Welly

Having already witnessed the band Welly in action a few weeks back in Southampton I was already aware of their outgoing and enthusiastic approach to stagecraft. They put a lot into the 50 or 60 minutes of performance including a lot of interplay between the band members and audience. Elliot Hall the singer and songwriter clearly enjoys the crowd interaction and encourages fan participation wherever possible.

  In essence Welly is a work in progress brought together by Elliot with a vision of writing catchy songs and providing entertaining live performances to put a smile on the faces of their fans. He is doing this while balancing a “normal” life which is where we start our conversation.

ReturnToSound: “Do you have to work as well?”

Elliot Hall: “Absolutely, yeah. I am a greengrocer. It's quite fun, you know, you get decent food and you get up early in the mornings.

But this time of year, it's pretty boring. Not only because the weather's crap, but there's no produce”.

RTS: “In a funny way, it suits your style of, what you portray, the cheeky chappy with a Britpop vibe.  

There is a connection with all those 90s bands and the joie de vivre?”

EH: ”I'm flattered by that, it could be a lot worse. No, it's the first thing I hooked into”. 

 Elliot Hall singer and songwriter for Welly

RTS: “I find your music quite refreshing, modern music has become a bit angsty and self-indulgent, dare I say it. I'm not saying that is wrong, that's just how it is?” 

EH: “I agree. It's quite nice to have something up and at it, if you know what I mean, and cheerful. Very much that is the idea. 

I just got sick of going to, like you say, angsty sort of ego shows. And I was thinking, if I'm spending ten quid on a ticket, you know, I want to see them make fools of themselves”.

 "I moved to Brighton from Southampton but I got quite homesick". 

RTS: “So where did the musical side of things start for you?”

EH: “When I was about 12, my dad sort of sat me down and went, right, this isn't good enough. This is a problem. Because I just felt my music was all about partying and being in love.  

I didn't really feel, I didn't really care. But then he told me about “Common People". Oh my God, you can sing about the supermarket. That's so cool. And then after that, just one thing led to another. I started writing for myself.  

I moved to Brighton from Southampton but I got quite homesick. 

I suddenly thought, I had a story I could tell. It was about this love letter to suburban life.  

Then it just  blossomed from there. I'm trying to do something different in terms of making it quite mundane, but in an interesting way. But like I say, it's been done before. You know, all inspired by those 90s bands, then back to, Paul Weller and even, McCartney and stuff like that. Not to put too heavy a tag on what I'm doing.  

At the same time, performance-wise, I was trying to do something, like, Vic’s Big Night Out. I would bring props. And we'd spin the big wheel, we'd get people up on stage. 

 I think we've got a bit of a name for ourselves now. It's because musically we're trying to do something different. And live we're also trying to do something different”.

RTS: “The live performances are very lively as it was in Southampton a couple of weeks back, though you say you've toned that down a bit?” 

EH: “Yeah, they were a good lot. What's quite nice is I feel like... It's not a conscious thing, because if you're trying to pick your audience, it'd be easy. But I think it's quite nice we have a sort of continuum of people that were there in the 90s and sort of like, oh, this is so nice to see again, this is the music I like.

We have quite a nice young contingent, because it's inspired by a lot of noughties television programmes, like Dick and Dom and Horrid Henry and stuff like that. Also, just the smart-arse-ness of it all.  

But also, I think I'm singing songs that they relate to. So it's quite a nice sort of... venn diagram we are a part of”. 

RTS:”That’s a great description, you're the bit in the middle, pulling it all together.

EH: “Yeah, I think it's working”.

Welly playing The Heartbreakers in Southampton

RTS: “You must be looking forward to the New album Big in the Suburbs being released? The songs have a common theme coming from a part of your life, encapsulated in an album. All the bits and pieces that you think are quite normal, you've made into songs?” 

EH: “Totally. Which is good, you know. It's very interesting…. 

And I think, lyrically on this album, there are some songs that are a bit sadder. I know some of the stuff, especially that you would have seen live, is quite jumped up, it's quite sarky. But I think the English technique, one that I've certainly employed on the album, is that there'll be songs that are about melancholia. 

But I find myself, when I'm writing, putting a punchline in every eight lines, as if to go, oh, get over it, It's quite a frank album in that regard. But it's also very juvenile.  

Most of these songs were written six years ago now. It feels like, especially when we're on stage, it feels like I'm doing it for my 18-year-old self. 

And every now and then I'm like, do I still want to wear a PE kit and sing about the suburbs? With the album being released it feels like a weight off the shoulders almost.  

I hope you will listen to it and think, "I'm looking forward to seeing where this songwriter goes next, if that's not too grandiose”.

"I feel like in times of dour, let's dance through it".  

RTS: "You've obviously waited a long time to get this out and public. So is album two in the can?” 

EH: "I wrote it about 18 months ago. So we're already behind on album two. This is the thing, I'm constantly going to be releasing albums I'm bored of. Because I wrote them before” 

RTS: “Well, let's be honest, You're not 18 now so you have got older and wiser?. 

EH: “Exactly. And do you know what is it? I wrote most of this album before I'd ever been to a club. I wrote most of it when I was at home.  

The funny thing is I go to indie nights. And I think that's what I'm inspired by now.  

It's the three-minute song I am trying to do.. I've been reading Pete Waterman's autobiography. I'm trying to do the British Motown thing. 

The times are dour, and I think when the music gets dour as well, what's the point? I feel like in times of dour, let's dance through it.  

There's got to be some other people thinking the same way as well, and we'll see what happens”. 

Elliot Hall (Welly)

RTS: “Your videos are pretty exciting as well. 

Do you have a part in the storylines or is it someone else's ideas?”

EH: “ No, it's me. We're with a very little label, they're very nice in the fact that they'll sling us 500 quid and don't ask for any storyboards or anything. 

So the main idea is usually, right… what do we need to buy with this? What's really great is we work with my childhood friend Harvey, who messaged me about the time of the first music video we needed to make, and he said, I just bought a camera, let's do something. And that's literally been it. Those videos are me and him making our first music videos for the first time, and it's come out quite well.  

It's 500 quid usually to go to the after party. We'll buy some bottles of Cava and a chocolate cake. The rest of it all goes on Costumes.  

I say Costumes, it's just from a charity shop. The most expensive video we did was for “Soak up the culture”, which was done with a green screen. It took about 20 minutes to film. That was the most expensive one, we've got all this money then we’re going to run out of studio time, it was such a waste of money.  

We've got a single coming out, and we've spaffed the whole thing on plane tickets to Paris. Well, why not? You don't know how long this thing's going to last? (laughs)”

RTS: From the videos all the members of the band look connected and natural though I understand you aren’t a band?” 

EH: “No, it's Welly as Welly is my name, rather who Elliot Hall's supposed to be. It's like Madonna or whatever, do you know what I mean?  

It was like Scooby Doo when you think of the main character. It's named after the main character, but you can think of the whole gang. So the rest of the band have their personalities and have their places. But yeah, it's me writing it, it's me recording it”.

"We're doing a tour of only seaside towns.. I don't know if you can call Dundee the seaside"

RTS: “So you write all the songs, you don't play all the instruments, but direct the music?”

EH: “The way we record is I'll go into the studio on my own, I'll lay down most of the rhythm tracks, I'll program the drum machine and add a bit of the bass then I'll get the band in to throw some colour at it and leave them a gap here and there, do whatever works here. Also so they hopefully feel like they're included, do you know what I mean? It's hard, you're not getting paid, the long hours, you've heard it all before”.

Welly are Elliot, Joe and Matt on guitars, Jacob on bass, and Hanna on percussion / synthesisers

RTS: "March 21st, the first day of spring is the release day of “Big in the suburbs” you must be looking forward to that day?” 

EH: "Oh, it's the first day of spring? Oh, marvellous, perfect. 

RTS: “Have you got some dates booked yet for a Tour?”

EH: “Yes, we're doing a tour of only seaside towns.. I don't know if you can call Dundee the seaside, but we're doing Blackpool, Worthing, Weston Super Mare, Swansea, Falmouth, Plymouth.  

It's going to be great”. 

RTS: “You'll have a good time, and you'll be eating fish and chips every evening. 

EH: “Every day, you know, we should do a little ranking thing on social media”.

RTS: “Definitely, then you start a competition of who's got the best fish and chips?”

EH: “That sounds a great plan”

RTS: “ With all the touring to every corner of the UK has it changed your outlook and maybe added to your song writing experience?”

EH: “Yeah. It's definitely going to change your outlook on life,  

I'll tell you what, it's more my incentive has changed, if that makes sense.  

It's like where it used to be... at first, I was very into people-watching. It's very much like looking out the window and seeing the world. It's just like that times 10. 

And it feels like almost, I got what I wished for. I wanted to see the world. I've seen Scarborough, it's not that bad. 

If I'm really honest with you, in my head I sort of feel dizzy by England, and now I want to write songs for teenage Girls because they're in their bedrooms too. I earned the right to tour England, now I want to go to Barbados. I want some money!

I'm far more interested in people, society as a whole, I don't want to get preachy, but just about phone culture, and technology and stuff like that, which is what they were doing in the 80s. They were singing about drums and wires, even Blur, they were singing about the end of the world, and what consumerism meant. I want to do something like that.  

That's where my head's at, especially seeing England, and it's so bizarre, like the oxymoron of seeing a big, beautiful church that's been converted into a chicken house, or people in a beautiful park or old common, with headphones on, and a tracksuit. Like Britain's at this crossroads, it doesn't really know what it's doing. That’s what I'm really interested in, it's more about modernity.”

.

RTS: “There’s a concept album, the changing face of this country?”

EH: “I'm fascinated in socio-history, I read about Dr Beecham, closing the railways, I find that fascinating”.  

Welly relax before the next gig

RTS: “Where do you go next? 

EH: “I've got energy to do it as well, you know, I want to stop selling veg”. 

RTS: “I am sure that will happen, thanks for your time and I hope to see you maybe in Worthing and we can have some Fish ‘n’ Chips before the show”

--- Catch Welly at these plaices with or without Chips ---

MARCH

Fri 21 Brighton Resident Records Instore

Sun 23 London Rough Trade East Instore

APRIL

Tue 08 Falmouth Cornish Bank

Wed 09 Plymouth Junction

Thu 10 Weston-Super-Mare Loves Cafe

Tue 15 Swansea Bunkhouse

Wed 16 Isle Of Wight Strings Bar and Venue

Thu 17 Bournemouth Bear Cave

Fri 18 Worthing Charles Dickens

Tue 22 Blackpool Bootleg Social

Wed 23 Dundee Beat Generator

Thu 24 North Shields Three Tanners Bank

Fri 25 Hartlepool Studio

Sat 26 Hull The Welly

MAY

Thu 01 Ramsgate Music Hall

Website - Welly