They’re Big in the Suburbs - Welly

Ahead of their show in St Andrews on the 26th of November, Danny and I sat down with Elliott, a.k.a. Welly, frontman of (unsurprisingly) the band Welly. We had a fab time talking candidly about the London music scene, what it’s like touring with Sports Team, and life in the suburbs, amongst many other entertaining things. It was great fun as expected, as was the performance and the 5-person mosh pit I initiated – here’s what he had to say beforehand.

Note from Ashvin - I was in the 5-person mosh pit, good times.

S: How did the band come together, and what was your first big break?

W: It was a very organic process. I moved to Brighton after leaving a band I was in when I lived in Southampton. I met Matt, and we started writing songs together at university. At the time, we were playing with charity shop instruments, which added to the charm. It wasn’t just about making great music; it was built on friendship. But our big break probably didn’t come until we played at the Great Escape Festival last year.

D: Who are your biggest musical influences, and how do they shape your sound?

W: What a question! I’d say Blur and Damon Albarn are major inspirations. Sometimes people compare me visually to Damon, and honestly, it boosts my ego in ways it probably shouldn’t! Sports Team is another influence—we’ll come back to that—and of course, The Smiths. You can’t really imitate The Smiths, though. It’s a shame about Morrissey’s compulsive need to rebel against the status quo and say questionable things, but their sound is timeless.

S: I couldn’t wait any longer to ask this question. I’m a big fan of Sports Team, and I saw you toured with them recently. (Mega jealous as deadlines kept me from going!) What was it like opening for them on tour? What were the vibes like? Also on a side note, I saw mary in the junkyard are also touring with them now. They’re another favourite of mine and I’ve been to about a billion of their shows in London. What was it like hanging out with them, I must ask!

W: Touring with them was amazing! They were the first band that really felt like "our people." We had a great show in Margate one time, where a couple of them live, and it was wild. I’ll admit, I was drunk at the show, and I told them they could come to one of our shows were free and then they got in contact with us and asked us to tour with them! That’s when we really got to know them on a personal level. As for mary in the junkyard, I think we must have the same booking agent or something – we keep running into them at shows and festivals and we’ve swapped merch. We always go up and say hi to them and I think they’re pretty cool.

S: What’s your creative process like when writing new music?

W: It’s casual. I’ll mindlessly play guitar while watching TV, and if I can hear the melody over Peep Show, I know it’s good. Then I let it sit for three days and if I still like it after that, I’ll keep working on it. I like to write little stories in the lyrics, like pastiches or vignettes. Album two is on the way, though it’s taking time to get the lyrics right. Writing lyrics can be arduous, and they must work together with the melody. When I’m stuck, I’ll head to the pub - that’s the best place to figure out the rest of the story. I prefer not to get political when writing music as I’d rather just listen to a really good story or vignette than hear about specific views – but I feel like that’s an unpopular opinion nowadays…

D: So do you find inspiration for the stories and vignettes for your lyrics at the pub?

W: Definitely! I collect stories. I’ve spent time in London and Brighton, and I’ve discovered I’d rather hang out with 60-year-olds than younger people at trendy venues like the Windmill. Sitting in the smoking area is where the real stories are – in some pubs way out in the country they just smoke indoors because it’s so quiet and they don’t need a smoking area!

S: What’s your take on London venues?

W: They’re pretty hit-or-miss. Take the Shacklewell Arms—it’s like any other venue. What’s it got apart from the Shard and an Overground station nearby? I’m a fan of the Sebright Arms, and we’re playing at the Moth Club next week. We’ve also done Dot to Dot Festival, which was fun – the Dare was also performing before he got big and there’s a great photo with my arm around him. On the flip side, places like the Old Blue Last and the George Tavern didn’t go well for us, but I think that was more down to our own performances at the time. There’s a certain apathy I feel towards London venues in general.

S: What makes a good gig?

W: The audience, 100%. We played a show in Middlesbrough where we got heckled—it was brilliant! At the start of “Soak Up The Culture”, we ask the audience if they’ve been on a gap year, and when we’re in London people say usually yeah and talk about their ‘gap yah’ for 5 months in Thailand or something, but some guy in Preston told us he worked in an ironworks. Like actually hammering iron. Anyway, I’d much rather get heckled than face audience apathy. There’s nothing worse than a crowd that just frowns and nods along.

S: What’s one of your favourite songs to perform live, and why?

W: "Me & Your Mates" is always a highlight because it’s our last song, and I know I’m about to finish and can have a cigarette. But the real answer is "Shopping." We throw it into the middle of the set as a surprise. Plus, the sweet TikTok money doesn’t hurt – it went viral, after all!

S: What’s been the most challenging part of being in a band?

W: For me, being away from home is tough. Touring takes a toll—it takes three days to settle into a routine on the road, but four weeks to get back to normal after. You wake up at midday in a grim hotel, have breakfast at a Morrison’s café, then drive to a venue in a town you’ve never been to before. There’s a lot of day drinking because you’re just waiting around, often at the pub next to the venue. It becomes a routine. Then you go home and must switch back to normal life, like stacking shelves. That said, it’s still the greatest job in the world.

D: If your band was a movie genre, what would it be and why?

W: A mockumentary. It’s about taking a story that already exists, stretching the truth, and adding a lot of jokes.

S: What’s the most bizarre piece of advice or information you’ve gotten from a fan or fellow musician?

W: We once did a show at a pub in Brighton on Christmas Eve during COVID—it was only our fifth gig. Someone heckled us, a dog barked through the set, and an old guy came up to me afterward. He said, “Don’t ever let on that you’re drowning. It’s nobody’s business but your own. Don’t declare the battle lost before it’s even over.” That stuck with me.

D: Are you guys really from the suburbs? And what does that mean to you? (S: When I think of the suburbs, I just think of Arcade Fire…)

W: In London when we ask if people are from the suburbs, they say Surbiton, and in Liverpool, they say Birkenhead. You can’t win! The suburbs are this shared experience of conflicts, love stories, and breakups that feel huge at the time but are small. The houses we grew up in are like Lego houses, identical and without much character. It’s ingrained in British culture to be pessimistic, which suits us. The suburbs shaped who we are, and that’s what the album is about: observing and documenting these everyday stories with humour.

S: How does this all tie into your album rollout?

W: The album is like putting an arm around someone and saying, “Isn’t that funny?” It’s a collection of short stories, not overly whimsical or deeply universal. It sits in that relatable in-between space, like the suburbs themselves. Shout out to our upcoming album “Big In The Suburbs”, by the way – I definitely should’ve been plugging that. So go listen to it!

D: Will you live in the suburbs when you’re older?

W: I’d love to have a farm with 100 kids and a bunch of sheep and cows. But realistically, music doesn’t pay well. I’ll probably end up in a new build with 2.5 kids, a cat, and a tolerant wife. There’s nothing wrong with that, though. Suburbia wasn’t organic; it was designed for the middle class. It’s a cross-section of society, and there’s beauty in that.

Welly’s new album “Big In The Suburbs” is out on the 21st of March 2025. In the meantime, check out the lead single “Big In The Suburbs” on Spotify. In my opinion, it bangs, and it just came up on shuffle while I was typing this. So that’s a sign.