POET, writer and musician Declan Welsh makes direct, unapologetic punk-inspired guitar pop with his band The Decadent West. With a sharp eye for detail and an edgy wit, his writing covers politics, boredom and social commentary.
THERE’S a lyric in our upcoming EP, from a song called Good Person, which goes: “How do you sleep at night? I sleep okay. I sleep during the day, mostly. But I sleep okay.”
If we’re talking about the start to my day, I must confess that when I’m not working it tends to begin closer to the afternoon than the morning. Especially in the winter. It’s far too hard to get out of a warm bed on a cold day isn’t it?
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We have often been asked to describe our sound but I feel that’s one of the toughest things to do. We take inspiration from The Amazing Snakeheads, The Cure, The Smiths, Courtney Barnett, Billy Bragg, Kate Tempest, Arctic Monkeys, Pulp and a whole bunch of other disparate sources. It all meshes together and sounds like, well, us. And more and more, we don’t sound like us any more. Our first couple of releases were politically charged punk, and now we’ve moved on to a whole different thing with our last two. The latest one is called Shiny Toys. It’s a story about childhood rivalries. It’s got a big chorus. Very 1990s inspired.
I spend a good section of my day writing. Be it music, poetry or short fiction; I try to create something with words every day. I have this silly idea that art might change the world. I think it’s the best way to bring people together, and to make people think about things. I like the idea that art is one of the few things that can break through the noise. I also think that music written by working-class people, even if it doesn’t deliberately do so, sends an important message.
We rehearse this week for a gig in London. We’re playing the Old Blue Last as a Great Escape Festival warm-up show with our friends Lucia and Rascalton. I think it’s really cool how three Glasgow bands who literally drink in the same pub (The Priory on Sauchiehall St if anyone’s asking) can go down and fill out a bill in London. Apparently Glasgow has a buzz about it the now. There’s too many great bands to name, and it’s cool being a part of this. Part of you knows that there’ll be a fetishisation of Glasgow as this hard-as-nails place where all the artists are from the mean streets, though. I’ve got very little time for that, certainly in describing us. Mostly because I’m from East Kilbride, which is about as suburban as it gets.
I should say something poignant here. I think, maybe, what I’ll try to say is that anyone reading this, young or old, male, female or railing against the arbitrary confines of gender norms: you’ve got something important to say and feel. Art gives people the platform to express themselves, but more importantly it brings us together. When you feel something listening to a song, that’s a human connection to a person you don’t know. In a world which continually attempts to drive us apart, that connection is powerful.
It shows us that the depth of our human experience is universal and common. We are all equally capable of experiencing so much more than we do on a daily basis. And we all deserve to.
Declan Welsh launches his newest book of poetry on March 25 at MacSorleys, Glasgow, 6pm to 9pm, free. The single Shiny Toys is out now.
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