discovered a common passion for the buoyant dance rhythms that filled 1980s radio airwaves. Having both come of age in that decade, the musicians often explored their older sisters’ cassette collections, an activity that left them forever marked by the buoyant dance-soul pop of Prince, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, the Pointer Sisters, and countless others. Their first encounter occurred during an autumn 2010 dinner, after which they returned to Deakers’ home for an unplanned jam session that immediately generated the duo’s opening track. In the following months they poured concentrated energy into Junior High material, reaching local stages by winter 2012. Their self-titled debut album appeared that May, with a European tour arranged to follow.