A Quick Chat with Brendan Welch

What are the origins of Brendan Welch as a solo project? Where did it start?

I first started writing songs when I was a teenager, it’s really been going since then - I’ve pretty much always stuck to being a solo thing (for better or worse) which is probably related to my mega-introvert makeup. Since then, I’ve never really stopped trying to write better and better songs - it’s like an obsession, I’m searching for something but there’s always a mystery to it so I’m never quite sure what I’m doing.

Tell us a bit about the new album. What does it mean to you?

It means a lot to me that the album is finally out there - when I finished the last one I swore it wouldn’t take me as long between releases but this one took even longer. I can blame the COVID era partially but it’s also just my tortoise brain. I wrote the songs over a long period - with many discarded things along the way - so I can’t say there’s a unified theme - if anything it represents a cycle I go through between bouts of extreme self-doubt and depression and then back to the joy of making things. In the end I’m mostly joyful and love filled and just wanting to create things, but these cycles can make that process really drawn out.

Are there any inspirations you look to beyond music when writing or performing?

I’m inspired by people, my boyfriend, films good and bad, my dog Billie, sleeplessness, the general awe I have for any kind of beauty really.

Name the five songs that have informed your song writing more than any others.

Like A Rolling Stone – Bob Dylan (had to pick a Bob Dylan song and this one covers a lot of what’s good about him)
Somewhere Over The Rainbow – Judy Garland (an example of peak simplicity and melodic efficiency and general goodness - and Judy Garland)
God Only Knows – The Beach Boys (just great)
Paranoid Android – Radiohead (inspiring in its complexity and satisfying melancholy)
Don’t Dream It’s Over – Crowded House (what a lot of songs try to achieve)

What Australian artists are you listening to at the moment?

Olympia, King Stingray, King Gizzard, Amyl & The Sniffers, Stella Donnelly, Rolling Blackouts - so many more.

How do you hope your music might impact listeners?

I try to write songs that are some kind of a reminder of beauty - I enjoy the craft of it and I’m trying to be universal in the themes and melodies - I only hope that they enjoy them and perhaps feel something mysterious and good in there.